Sparse fur and drinking issues

[Crazy]

A couple nights back my chinchilla would make a crying sound and run around a couple times two nights in a row. It freaked me out, but she isn't doing it tonight. I couldn't catch her doing it, so I don't know if she was sleeping when she did it or not. And no, she was not just talking, that was more along the lines of screaming. I have another chinchilla that had some episodes for a while of having night terrors.
Tonight I noticed her fur is rather sparse on her chest near her arm. She isn't itchy. What could be some possibilities that could cause that besides a fungus? I just was hoping her screaming and fur loss isn't related. She is recovering from a wound on her face, though the screaming started after the scab was gone. I thought that maybe she ripped it off and it hurt, but it was already gone. There's a bit of a lump there that when I took her to the vet was told that it was scar tissue.
I just don't see an explanation for the fur loss and screaming.
My chinchilla, I think, has become spoiled to hand feeding and won't drink. I started hand feeding her 3 1/2 weeks ago and she still isn't drinking. She's been getting her fluids from the CC, but she refuses plain water. What the heck am I supposed to do when she's being so stubborn? I've marked her water and she hasn't even touched it once.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

You are handfeeding her? May I ask why? Not drinking/eating could be signs of pain/illness. Has she been seen by a vet?

As far as the sparse fur goes, did you check to see if the skin beneath was pink and/or scaly? That would indicate fungus. Is it possible she is fur chewing? That would be a sign of stress or boredom but there isn't much to be done about it besides trying to add enrichment toys to her cage and keeping noise levels down.

As for the screaming, it could be caused by anything, a sound we can't hear, a bad dream (I only say this because my chins usually make that sound while asleep and that is how I explain it to myself - I have no concrete evidence my chins are actually having a bad dream), for no reason at all. Is she caged alone? If you see no indication of fungus and her activity levels, waste levels, and weight are "normal" for her, then I would not worry too much about the fur thing but do keep an eye on it.

If I had a chin that wasn't drinking (and had been checked by a vet that told me nothing else was going on with her health) and that I could not syringe water to I would hang a second bottle with half cranberry juice (unsweetened) and half water (the other water bottle would be just her plain water) to see if it would stimulate her to drink. If it did, I would gradually cut the cranberry juice lower and lower until it was just water again. This would be only if I had exhausted possibilities of her having an illness/pain from another cause.

 

[Crazy]

3 1/2 weeks ago she got completely constipated and stopped eating and drinking as well. She hasn't drank since. I took her to the vet and the only problem she could find, besides the scratch, was that her teeth had gone flat. There wasn't any indication of dental work. She's 7 so she said that it is probably from old age or something of the sort (wear and tear I guess?) and that I needed to feed her CC and mix alfalfa hay into her timothy hay and get her teeth good again. She isn't eating much, I think she's barely eating any pellets. I've tried letting her pellets soak up some water, but she doesn't want to eat it that way. She also seems to just throw the timothy hay all over the place in search of the alfalfa. Her desire for the CC is diminishing. This feeding just now I had to take her out and hold her in my lap to make her take it.
She is caged alone. Her skin is pink...but she's white and her skins pink all over.
Her droppings are substantially better, they may not be as big as my others but hey she isn't eating as much as her. Poor thing also has an eye that has been watering with some white discharge,and it kept coming back despite the eye drops being used. I saw something on her eye last night so I suppose that could do it, but her eyes have been watering for two months.

Before all this happened, she was drinking and eating a TON.
Poor girl is stressing me to the point of having tremor panic attacks. @_@

If I do the juice thing, then should I clean the bottle every 2 hours? I'm at my wits end. I want her to drink!

 

[tunes]

Gut issues and juice do not go together. If she's already had stasis/bloat/constipation, I would avoid the fruit juices and stick with water.

Have her teeth been x-rayed? It sounds like your vet just did a look see. With her teeth the way you describe them, her eyes watering despite drops, not being willing to chew her pellets (hard food), she should have a full set of dental x-rays to check for malocclusion.

Also, chins that won't drink usually don't eat. Are you comfortable with giving subcutaneous fluids? If so, I would ask your vet to show you how to give them, how much to administer (making sure to rotate around her body so you don't develop sore spots), and try that for a few days. It may spark her appetite as well as her drinking from a bottle again.

 

[AZChins]

Your chinchilla is probably just vocalizing for the fun of it. I have a few that squeal to get my attention and then stop about three seconds into it.

The sparse fur is most likely where the folds of skin have rubbed together near the legs and have worn the fur off. The chin doesn't have scar tissue there, it's fatty deposits. Many chins are genetically predisposed to these fat deposits in the same place. They become more pronounced to the eye because of the fur loss. It's fairly normal for this to happen.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

I agree, now that you have disclosed gut problems I would not do the juice either.

My worry would be teeth issues as well, not eating along with watery eyes are two of the main symptoms. I would have dental x-rays taken and see what the vet thinks.

 

[AZChins]

Another thing...

If you are handfeeding wet critical care or food, you are giving the chin a lot of water in with it. Chins that are handfed may not drink because they do not feel thirsty at all since their water needs are already being met.

The trick is to get this chin to eat on her own. That means that you need to get her appetite up. Antibiotics often have a very bad side effect of decreasing appetite and possibly decreasing absorption of nutrients. Once a chin starts eating she'll usually start drinking as well. I really wouldn't put any juice in her waterbottle. She's not drinking so she won't drink that either.

 

[Crazy]

She loves the heck out of the alfalfa hay, and she ate a small amount of pellets while I was sleeping. Throughout this time, she has gone to eating rather well, but won't drink no matter what. I'm giving her a mixture of 1 tsp of CC and 2 tsp of water three times a day. That's quite a bit of water.
she's been on bene-bac for 12 days now. I'm worried about skipping a feeding session with her to try and get her to drink. The vet said that she wasn't worried about malocclusion with the way her teeth look? She hasn't been a big chewer since I got her though. She seems to go through spurts and likes soft wood. She won't touch the lava bite I tried giving her. She's currently been chewing the wooden house I gave her.
She really doesn't want anymore CC now. I had to take her out and sit her in my lap again to feed her.
But, she runs for that alfalfa when I put it in. I offered her some water in a syringe through the bars and she took two drops, that's it. She probably only took it so I would go away.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

You can't look at a chinchilla's teeth and see the roots though. I think it is well worth it to have x-rays done given the watery eye issue and the other things you mention. Peace of mind is well worth the price and hopefully there are no issues with her teeth but you will not know without x-rays.