teeth issues???

[chinny]

Yesterday I was sifting through information and came upon the issues with chinny teeth. I then noticed that my chinchilla has pawed at her mouth. So when I got home I watched and she does move her mouth as if she is grinding. I just assumed there was food in her mouth that I had missed her eating. She does swipe at her face. Besides that these are the only symptoms that I can recall from before.
I watched videos on a chinny who had teeth issues compared to one that didnt eating a wheatie and how long it took. I gave her one to test it and she sucked that thing down besides the bit she dropped.
This morning though she hadnt ate her pellets and she had seemed to rummage through her hay and only pick out certain parts. I have heard that teeth issues usually pop up at two to three years of age. She is only right at one.
Also, drooling and having a wet chest are signs she is not showing.

I dont know if because I read about this I am now overanalyzing everthing or if I really am seeing symptoms that I just did not know to look for before. But I think she didnt eat her pellets last night. Yah she usually does but what is the chances the day I read about it she stops like the said one would when she never has before.

I know it is recommended to go to the vet one way or another but I just wanted some advice from those that have dealt with this. thanks.

 

[ticklechin]

Teeth issues can show up at any age, its when it shows up young it usually means its genetic IMO. The youngest one I had that had full blown malo was 11 months old, symptoms that were subtle showed up at 9 months. If you have a scale start weighing daily, if the weight remains steady over the next couple of weeks and no other symptoms show up-(BTW, rub your finger along the chins lips, pull the lips back and look for moisture-any moisture on the lips or incisors is drool eary stage) then the chin is doing OK for now, the weight is the key, its the very first indicator there is a problem.

 

[chinny]

She still hasnt ate her food at least not like she was. Is this an indication? I am in the process of changing her food over to a different kind. When I started to change it she was still eating it. Now is a different story. Could this be the reason instead of her teeth????

 

[ticklechin]

Do you have a gram scale to weigh her? Like I said, the weight is the best indicator of is there a issue, she may be eating more hay and hates the pellets and the weight will be steady, she may have a issue in the mouth and can't eat pellets and the weight will reflect a loss. You can try stopping the food change for now and see if she resumes eating but I would rather you get a scale.

 

[chinny]

What kind of scale would you recommend? You mentioned to wait a couple of weeks to check the weight. I have heard that when chinnys get sick they go down hill pretty fast so I was trying to be on the ball and it probably has something to do with my panic :hair: So I was wondering how long do I have to weight her and to watch her symptoms to see if they are truely a problem or me being paranoid before it is nessecary that she go to the vet based upon her symptoms as of right now? Thank you so much for all of the help! I really appreciate it!!

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

You can get a scale that measures in grams from Walmart. Weigh her every day at the same time. The change in food could be the reason she is not eating like she was. Were you giving her food that had treats in it and now you are giving her good food. If so that is why - she is protesting (she wants 'her candy'). Don't let her win this one

 

[chinny]

No, I removed all the treats and such from it so she was only getting pellets. One other time I tried to change her over to a better feed and she seemed to have what I THOUGHT was close to bloat and I changed it back. Maybe she is being stubborn. Would that explain away the rubbing of her mouth and such? Like she just doesnt want it so she is trying to get it out of her mouth or something? :wacko: I am really hoping it is not a teeth issue.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

The only way you are going to know for sure is to monitor her food and check her weight. If she is losing weight then she will have to go to the vet

 

[ticklechin]

What kind of scale would you recommend? You mentioned to wait a couple of weeks to check the weight. I have heard that when chinnys get sick they go down hill pretty fast so I was trying to be on the ball and it probably has something to do with my panic :hair: So I was wondering how long do I have to weight her and to watch her symptoms to see if they are truely a problem or me being paranoid before it is nessecary that she go to the vet based upon her symptoms as of right now? Thank you so much for all of the help! I really appreciate it!!

I acutally said start weighing daily for a couple of weeks, if you see a loss happening you have a problem and the chin needs to go to the vet.

 

[chinny]

That's funny!! :rofl: The way I wrote that it does sound (or I guess says) as if I meant to wait a couple of weeks then start weighting her. I feel so stupid. :wacko:
I understood what you wrote. I just meant to reiterate that, so it is okay to take a couple of weeks if needed to watch her weight or however long it takes before she starts to lose IF she even does?

I am sorry about my typo but after I read that tickled me! :laughitup: My goodness I need to read over what I write out, huh?

Oh I forgot to mention, I am going to buy her a scale today. I am going to weight her and see what I've got. Thanks. I am feeling much better since now I know what to do to figure some of it out.

 

[ticklechin]

Usually with teeth issues it does not come on sudden, its slow gradual loss of food intake when its malo or points, and if it does come on sudden it is accompanied with dramatic symptoms such as profuse drooling or wet eyes or both, that usually means a tramatic event happened in the mouth. You mentioned that hay is still being eaten, how about any treats you give, are those snarfed down like usual? One other thing you can try, is weigh her food and food bowl in the evening and then in the morning and see how many grams of food are actually missing

 

[chinny]

I do believe she is fine. I swapped her feed back to the old one and she is eating she is still. Swiping at her mouth but she has always done so I am still monitoring. Her food and her weight to be sure though