After having some time to compose myself with the recent death of my chinchilla, Timber, I wanted to post this information that was found on Timber's x-ray report when they x-rayed him at the emergency vets.
A little bit of background on Timber: Took him to my regular vet for blood INSIDE his left eye and some blood coming out of his nose, came home with eye drops. Hours later he was lethargic and barely responsive. I then took him to the emergency vet who took x-rays and discussed his condition (which wasn't looking good) with me. I was then sent home with pain meds, critical care, and probiotics. He would barely accept the critical care and about 10 hours after we got home from the emergency vets he passed away. Me and another member on here decided that the blood inside his eye wasn't due to blunt force trama, but more so to a stroke, especially since he had blood coming out of his nose.
Here is the report:
Temp: 96.8F
Pulse: 270
Resp: 100
Case history: Patient presented for severe lethargy. A grade 5/6 heart murmur was auscultated.
Findings: Right lateral and DV of the adomen and thorax are available.
There is an apparent mass in the cranial mediastinal. The mass is effecting the cranial border of the heart. This is best seen on the lateral projection. The mass is most consistent with the cranial mediastinal location. On the DV projection, there may be consolidation of the cranial lung lobes as well.
There is marked gas and foot distension of the stomach and duodenum. The remainder of the small bowel contains fluid and gas. Fecal material is not observed. Kidney cannot be visualized well due to superimposition of viscera. A small amount of fluid is present in the bladder.
Assessment: Apparent cranial mediastinal mass. The possibility of a heart masss or other exists. The animal appears to have problems with gastric emptying. The amount of gas within the duodenum is dilated and may signify obstruction.
Basically this report explains that Timber had mutiple things going on that I could have never known about. He had a very severe heart murmur and a mass (which is believe to be a tumor) pressing against the top of his heart and lungs. As just recently brought up in another thread, chinchillas can die of what humans die of and I just wanted to share this information with you all because even though nothing I say or do can bring my beloved boy back, maybe this information can give some of you closure to "unexpected chinchilla deaths."
A little bit of background on Timber: Took him to my regular vet for blood INSIDE his left eye and some blood coming out of his nose, came home with eye drops. Hours later he was lethargic and barely responsive. I then took him to the emergency vet who took x-rays and discussed his condition (which wasn't looking good) with me. I was then sent home with pain meds, critical care, and probiotics. He would barely accept the critical care and about 10 hours after we got home from the emergency vets he passed away. Me and another member on here decided that the blood inside his eye wasn't due to blunt force trama, but more so to a stroke, especially since he had blood coming out of his nose.
Here is the report:
Temp: 96.8F
Pulse: 270
Resp: 100
Case history: Patient presented for severe lethargy. A grade 5/6 heart murmur was auscultated.
Findings: Right lateral and DV of the adomen and thorax are available.
There is an apparent mass in the cranial mediastinal. The mass is effecting the cranial border of the heart. This is best seen on the lateral projection. The mass is most consistent with the cranial mediastinal location. On the DV projection, there may be consolidation of the cranial lung lobes as well.
There is marked gas and foot distension of the stomach and duodenum. The remainder of the small bowel contains fluid and gas. Fecal material is not observed. Kidney cannot be visualized well due to superimposition of viscera. A small amount of fluid is present in the bladder.
Assessment: Apparent cranial mediastinal mass. The possibility of a heart masss or other exists. The animal appears to have problems with gastric emptying. The amount of gas within the duodenum is dilated and may signify obstruction.
Basically this report explains that Timber had mutiple things going on that I could have never known about. He had a very severe heart murmur and a mass (which is believe to be a tumor) pressing against the top of his heart and lungs. As just recently brought up in another thread, chinchillas can die of what humans die of and I just wanted to share this information with you all because even though nothing I say or do can bring my beloved boy back, maybe this information can give some of you closure to "unexpected chinchilla deaths."
