Wet nose/discharge, some sneezing... Possible uri?

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M

MNChinLover

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Joined
Apr 3, 2014
Messages
126
Location
Mankato, MN
Ok I am worried about my chin Olaf. I picked up my two boys on Wednesday at 3pm. Got home at 6:30 and put them in the cage.

Olaf was obviously stressed and barked/cried all night.

Thursday he barked a few times but not much at all. Still not really moving, so I put some pellets and hay by him and attempted to get him to drink through the water bottle. I believe he ate the pellets and some of the hay.

Friday he was doing much better, finally out exploring and bouncing around like a normal chin. He has been eating and finally drinking too.

Today I noticed him sneeze a few times. But didn't really think much of it as it was not very often. Then when I was coming in to check on him again at 1:30 he had a dark, maybe brown?, discharge on his nose and it seemed slightly wet and then he began to rub his nose. When he ran around when I was about to start cleaning his cage, I could here him breathing through this mucus/discharge, which is when I first noticed it. But 99% of the time I can not hear him breathing.

I contacted the breeder and she thinks it might be an URI caused by stress from the move, so I called the vets and they were all closed so I called the emergency numbers and most told me the exotic vets won't be in until Monday, but one guy told me to give him one drop of children's liquid Benadryl every 8 hours.

I have not heard of giving Benadryl to chins, is this ok? Will this help?

Will he be okay until Monday when I can see an exotic vet? What are other symptoms I should look for to know if he is getting worse/better?
 
Ok so another vet called me back. He was honest and said he had limited experience treating chinchillas but had owned them for several years.

He suggested that I wait and see if he gets better on his own, if not and he seems to get worse to call him and he will make an emergency appointment for me and will prescribe me baytril after looking over Olaf himself. He wasn't sure if he had doxycycline which is also what the breeder suggested to me.

I asked him about the children's liquid Benadryl and he suggested I don't use that because all it will really do is make him sleepy.. Which I would rather have him awake and eating/drinking than being sleepy.

I think no matter what I will go with the exotic vet several other vets suggested I see on Monday, unless he seems to get worse then I will call this vet back.

But I would still like more feedback so I can make sure I am making an informed decision, and I'm sure some of you have had experience with these symptoms, where I have not (although in the meantime I am searching this forum to try and find more information so I can be more informed when I do get a vet appointment either Monday or earlier).
 
URIs that are left untreated can progress to the point of no return quickly, especially a chin under stress-I would try to get a vet appointment to confirm or deny if the chin has one, and get a antibiotic for sure if it does-you might have to treat the other chin also. I dealt with a URI in all 3 of mine back in Dec, they caught it from me, it was a real beech to deal with since baytril is a drug of choice to treat-your chins are young and baytril can cause issues with development, the doxy or even a sulfa based antibiotic would be a better choice than nothing. Get critical care because you may need to hand feed-another beech on chins that don't feel good and have stuffy noses.
 
The breeder said they should be fine until Monday, do you agree? What are things to look for to know if it is a uri? And if it is getting worse?

Also can a uri be brought on because of stress from moving? This is what the breeder thought.

I plan on calling the exotic vet first thing in the morning on Monday to get in. Do you think I need to get an emergency appointment sooner?

Olaf has been sleeping most of the day but has woken up several times for short periods to bounce around the cage, nibble on things, eat and drink and go back to bed.

The only emergency vet I could see before Monday doesn't really have any experience treating chinchillas. So I am unsure if I want to see him if he doesn't know what he's doing?

What do you think?
 
Plus I'm also worried because the move seemed to really stress him out and he finally got comfortable in this new environment, I don't want to do more damage taking him to an inexperienced vet 30-40 minutes away and stress him out. And a more chin experienced vet will be available on Monday that is only 5-10 minutes away.

I also already have a chin emergency kit I ordered before I got them and it had critical care in it. So if I need that, I have it.
 
Personally, if this were my chin and he was eating, drinking, peeing, and pooping, and I didn't hear constant wheezing, I would wait it out until Monday. Did you give them a dust bath at all yet? If not, don't, wait until you know this isn't a URI. I agree that stress can cause illnesses, but as a new owner you may be over reacting a bit (which is completely normal!) and seeing symptoms that aren't really there. I hope he's okay, and you're back to new baby bliss soon!
 
Yes, I think I may have overreacted when I first got Olaf and he was eating/drinking or moving for the first day or two, and barking/crying all night the first night I had him.

But I really think I saw a runny nose and I don't remember his nose being discolored (not pink) so I think its discharge.

I just spent 10-20 minutes and he kept jumping into my hands and such no wheezing or anything.

Then he went jumped back into the cage (my hands are like right by where the door would be when he jumps and hangs out in my hands) and he sneezed or coughed a few times.

Then, this is the first time I have seen him do this, he stuck his nose through the bars and stayed there for several seconds and I snapped a picture before he moved. I don't really know what he was doing, but I attached the image here so you guys can see his nose. He also has his mouth open.. I couldn't really tell which he was breathing through, mouth or nose.

But sometimes I can tell he is sniffing/breathing through his nose and about half the time he does it makes a sort of clicking noise (I am assuming breathing through mucus?)

But other than this he is being active jumping and running around now and eating and drinking and pooping.. and probably peeing but I can't really tell.

You can also see the black stuff in his nose of the pic in the tube.

I gave them a dust bath Thursday night hoping he would come out to do that, but he didn't take a bath- sven did though.
 

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Did you end up going the the vet? How's he doing now?

My boys all sit with their noses shoved through the bars on occasion. Dale does it a lot actually, I'm not sure why they do it.

I hope your little one is doing better now, keep us posted.
 

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Well he didn't seem to have the runny nose later that night. I've also noticed he has a discolored nose so I may have mistaken the discharge with just his nose color. I no longer am hearing him breathe through his nose ever. He is remaining active, eating, drinking, pooing, and peeing-in the dish!

So I have not brought him to the vet. I am keeping a close eye on him but whatever it was seems to have gone away! He still does occasionally sneeze and when he does he sneezes a couple times in a row.

Maybe I over reacted and was seeing more symptoms then there actually was. But he seems to have settled in really nicely =) and he likes jumping into my hands.. But he also looks like he is trying to figure out where to jump out of the cage.

Do you think it's safe to offer the dust bath? Should I try to carry them in it to the bathroom instead of having them get dust in the air and in their cage? I haven't offered the dust since Thursday.
 
I only give my boys the dust bath twice a weeks, usually Fridays and Tuesdays. As long as it's not super humid, that's all they need it. In winter it's once a week or less because the heat dries their skin out a lot. You can try to dust them in another room, or if you have a little hand vacuum you can clean up in the cage after their done.
I'm glad that he's doing better, sounds like it was just stress related. I think all chins love to try to escape, they definitely don't grow out of it. My 11 year old still tries to jump out of his third story FN!
 
What you are hearing may not be a sneeze. Some chins do a little puff sound when they are annoyed. It can sound like a sneeze. My Goose does it a lot and there are always 2 or more puffs when he does it.
 
obcsed said:
What you are hearing may not be a sneeze. Some chins do a little puff sound when they are annoyed. It can sound like a sneeze. My Goose does it a lot and there are always 2 or more puffs when he does it.
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Maybe that's what I'm hearing! I don't know why he would be annoyed because when he does it he is usually not near me or Sven. Usually under a ledge or by the food bowl.

Is there anyway I can hear the difference? It is more of a puff sound than a full out sneeze.

Thanks! Maybe I was just a worry wort when first getting them and freaking out over nothing. :hmm:
 
Are you asking if the sneezing sound was like the angry one? Then no.

But the chins do make a sound very similar to that when I think they are calling out to each other, but they do it very quietly.
 
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