what is wrong with Buckie??!!

[fluke]

my boy Buckie is acting weird and its really freaking me out. When I was getting him in his cage i thought he was running kind of funny. But then he gets in and tries to jump to his shelf to eat and hits the shelf with his chest twice. does the same thing twice trying to jump six inches onto his house. and just moving around he's the only word i can think of is sloppy. its like hes drunk. what is going on?!

the other day i thought i saw him jump to his shelf and miss but it was only once so i didnt think anything of it.

 

[RDZCRanch]

How warm is it in his room or where he was running?

 

[fluke]

its been 65 in here all day. and he wasnt like hard core running either. he isn't hot. ears aren't warm. etc.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Did he knock into anything hard or maybe squeeze into a constricting space that could have pinched a nerve? He sounds like he either seizured or is coming down off of heat stroke. If he starts acting anymore odd or gets lethargic I would take him to an emergency vet immediately.

 

[starleomach]

What do you have in his cage? salt wheel by any chance? or one of those hanging seed type treats? I have seen chinchillas do things like that when getting too much salt. The person I helped last had given their chinchilla a seed hanging toy it had a high salt content. The chinchilla seemed almost drunk. falling oof shelves and getting wobbly before going into seizures. it was fixed by removing the salt and lots of fluid intake once the salt was flushed from the system he was fine

 

[fluke]

no. no salt wheel. no hanging treats. i dont like those things and dont trust that they are necessarily healthy. i mean he hasn't been in any especially small spaces or anything. and it is pretty chilly in here.

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

I would remove the shelves if you can, and put his food/water somewhere that is accessible from the ground floor. If he gets any worse get him to an e-vet a.s.a.p. otherwise, you may want to wait until morning, and see if his condition has improved at all. If not, take him to the vet.
Make sure he is eating/drinking/pooping normally though before anything. If not, this could be another reason to bring him to the vet tonight.

 

[starleomach]

what is his diet? where are you getting the water? any treats? has he been able to get water, is the bottle clogged? I would contain him to a carrier with food and water so he does not hurt himself. there is so much that could be causing issue. He could have eaten something, He could be sick or it could be a very minor issue that will resolve itself. How is he acting now?

 

[fluke]

i took out his top shelf to keep him from falling a long ways. think maybe he is getting a little better. he seems a little less wobbly, but still sleepy. his diet is oxbow pellets and oxbow timmy hay. water is tap but filtered with pur filter. treats on occasion but normally rose hips. I do give him a pinch of oats every night which started as a reward for getting into the cage after play time. he has come to expect them. he is eating drinking peeing and pooping normally though. even tried a few times to get frisky with his little stuffed apple...after which he fell over..which was horribly sad. as far as coordination goes though, he does seem better. after i took his shelf out he tried to climb up the inside of the cage and managed to do so without falling much.

the thing about the e-vet here though is that i really doubt they would be able to do or say anything about whats going on. they really don't deal with chins ..like ever. If he isn't normal in the morning, I'm going to drive an hour and a half to the nearest exotic vet. still dont understand what could have caused this.



i appreciate everyones posts though.

 

[InkedupTara]

I dont have any other thoughts, but I wanted to send good vibes to you and your chinnie!

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

It's definately a good sign that he's getting better, and as long as he's acting normal otherwise, He should be fine until morning. You should probably scrub down everything in his cage, just to be sure he didn't get something from his water bottle that he shouldn't have, or anything along those lines. As long as he's not falling off, and hitting himself anymore, He's probably okay remaining in his cage, but if you see any of these signs start to come back, i agree with starleomach with putting him in a carrier to keep him from hurting himself.

Good luck with him, Hopefully he's already on the road to recovery! =D

 

[fluke]

thank you for all of the positive responses!

this morning he seems perfectly normal. he isn't wobbly at all. he woke up as soon as i did and went into his morning stretching/grooming routine. after a few minutes i put his shelves back in. he hasn't missed a single one or looked like he was going to. i am so happy he seems ok, but I'm still concerned about what could have caused that.

aside from the salt overload situation, has anyone ever seen this before? it was just bizarre. i mean...i did work as a petcare person at a petstore for nearly two years, i've seen other animals exhibit similar behavior and it never turned out good. The thing is, those animals never improved at all.

 

[fluke]

just read a thread about a chinchilla that was acting disoriented and wobbly. poor thing didn't ever improve and later passed....

i am sooooo grateful that Buckie is acting normal today. I read many people say that that chin's blood sugar could be low (until they realized the chin wasn't getting better).

I am just wondering, how common is it for a chin to have such low blood sugar that he is weak and disoriented? and is it indicative of chinnie diabetes?

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

Glad to hear that he's doing okay =)
The only time i've ever seen a wobbly chin was one that was recovering from heat stroke, but I beleive you said your room was kept at 65?
This is probably obvious, but make sure you keep a close eye on him for the next couple of days, just in case.

 

[Stackie]

Did he have playtime before he exhibited the odd symptoms?

Some chins are known to have hypoglycemic seizures when they over exert themselves during playtime. It doesn't matter what the temperature is in the room, since a hypoglycemic seizure occurs when the blood sugar drops too low.

 

[fluke]

yes it was his playtime before the weird episode. i did read something about over exertion on another thread actually. the thing is, i mean, he wasn't playing super hard or anything. he was pretty much just hanging out. he has been much more active before and not experienced that. do you think its still possible to have a hypoglycemic episode?

yea definitely gonn keep an eye on him. hopefully his vet will cal me back tomorrow to tell me what he thinks.

 

[Claire D]

How old is he?

It is possible for a chin to have a hypoglycaemia seizure at any stage, even if they are used to exercise (although this can reduce the risk as the chin gets "fitter") so it is always worth keeping a close eye on them when they are out for exercise.
Although there are some that vehemently disagree, many chins don't know when to rest & will over exert themselves - some chins will be more prone to overexertion if they are in a new environment (excited exploring) or in a warm room or are chasing/winding up other chins or are just generally a bit "hyper".
Younger chins are more prone to hypoglycaemia & exertion fits than older chins, although there are exceptions (fat, lazy, sometimes ex-breeding chins who are not used to exercise can overexert themselves for example).

 

[mishellyshel]

If it is a case of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.........what is the best thing to give them?? Would something like a goji berry or piece of raisin help them or are there other alternatives?

 

[sarah999]

When I first got my chinchilla, she had these weird "seizures" randomly, but they went away. One time my brother was using shoe cleaner right next to her cage and the fumes were really bad!!!! She started acting weird and overjumpy, almost "drunk". I removed her from the area and the next day she was fine! Has your chin been exposed to any kind of chemicals or cleaners?:hmm:

 

[Claire D]

If it is a case of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.........what is the best thing to give them?? Would something like a goji berry or piece of raisin help them or are there other alternatives?

I've seen suggestions for using a tiny bit of Karo syrup rubbed on the gums. If no Karo syrup is available then the traditional "fix" is a small piece of raisin - careful monitoring & plenty of rest in the cage are also required so that the chin can recover.