Wobbly Female Chinchilla - yet vet says everything is healthy except for....

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etracy

New Chin Parent
Joined
Feb 1, 2012
Messages
12
Location
Topeka, KS
I inheritated 2 chinchillas from my daughter. She got a male baby while in college last year from another student and also decided she wanted a female too. Long story short, she is back in college and mom is taking care of the chins. I do have to admit I have become very attached to them and enjoy there personnality quite a bit.

Anyway, Nona (4yr female) 3 days ago became wobbly, unable to jump up to the higher stands in the cage. Today I took her to the vet and they checked her ears,heart, lungs, digestive, everything and couldn't find anything wrong with her, but can see something was definatly wrong. They gave her a steroid shot and is going to consult K-State university.

I don't think she had a heat stroke, house is always between 65-70 degrees, she eats fine and is interactive with me, just really wobbly.

Will the steroid shot help? Also, has anyone had anything like this happen before with their chinchillas? I am so despeately wanting Nona to get better, it just breaks my heart she is this way, even though it don't seem to affect her.

ONE MORE = I noticed her back feet being sort of pigion toed, pointing in now.
 
Is she eating? Drinking? Peeing? Pooping normally?

The steroid shot was definitely contra-indicated, steroids are generally a non-no for chinchillas and most chin-knowledgeable vets do not give steriods.

Please give a breakdown of what her normal diet is including all food, treats and hays, also what type of water do you give?
 
Did they take a full body x-ray to look for gas? The odd movements of bloat are often mistaken for stroke symptoms.

No steroids, unless its try the steroid or death, a chin knowlegable vet would know this, you need to find a vet who treats chinchillas.
 
She weighs 1.1 lbs, we feed her timothy hay and charlie chinchilla food with distilled water. She has no problems eating, sleeping, drinking or pooping. She is still interactive with me and approaches me when I come up to her cage. We moved her out of the big cage with 3 tiers and a male chinchilla to a non-tier cage so she won't fall and hurt herself. The vet has been calling everyday to see how she is doing, steroid shot didn't help, and the Vet at KState that teaches exotic campion pet medical science said we might need to give her another shot, so now I am worried about that. He said it could be an inner ear infection (she has no fever)) and I need to bring her to the college so they can run xrays and other anaylsis to find out what is wrong with her. Of Course this will cost about 500.00 or more... We are on day 5 now and she is still not her self and I am very worried. I live in topeka, KS, can anyone recommend a vet that knows chinchilla health.

I appreciate everyone responses and help so very much, I have grown very fond of little Nona.
 
I also noticed yesterday when giving her a dust bath, she is not fully rolling to her back, she is getting her face, feet, and sides, but can't seem to roll. Could that be part of her being wobbly or a whole other thing?
 
etracy said:
She weighs 1.1 lbs, we feed her timothy hay and charlie chinchilla food with distilled water. She has no problems eating, sleeping, drinking or pooping. She is still interactive with me and approaches me when I come up to her cage. We moved her out of the big cage with 3 tiers and a male chinchilla to a non-tier cage so she won't fall and hurt herself. The vet has been calling everyday to see how she is doing, steroid shot didn't help, and the Vet at KState that teaches exotic campion pet medical science said we might need to give her another shot, so now I am worried about that. He said it could be an inner ear infection (she has no fever)) and I need to bring her to the college so they can run xrays and other anaylsis to find out what is wrong with her. Of Course this will cost about 500.00 or more... We are on day 5 now and she is still not her self and I am very worried. I live in topeka, KS, can anyone recommend a vet that knows chinchilla health.

I appreciate everyone responses and help so very much, I have grown very fond of little Nona.
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Who did you talk to at K-State? They have an awesome program specializing in chinchillas and I can't believe they'd say to do another steroid shot. Definitely take her to the college and have her put under with gas to do xrays. (unless she's pregnant, as I talk about below)

Ditch the Charlie Chinchilla food and get some Oxbow or Mazuri from Petsmart. I've also heard that distilled water for long periods of time isn't good, but I'm not 100% sure on that...just something that's popping up in my head but I don't have the facts to back it up at the tips of my fingers. I'd get some reverse osmosis water. You can get it at wal-mart under the "drinking water" label.

Ok, so you moved her AND a male from a 3 tier cage to a 1 level cage? If she's pregnant, the could be the reason she's not herself, not jumping, and can't roll completely. Is that a possibility???
 
Dr. Carpenter will be seeing her this week (thursday) at KState, we are on day 6 and she is still wobbly but she is in a good mood and happy. Will change their food and switch to bottled water. LORD I hope she is not pregnate, how would I tell? I do have the chins seperated, I am not ready for babies!
 
It's often hard to tell with pregnancy until the end. We're usually pretty good about being able to tell - we have a gram scale and keep track of our chins' weights every 15 days (2x month)... but we even had one pull a fast one on us... fluctuated her weight a bit and out popped a kit!

I would get a gram scale for yourself and start weighing her. Well, it's probably good practice to keep weights on all chins. But anyway, you will notice weight gain if she's pregnant. Upon switching foods, you may also notice weight gain, but typically pregnancy weight gain is more than you'd see just from switching to a better pellet.

I would have her in a baby-safe cage if you already don't, as it can be impossible to tell, especially for someone who doesn't breed regularly, if the chin is pregnant or not.
 
Sometimes chins can become wobbly because they lose muscle and don't have enough to keep themselves steady and to get around properly. If the vet can't find anything with an exam, it could be some type of metabolism issue and the chin may not have the muscle she should have.

The food that you are using really needs to be thrown out and you should get something decent. That itself could help solve the issue, believe it or not. Then again if this is something internal, it won't go away with proper diet. For now, change that diet to something else like the Mazuri or Oxbow. The food you are using is something I tell every customer to avoid because of the impact it can have on the health of chinchillas.
 
How long have you had them seporate? A chins gestation is 111 days so if its been longer than that she's not prego. I would definetly keep her in a small cage so she can't fal and hurt herself and see another vet. Like everyone else has said steroids just aren't good for chins unless its a last chance try.
 
The reason you shouldn't use distilled water is it's the closest thing to pure water you can get. That means it has no mineral like normal water has.

Again is she tilting her head? Going in circles?
 
Nona is still wobbly, KState said to wait to bring her in until her condition changes (according to daughter @ KState), as long as she is eating, drinking and interacting with me, if she gets worse then bring her in. The vet has been calling almost daily to check up on her, I really apprieciate their concern and all your comments. I am like a frantic mother here
 
The problem with waiting is that chins do not show symptoms until they are very ill. Waiting for her condition to change could be the death of her.
 
Waiting will definitely only worsen the condition. And you still haven't said if she's having any head tilt or what not. If it was my chin I'd run her on a course of antibiotics in case it's ear infection...
 
They checked her ears and didn't find anything wrong. She does have the "Ray Charles" tilt going on. Monday afternoon she goes into KState to find out what is going on. She is still eating, drinking and socializing with me just find, but seems to get mentally worst and harder for her to get around. Hard to describe "mentally worst" , just see it in her eyes and body language. She trys so hard to be normal. I hate that she had to get this way before KState would see her. I will keep everyone posted on her diagnosis. Thanks for all the greate advise everyone
 
I once knew a human with vertigo... he had the same symptoms you are describing! The doctors checked his ears for infection, and when they didn't find any, they attributed the vertigo to a previous ear infection (though no previous infection was in evidence). No antibiotics were given to him, and his condition resolved completely with dramamine. You can buy this stuff off the shelves at any CVS (but a human dose would probably kill a chinchilla)
Hope she gets better!
 
How did the visit to KState go? I hope they had some answers for you and everything is going to be ok!
 
mim0saBones said:
No antibiotics were given to him, and his condition resolved completely with dramamine. You can buy this stuff off the shelves at any CVS (but a human dose would probably kill a chinchilla)
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I'm gonna jump on here (since no one else has yet) so the OP doesn't follow the above advice. Do NOT give human drugs to a chinchilla unless recommended by your vet or by experienced chinchilla breeders or ranchers. Period. :banghead:
 
Oh, I'm not saying that she should medicate her pet without professional say-so, just sharing a similar exprerience! We mammals have a lot in common, so I thought it might be the same thing :)
 
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