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[LindyLu]

My chin Dewey has been slowly losing weight... BUT he had a virus that gave him a runny nose, and caused him to lose a bit of his appetite too.
March 1st he weighed 531 grams
March 4th he weighed 509 grams
March 5th I took him to the vet....their scale said he weighed 480 grams (but I am suspicious of the accuracy...that's a lot of weight to lose over night!)
March 10th he weighed in at 496 grams.

I am HOPING that he is still recovering from that virus and WILL gain his weight back soon. But when should I contact the vet again? Do I wait a week? 2? Do I wait until he's down to a certain weight? (what's too low for a 5.5 yr old male?)

On a positive note: little Daisy has been gaining and gaining! yay! I've been excited to get her up to 500 grams so she can finally join Dewey in his cage.
March 1st she was 412
March 4th: 417
March 10th 431 !! Woohooo!!

[chinclub]

Is Dewey still on meds and still fighting his illness?  If he is off of the meds and still loosing weight I would worry and a call to the vet would be a great idea. 

[LindyLu]

He was never on meds to begin with.
The vet said it would screw with his GI tract to put him on meds, so unless it was absolutely necessary...he'd prefer not to put him on meds. He said the virus was something Dewey would get over on his own. His runny nose is gone...but he still doesn't have a big appetite. He only eats & drinks a little bit. His poops are small and dry.

Should I offer him pedialyte?

[LindyLu]

....his nose started running again today. 
My DH wondered if he might have allergies.... is it possible for chinchillas to have seasonal allergies?

[chinclub]

I would ask your vet about oral Baytril.  Yes, it will affect his GI tract but you can give Probiotics to counteract this halfway between each dose.  Yogurt is a great source.  Check the ingredients as not all new "fancy" yogurts have them.  Activia is a safe choice.  So if you give Baytril at 7 am and 1 pm you would give the yogurt right in the middle at 10 am and again at 4 pm

[LindyLu]

That's an antibiotic though, right? The vet said he doesn't have a bacterial infection, therefore he doesn't need antibiotics. Vet said he has a viral infection that just has to run it's course.

But it's taking awhile....he's still not eating well. And with his runny nose popping up randomly again, I'm not sure if he's getting over anything. Which is why my DH asked about allergies...? but I don't know. I've never had Dewey at this time of year (beginning of Spring). I got him in June of last year.... maybe I should email his previous owner and ask if he's ever had allergies in Spring time before...?

[jmdebb]

i have a suggestion about food intake..

do you have any CC.. then at least you can force feed him so that he has food in him, and you can mix it with pediltye ?? to make sure he doesn't dehyrate.


i stink at spelling. sorry.
hope he gets better quick
jean

[LindyLu]

What is CC? I do have a syringe...but not sure what I would put in it...besides pedialyte. His pellets are too hard to crush small enough to fit through the syringe.

He's STILL losing.
March 13th weight: 478 grams. 

[LindyLu]

Talk to the vet... they wanted to do X-ray, blood work, and sedate him enough to look in his mouth (check teeth). I told them that's a lot of stress on a chinchilla and would prefer they choose ONE of these procedures (whichever seems the most beneficial based on his symptoms). They haven't gotten back to me yet, but they did give me some Oxbow Critical Care to force feed him. Poor little guy, he was mad at first, then before I knew it he was leaning toward the syringe...going for it...wanting more!
...which makes me think it's a tooth issue. He has been eating, just not much. (and he drinks water fine!) Maybe hard food is hurting him to eat, so he was all into this mush! But would teeth issues cause a runny nose? It's so weird. One doc thought he might have pneumonia, but I told her they listened to his chest on March 5th (last time we were at the vet) and said he sounded all clear.
Guess we'll see....in the meantime I'm feeding my lil guy through a syringe and he's cool with it. 

[Debbie.nl.ca]

They could do all that while he is just slightly sedated and would make it easier on the chin.

That's awesome he's taking the feedings.

[LindyLu]

Well it's a different kind of sedation... to put them under "regular" would be a risk to the chin. The vet said they have a special gas stuff that doesn't fully knock them out, but relaxes them enough to look at the teeth - then as soon as they pull the gas away, the chin is fully awake. This is less risky. If we need to do more than 1 thing, I'd choose the tooth check and the x-ray. I'm not sure the bloodwork would show anything.....but I think a tooth check will probably reveal the problem and an x-ray could at least make sure his lungs ARE clear.
Still no call yet though....I may have to call them again....and again ask for the vet to return my call. Nothing like playing phone tag with the Doctor!