Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[LoveYouMoki]

My 9.5 year old female chinchilla Moki fell from 5 feet onto a metal cage. Her front arm was cut and the skin was partially degloved. The tendon was exposed but intact. I took her to the vet, who x-rayed and found no broken bones. They administered light anesthesia and stitched the skin back together. They sent her home with 14-days of antibiotic and a probiotic to keep her system going. Followup at 4 days showed no infection and the wound closing. Followup at 14 days to have the sutures removed was done without anesthesia. Her would was closed and almost healed. Her vet discontinued the antibiotic and pro-biotic at that point.

She showed all the signs of health and activity during treatment and in the 10 days following her suture removal. She ate, drank, pooped, and peed at a good rate. She was active and went for free runs and was perky. The morning of day 29 she appeared fine. At dinnertime, she refused a second raisin. By midnight that night, she was acting strangely - shy, not coming to the cage door, refusing treats. I checked on her at 4am and she appeared sleepy and not to interested. At 8am she was lying with her head down and not really moving. When I picked her up, she was limp and didn't struggle. I heard her breathing was a bit labored and I could hear sighing or light wheezing sounds.

I live 3 hours from the vet, so we took her in. The vet sad her body temperature was low and her blood sugar was very low - 29 I think. They administered glucose and were starting to rewarm her when she gasped and passed away.

I am beyond devastated. She lived with me for 9.5 years and had a loyal cagemate who is 11. Why would she have survived the degloving, the anesthesia and stitches a month ago, only to fade and crash a month later. The vet is as puzzled as I am. There were no signs of infection, no diarrhea, etc. Perhaps she had an underlying heart or kidney condition, but she went 9.5 years without a single vet visit (except getting spayed at 1 year).

So, if anyone has ever had a chin appear totally fine and then crash suddenly, I'd like to hear from you. Also, this is a good reminder that even though your chin may appear to have recovered from surgery/anesthesia - it may be a slow almost imperceptible decline until they crash. We all know that when they crash, its very, very rapid and they usually don't make it.

Love to all chins out there. We miss you Moki...

[chinclub]

I am so sorry.  Chinchillas mask their symptoms very well so unfortunately it is very common to not notice a problem until it is too late. Digestive problems and respiratory problems can usually be caught early because a chinchilla can't hide those things but everything else depends on the chinchilla showing you it doesn't feel well and chinchillas won't do that.  I have had a chinchilla take a round of antibiotics just to die 24 hours after the last dose with no signs of illness but your girl went so long after the last treatment I have a hard time believing it was anything due to the arm.  It sounds like you and your vet did everything right.  I'm thinking it was some other secondary issue and unfortunately you will never know the answer unless you want your vet to do a necropsy.

Unfortunately most of us on this board have been in your shoes in one way or another.  This is the heartbreaking and frustrating side of owning and loving chinchillas.  Just know that she had a wonderful life and you did everything in your power to care for her.  That is all she would have asked from you.