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[Linda]

I had the cutest black velvet named Timmy who, prior to me getting, was placed in the same cage as a brown velvet named Lucy    I only had Tim a couple of weeks and decided to get him neutered so these 2 chins could stay together.  The op went well, I got him home and within a few hours he had chewed through his stitches and muscle and had punctured his large intestine which had spilled out.  Despite doing all we could to save him he died at the vets the following day.     Has anyone heard of chins doing this?  I am still trying to find out why. 

[chinclub]

Linda,
I am so sorry to hear about Timmy.  I know that must have been heartbreaking.  I have never had a chinchilla neutered so maybe someone else can give you a more experienced answer but I will tell you what has happened with some of my chinchilla mothers which may explain it.  I had a mom give birth to a baby last year that went terribly wrong.  The mothers usually clean the baby by instinct.  The best we can tell, during clearing she accidentally bit the baby causing blood.  So she cleaned more, causing more blood.  Eventually she ate part of the baby and it died.  It could be that once he opened his stitches he began bleeding and in trying to clean the blood he caused even more damage.  But you will probably never know for sure.

Give Lucy a lot of extra love and attention.  I'm sure she is missing Timmy, too. 

[Summer]

  I am sorry for your loss,I know how bad thats hurts. I just lost cat, it's not a chin but huts the same. I thought that your not supped to neuterer chins because they don't do well surgery.I hope You and Lucy feel better. 

[chinclub]

Its not that chinchillas can't deal through surgery its that most vets don't know enough about a chinchillas special needs to put them to sleep safely.  For example, with many animals a vet will place them in a warm room or on a heating pad until they wake up because the animal can't regulate its own temp.  With chinchillas that is a no-no because we all know how easily they overheat.  We have a vet that comes to us and we don't think twice about putting a chinchilla to sleep if it has a problem that we need to treat.  Charlie has been put down twice and one of my girls that got her face messed up in a bad fight got put down 5 times in 3 weeks to do major cleaning of her wounds. Its all a matter of doing it correctly. 

With Timmy, I'm sure it was just one of those freak accidents that no one can predict.  Sometimes things just happen.

[Jo Ann]

I think I am the one that might have miss stated it on another thread, I stated that chinchillas do not do well with surgery of any kind.
    I should have stated it differently ... With the care and lack of knowledge of most vets about chinchillas, chins usually do not make it through surgery easily. {Unless it is a vet that is very knowledgable about chinchillas.} Chinchillas are relatively new to the pet world and can not be treated like most animals before, during and after surgery (as Jamie pointed out).  Most vets are not familiar with how easily and quickly a chin's system will shut down and how quickly a chinchilla can die.  They do not realize the need for quickly and constantly replacing the good bacteria in the digestive system of a chinchilla, that it is needed to keep the system going properly and constantly. Once the digestive system shuts down, it is very hard to get it moving again.   All bacteria (good and bad) are killed by the antibiotic used to prevent/treat infections.  If the good bacteria is not replenished constantly (halfway between each dose of the antibiotic) a chin will usually shut down and die. 
   Once my vet told me "I thought Guinea pigs went down fast (meaning die quickly)... they have nothing over a chinchilla!" 
    Because what I stated above, I never suggest neutering or spaying a chinchilla UNLESS it's life depends on it.  Any surgeries that are deemed necessary to help a chin live, I am all for them ... just not for the unnecessary surgeries.
     Sometimes a chin can go into shock, become chilled, over heated, have a heart attack, or be weakened by something else we don't even know about and die.
     Know now that he's in chinnie heaven playing freely with all the other chinnies with out pain, illness or restriction.


Jo Ann

[Linda]

If I knew then what I know now I probably would never have got Timmy neutered and would have separated him and Lucy.  Then again he and Lucy had been together for a year with their previous owner.   As it stands, they've been separated anyway, sadly.  It was a hard decision to make and one that went terribly wrong.    Knowledge of chins here in NZ is scarce, probably more so than in most countries.  There are a few vets that have dealt with chins in the UK but not to the extent that they have full knowledge of what is required.  I searched around Auckland for an exotics vet who said he was able to do the op.     Obviously we did not get the desired outcome.   On a happier note, Lucy is doing great and for a chin that had never been out of her cage in 2 years, she is now waiting at the door for her evening outing around her room.  Yes, she has her own bedroom   She runs up my arm and loves her scratches.  She is a real escape artist (aren't they all?) and I often hear her sneaking out of her cage at night while she thinks I'm asleep.  So, up I get to find her playing in my daughters old dolls house and running through her cardboard tubes.  I put her back in her cage and yes, of course she tries again.  After a couple of attempts she will stay in her cage until morning.  Her cage already resembles Alcatraz but she finds an escape route.  She seems really happy and I'm thrilled with her.  She's my companion at night while my husband is away....(and when he's back)!!  He thinks he's been replaced 

[Jo Ann]

Hi Linda,
   You are very lucky ... many chins who loose their mate will just give up and you loose them also.
   Now you are Lucy's family and she will turn to you constantly.  Maybe she's sneaking out of the cage because she wants a little company while she plays.  They are very smart.  Chins can be as quiet as they want to be, but when they want attention, they will usually make just enough noise to get your attention.   
   
 
Jo Ann

[Linda]

I tend to sit with her for at least an hour every night.  I have just come from her room and she has been all over me, running over the top of me, sitting on my shoulder and running in and out of her cage.  I have carpet inner tubes that I have placed everywhere - from her cage to the floor and into my daughter old dolls house and up onto our spare bed.  Every time I go past her room I chat to her to let her know that I'm there.  I would love to move her into the main part of the house to be with us but it's winter here and we have fires and heaters going so its too hot for her.  The spare room is cool.  She seems really happy and is far more relaxed than when I first got her.  Even the sight of my hand used to send her running.  I am amazed at the difference in her in the 6 weeks that I've had her.   Considering what she has been through - moving house & getting used to us, losing Timmy and she had an ultrasound because she had shown signs of having been pregnant (swollen genitals, excessive cleaning, blood stained vagina and soft poo).  I emailed photos of her genital area to the Chinchilla Rescue Center here and they confirmed that she would have given birth over the past 2 days.  They said she would have eaten the evidence as the kits would not have been formed.  I haven't a full understanding of the velvet to velvet pregnancies but knew enough to know it is a dangerous scenario.  So Lucy must have been so stressed, however, I have handled her each day over the period that I've had her and she has learned not to fear my hands or me.  She has come a long way and I'm so proud of her.  She's a real little trooper.   

[Summer]

Hi Linda good to hear that Lucy is doing good. Sounds like she has found her happy home. 

[Chins To Love]

Lucy is very lucky to have you, I am very sorry about Timmy. Just remember you were trying to do the best thing for him. You sound like a wonderful chin mommy.

[*Karen*]

I'm dreadfully sorry to hear about Timmy's tragedy but glad to know Lucy's coping well, hopefully you too. 

Like what Jamie and JoAnn said, you need a knowledgeable and hands-on experience vet to perform any surgery on a chin, but from your post, it doesn't appeared to me it was your vet's fault.
Half of my males are neutered, all were successful but one came down with an infection. From my vet's advise on neutering and/or any kind of op, either sew the stitches inside or put on an Elizabethan collar to prevent the chin from chewing/licking, best to do both to err on the safe side. 

[Linda]

Thanks Karen.  The emergency vet provided an Elizabethan collar but all too late I'm afraid.  I believe that if the exotics vet that performed the operation had provided or suggested any preventative measure I would have taken his advice and the outcome may have been different so I would have to argue that he was not at fault to some degree.  Although the operation went well, I trusted in his expertise and was given no post-op advice.  We have exchanged a few angry words but, of course, he is not taking any responsibility.  After Timmy's op I was keeping a close vigil but he managed to chew through in the time that it took me to get ready for bed and I now regret having left him alone.  Whether an Elizabethan collar would have prevented him chewing overnight while I was sleeping is questionable as he could have slipped out of it, but surely a deterrent of any kind could have assisted in preventing such a tragedy.  I have had to let go, forgive myself and the vet and get on with helping Lucy who is turning out to be a real little darling.  I love her to bits. 

Thanks to everyone for your sympathic ear and words of encouragement.  It all helps tremendously and is very much appreciated.

[chinclub]

Don't feel bad.  Its just one of those things.  It sounds like you and your vet did everything you thought necessary at the time.  Its always easy to look back later and think about "what-if" but that will just drive you crazy.  We are all hear for you!