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[dianah]

i've been to see a chinchilla at a rescue today - it's not a specialised chinchilla rescue (the island doesn't have one). she is very timid and not keen to be touched but i got her out to check it's definitely a boy - turns out it's a girl - but i also noticed there was something hard  underneath her chin. i took it off and it was dried puss and i a tiny bit of puss came out (i think it's a pretty much healed wound). i washed it out with hibiscrub and noticed that lower down, there's a long hard (felt like bone but it was thicker than a toothpick) bit that's sort of sticking forward out of her neck.

i asked them to take her to the vets - she had already seen a vet when she came in but the obviously didn't notice this.

any ideas what it could be? i was thinking perhaps teeth but it's too far down for incisors and i've never seen any case of malocclusion so i have no idea what it looks like.

she is very thin but i think she's probably not had the easiest ride.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I would take her to a vet knowledgeable in chinchillas. Hard to say what It could be but doesn't sound good.

[ABC Chinchillas]

sounds like an abscess or infected cut. She will need oral antibiotics. You will need to see a vet

[dianah]

i'm going to see her again today and check she'd seen a vet. it's not my chin but i will be persistent. i do want to adopt her, she needs someone to take proper care of her. poor little baby. i'm bringing her some willow chews and nicer hay (she's currently on really short cut brown bedding hay)

[dianah]

she's mine now. i took her to the vets, she has a incisor root growing through her chin. we need to put some weight on her first, she only weighs 450g and is very skinny. she's been put on baytril and metacam and once she's bulked up a bit, she'll have an xray to determine where exactly the root is. then she'll need a surgery - hopefully they'll be able to do that depending on the root position - and if all goes well, she'll always have dental problems. but hopefully we'll be able to get her better.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Aww the poor thing, I'm so glad she's found you. She will need loads of TLC & attention to get her through this.

[dianah]

i know. she is so much brighter and looks a lot better than when we first got her - she's getting a chinchilla shape now and her fur looks nice and fluffy. she moves around a lot and all.

but her weight is not doing that great. i've had her for 13 days, the first two days she'd lost 10g and since then she'd put 8g back on (i've not weighed her today yet).. so she's not putting a great amount of weight on. but at the same time.. it's probably not just about weight, improving condition is important too.

the fact that she doesn't understand hay is supposed to be her primary food source makes it somewhat difficult but at least she doesn't mind chewing - she has a good go at soft wooden chews!

she's going for a check up next wednesday.

[Harleychin]

Maybe you could supplement her diet with some Critical Care to help get her weight up .

[dianah]

she won't eat critical care and i can't syringe feed it as it clogs the syringe no matter how watery i make it. i just got some chinchilla lifeline and dyno in post today, as well as a meal replacement (thanks dawnna!). she'd had lifeline & dyno, i've not tried the meal replacement yet but i'm hoping i can syringe feed.

she is actually eating but she was fed such rubbish diet before i got her (banana chips & chinchilla mix) that she wasn't eating any hay whatsoever to start with. she is now but nowhere near the amount my other lot are eating.

i give her oats, and alfalfa hay on top of her other food and she's getting raisins too (she is really constipated because of the medication so that's helping a little bit with that as well as giving her some calories)

has anybody used the fine grind critical care? does that clog syringes?

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Does she like yogurt? You could mix with a bit , she might just lick it off your finger.
Be careful mine would eat the fingers off me LOL

[dianah]

thanks debbie! i'll try that! definitely not off a finger though - i found out on the day i met her that if she bites, you bleed! she doesn't do warning bites or gentle nibbles 

does it matter what yogurt? just normal natural yogurt? would probiotic natural yogurt be ok? how much can she have?

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Oh well  if she bites you might want to just put it in a dish or something .
I wouldn't use too much enough to drown the CC. I used to give one of my sick chins 1 tablespoon 3 times per day with what ever I needed to put in it. Sometimes just crushed pellets.

[dianah]

thanks debbie. girl not keen on yogurt. i even tried flavoured one. nevermind.

she actually stopped eating yesterday :/ i was taking her to the vet today for a checkup on progress and was really worried about what they were going to say as she'd not put weight on and she'd stopped eating, i was in tears most of the day at work. BUT, the vet was actually really pleased, she thought Mae looked a lot better, she remember her spine protruding a lot when i brought her in two and a half weeks ago and she couldn't feel that anymore (yay!). she definitely thought she looked a lot healthier. she managed to get a better look at her molars and she does have at least one spur on the top molars.

she's going for an xray in a week so hopefully i can put a bit of weight on her before then! she did get a shot of metacam so hopefully she'll start eating again.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Awww dianah your poor baby, sure no wonder she doesn't want to eat. That spur is making it painful to do so.
Do up a mush for her  using what ever you can get into her.I always try to squeeze in a few crushed pellets as it's the trick to keeping the gut working.Even if I have to squish them into a raisin.
she'll need a trim and a soft diet for a while, alfalfa leaves seem to be the easiest for them to chew when maloccluded.
I have my fingers crossed for a speedy recovery. Just keep in mind you always have to be on the look out for " her signs" that she needs her next trim.

[dianah]

i wish it was just the spur :/ it really is mostly her elongated root (combined with an abscess it's causing) that's growing through her chin - she paws her chin..

depending on what the xray shows... we might start out just filing those teeth, possibly having to remove the root in the future. we may have to remove the root straight away but obviously, this is quite a risky procedure.

whatever happens, she will be going for very regular checkups! thanks for the tips on squeezing food in her!