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[Jhenderson27]

So I got a call last night from the people who adopted Shandy, When Shandy left our house she was at 300g +/- 5.  Over the last 9 days Shandy has been entergetic, loving etc....however an unknown issue with her waterbottle has come to light, she hasnt been able to get anything out of it.  She has drastically lost weight to 180g.  They brought her to me last night, i had fed her and nursed her and got her water into her system and back up to 197g in less than 8 hours.  Today she is very weak, unable to move much. I had them come get her and rush her to a vet where she is now.  Im worried sick even though shes not one of mine and venessas.  We are both heart broken and worried sick.  Is there a chance she can pull through from this or what.  I will know more from them when they call after the Vet visit. All advice is welcomed.

[Jhenderson27]

So update from the vet/chin parents.

Shandy has a severe case of dehydration and will be admisistered fluids for the next 2 days at the vet.  She will be taken care of by them.  Also they noticed she had a heart murmur.  How is this caused.  She is part of a herd that I own every other kit and the mom and dad.  They have all been checked and are ok.  Can this just be a fluke considering no one else has it.  Could the dehydration cause the heart issue.  I know that studys show 30% can have them and most kits will grow out of them.  I have read vitamin c is excellent, no treats, and a wheel at all times.  Anything else?

[ABC Chinchillas]

The heart murmer could be a result of the dehydration, it could also be recessive and carried but not always present or it could be misdiagnosis by a vet, no way to know, Maybe she will outgrow it

[dianah]

oh my god that is awful! poor little girl! i don't have any advice as i have no experience with this at all but i hope she'll get better really quickly and that her heart murmur will be one of those that go away. xxx

[Jhenderson27]

It crushed me to see her like that.  Of course the first thing I did was go on the war path with them.  But looking at it from a neutral stand point now, its not their fault, its just something that unfortunally happend and all the dice were rolled against her wrong.  Shes always been a little pistol, im hoping she has that fire and comes out of it strong.  Damn Superpet glass bottle woulndt allow water to come out.  I dont know why, i have 3 of the same bottles and they work like a charm.  O well.  Thanks all!  Keep her in your thoughts!

[dianah]

i quite possibly don't have a neutral point of view but it is their fault. i always check if the water is coming out when i put a bottle in. but then, new owners don't necessarily know and chins are good at hiding that there's something wrong.

it must be absolutely heartbreaking for you. so, did she lose 120g in 9 days? how long did they have her for? she should have been putting weight on after the move as well...

[Jhenderson27]

They picked her up March 1.  They brought her to me last night, frantic I pushed as much fluids in the girl as I could.  I got her back up to 197 before she left this morning.  I got some goats milk in her, she was eating pellets and hay all night and drinking feverishly.  I have had another update, she has gotten some fluids back in her, shes on antibiotics(IV) and she is getting a sugar solution as her glucose was low, and getting fluids costantly.  She was very tired and weak this morning, barely able to move, now shes sitting up on her own and holding herself up.  Were not out of the woods, however some positive news is good.  Lets just hope the best for this little trooper.

For them, they are trying, they read alot on chins, especially from here as i preach about it constantly.  They feel terrible, the biggest problem was they didnt have a working scale for her, this could have been averted had a scale been present, 10% body weight loss and somethings going on. She had a 38% drop in weight over the period of time she was there.  My guess a majority of it was due to water weight in her body being depleted.  They saw her eating, they hand feed her pellets as treats occasionally and she ate them.  Its just the damned water bottle and no forethought of it not being lower in volume.  I know everytime i walk in the room how much it moves on each cage, I will be WILLING to bet they will watch this more closely.  I told them to just junk the bottle and get another high quality glass one and start from scratch if the babe pulls through.

[dianah]

that's good news hopefully she'll keep improving.

i'm sure they feel terrible and will keep an eye from now on. when i got my guinea pigs (before i had chins), their bottle didn't work properly but i noticed that the water levels didn't change.

i have all my fingers crossed!

[Jhenderson27]

Well I spoke with the Vet tech myself, I am acutally going to be picking her up this evening.  I will be taking her to my house and doing a little babysitting and education session with the owners, as if i already hadn't before.  This evening is giong to require bi-hourly sugar solution, help with feeding, drinking help.  They said she is doing better, but she will be required to go back and stay tomrorow.  The vet didnt want her left unattended all evening so the parents of her will be seeing first hand how to show her how much she is loved.  I am going to prompt them that if anythign else happens, her housing situation is going to be re-visited and possibly may come back to us if need be.  I dont mean to come off harsh, but she is one of our babies and I only want the absolute best for her.  I am very glad to hear that they didnt spare expense, they wanted the best treatment possible for her.  Intravainious fluids, constant care, all available medicines, etc....The Dr. that they have seen is a very well known Dr. to my family.  he has performed ACL/Meniscus surgery on our huskey and shes since recovered from both back knees and back to puppy status at the ripe age of 6 not 16, 6.  So thanks for the well wishes, keep her in your prayers, shes a fighter and I will do everything i can to give her the best shot she can have.


Justin

[dianah]

i'm glad she's going to stay with you for the night. it sounds like she's doing well. sugar solution sounds yummy!

i know what you mean. of course you don't want to sound harsh and i'm sure they must feel awful at the moment. but it is important that they realise how fragile the little monkey is and how good she is at hiding any problems, so you're doing the right thing. you want the best for her and i'm sure they do too.

[jmdebb]

wow, glad she is doing better.  i don't understand how they couldn't tell she wasn't drinking.  i always look at how much water is in the bottle.

as for the heart murmor, i'm not saying kristy is wrong, she's been doing this way more than me, but i found out noel has one when we went to the vet last month.  i asked about it, and the vet said it's quite normal in pocket pets to have small murmors.  i never heard that before tho.  but this vet does do pocket pets.

[Jhenderson27]

Just a quick update.  Shandy is doing remarkably better.  Definatly not out.of woods yet.  She's back to 240g.  60g in 24 hours.  90+ % water weight.  We have been giving 1ml apple baby sauce.and 1ml goat milk as prescribed for vet.  She's.moving around, eating pellets and hay and pooing. Great.  Illupdate more tomorrow.  She goes back to vet at 8am for more fluids and sic.  Goodnight all.  Thanks for the.positive words.  Keep her in your thoughts!  : )

[dianah]

so glad she's doing so much better. wow, 60g in a day, that is pretty amazing!

[animalluver]

  That's horrible! I'm glad she's at least making progress! You should tell her owners (if she stays with them) that they should either a. get a bottle with MEASUREMENTS, so they can look at the markings and make sure the water level goes down, or b. get one of those heavy bowls to put water in so she can't tip it. When I first got my chin we had a water bottle, but I didn't see the volume decreasing at all, so I got extremely worried that the bottle wasn't working, and put in a bowl. The poor thing drank for a full five minutes before satisfied.  Now I never have a bottle in her cage unless there's a bowl too, just in case.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes waiting to hear she's back to normal