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[ymistry]

One of our chins, Raisin (9 year old male), had been lethargic and isolating himself for the past three days, hiding in his house or bath, or standing in a back corner of the cage facing the wall. It seemed like strange behavior but it's been so hot lately I thought it was just the heat. We set the air conditioner to it's lowest setting and cranked it  non-stop, thinking it might help (we normally have it on timer for them). When I got home last night Raisin was still hiding in a back corner. I gave him a little nudge and he literally fell over! He looked a lot thinner than normal and was practically limp when we picked him up. Our vet was closed for the night so we rushed him to the place they referred us to for emergencies. They said he was dehydrated and immediately put him on some fluids and did some bloodwork. I got a call this morning saying based on the bloodwork they think it's a kidney problem but they are not sure if it's chronic kidney failure.  He'd been there receiving fluids for about 5 hours at that point and was still in the same condition as when we brought him in. He also isn't eating, which is a horrible sign because this little guy has always loved food. He's been known to drag a food dish across the cage so he can hoard it all for himself.

They don't normally deal with chinchillas and recommended I transfer him back to our regular vet. Our regular vet is on maternity leave (bad timing!) and the nearest place is too far to transfer him to in his current state. I am trying to see if their specialist can at least look at the bloodwork and make recommendations over the phone.

So, assuming it is kidney failure, here are my questions:
 - Is there any treatment that would let him come back from this?
 - Is there anything I can recommend the vet try as treatment?
 - Does this sound like Kidney failure, or could it be anything else?
 - Is he in pain?  Is putting him to sleep the humane thing to do? ;-(

He looked fine last week so this is pretty sudden. I had changed their food from one that had a lot of treats in it to one that had less. I'd mixed the new food with the old food to make the switch. This was about 6 months ago. My other chin immediately became more energetic than ever so I thought this switch was a good thing. There has been a decrease in amount of food eaten since I switched the food but I thought it was because they could no longer just pick out the treats.  Now I am wondering if he was actually eating a little less over time, although the drastic weight loss was sudden.

The  vets who helped were super nice and I really appreciate their help, but knowing that they have very  limited experience with chins is not very reassuring. Any info you can provide me with so I can make the right decisions here would be very helpful.

Thank you so much for any assistance you can provide.

[dianah]

i am so very sorry to hear this i have no experience with kidney problems, however, i just want to tell you that they generally stop eating when there's something wrong, regardless of what it is. one of my chins has an allergy (to pollen, we're guessing) and she stops eating even when she's just having a flare up with that.
the important thing is to feed him, if you have to force feed him then that's what you have to do. this doesn't necessarily mean that it's extremely serious although it of course can be. oxbow critical care fine grind is great for syringing and he may even eat it off your finger (mae has done when she wouldn't have anything else but she had to be force fed on several occasions).
is he in pain? i'm guessing they are giving him pain relief? the thing with chins is that they don't show when there's something wrong and that's why they appear to go downhill very suddenly.

i'm not sure what to suggest vet wise. are there any other surgeries near you? i don't have an exotic specialist on the island but there are two vets at my surgery who are very good with chinchillas. perhaps you can ring the other surgeries - if there are some - and see if there's somebody who's experienced?

as for whether putting him to sleep would be the right thing to do.. you'll know. if you're force feeding and his weight doesn't even remotely stabilise, if he has absolutely no interest in anything and just lies there without moving, if he refuses to swallow food then it probably would be. get him a heat pad - mae for some reason finds it very comforting when she's sick. i've seen chins (well, mae) bounce back from what even the vets thought was the end.

good luck! xxx

[ymistry]

Thank yo so much for your quick response yesterday. I really appreciated it. We followed the suggestions and gave him a little heating pad. We  hooked him up to receive lots of fluids and force fed him with a syringe. Unfortunately he didn't show any signs of improvement after being hooked up to the fluids for 24 hours. The vet felt that he had been hiding his symptoms for a long time and by the time he stopped hiding them it was simply too late. It was just as you said, he had no interest in anything, he just lay there and refused to swallow foods. Our emergency vet was able to talk to an exotics specialist but in the end it seemed the best thing to do would be to let him go. Signing the papers to do that was the hardest decision ever but in the end it was apparently the right decision. He beat the vet to it and passed away on his own about 10 minutes before they were going to put him to sleep.

As hard as it is for me, I am most concerned about her cagemate. They were inseparable and this is her first time being alone in 8 years. I know they are very social animals and I am hoping she will be ok.

[dianah]

i am so very sorry to hear that it's very hard to spot when there's something wrong, they're so good at hiding things

as for the cage mate, you could get her a little stuffed toy just make sure there are no bits like eyes etc she could eat. i'm sure you'll spend more time with her to compensate.

i would suggest, if you can, you could weigh her, once a week or every couple of weeks - weight is a good indication of what's going on and even if she does appear gloomy which she no doubt will, if her weight is stable, you'll know she's eating like she should.

[ymistry]

Thank you. I will try those suggestions!

[Jhenderson27]

Sorry for your loss.  We lost our 3 week old a few months back.  TERRIBLE feeling.  It will ease with time, just remember the good times!

[ymistry]

So it has been a few days and I'm still a bit concerned about my other chin, Peanut.  Overall she seems to be doing well. She is active and still loves running on her wheel. We've been giving her extra time outside the cage which she very much enjoys.

She pretty much refused to spend any time on the lower level of the cage (unless it was to run out the door). I thought it might be because that is where her buddy was spending most of his time during his last days. I gave the cage a good cleaning today and  have since seen her hanging out  down there so I think it helped. The thing that concerns me is that I can't get her to eat her pellets. I've seen her eat hay and drink on her own but the food dish is still full. I tried moving it to an upper level but that didn't help. If I hand feed her a treat she will devour it. If I hand feed her a pellet she will eat one if I'm lucky, then realize it's a pellet and either refuse the next one or take it and throw it aside!

We thought she may only be eating cause it's like comfort food during a sad time. Much like humans. Just a theory.

Since she will eat treats out of my hand, are there things I can give her by hand that aren't pellets but would have some nutritional value?
I read on this board to try oats so I was going to go buy some tonight. Is there anything else?

Also, I know a sudden change in diet is bad. Should I try to buy a different brand of food tomorrow and mix it with the current food? I know a sudden change in diet is bad as well, but I assume it's better than no food.

Thanks again for all your help!

* * *

UPDATE: I gave her the rolled oats and she LOVED them. After feeding her a few by hand I tried mixing it into her food bowl. I'm not sure if she ate any pellets but she did pick out every single piece of oat! Should I just give her a bowl of oats to go with her timothy hay?

[dianah]

oats are great - mae eats them when she won't have anything else. however, don't give her too much. a teaspoon once/twice a week is probably the limit.

if she's eating hay, i would not be too concerned about her not eating pellets. was she a big pellet eater before?

i wouldn't recommend too much of a new thing or new food altogether - like you said, sudden change in diet is dangerous and i would want to keep the changes to a minimum.

i would suggest, cut back treats to whatever you normally give her (remember oats are treats too), leave pellets as they are, give her plenty of hay, maybe add alfalfa hay as well (most pellets are alfalfa based).

the good news is she's doing everything as normal and the cage clean was a good move. when chinchi died, i was very worried about fluffy as i never saw her eat but when i weighed her, she'd put weight on (she was pregnant as well but there was no way to be sure for another two months)

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes the goal is to get her eating her pellets again. Oatmeal is a great treat and a pinch everyday will be fine, as long as you count it as her treat. If she is eating hay and drinking I wouldn't worry too much. I have one that eats very little pellets, but boy does she go through the hay.