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[Rose]

Ok guys,  I'm not sure what to do.  Mortamer was drooling quite a bit.  Which he has in the past and we took him to the vets to get his teeth shaved.  No problem he was fine in no time.  So, we took him to the vet and he's still not better.  Still drooling and I can tell he's lost a lot of weight.   I'm not quite sure what to do.  We made another appointment but that isn't until MOnday.  Until then, we've put himon a diet of plain yogurt, ground up pellets, and ground oatmeal, all mixed together.  He seems to enjoy that as much as he can.  I really want him to put back on the weight.  I just hate to see him like this.  His stool is fine, although within the last day or so they seem smaller than normal.   Maybe because he's not eating?  Any ideas on what may be wrong and what we can do would be very  helpful!  Thank you
Rose and MOrt

[Jo Ann]

Hi Rose,
   Sounds like more tooth problems to me.  :-[
   Chinchilla's teeth grow 1/4 to 1/2 inch per month.  If you have had them shaved/trimmed in the past, you will probably have to continue to do so ... how often depends on how bad it is. 
    Was it the front teeth or the back teeth that were shaved?
    I have only had to have one chin have it's teeth trimmed ... it's an every other week thing with him.  "Toofee"  was born with no upper front teeth.  For him to be able to eat, his teeth have to be continuously trimmed on a regular basis. 
    It is very easy for their weight to drop when their teeth are bothering them.  Good luck ... keep us posted!

 
Jo Ann

[chinclub]

Hi Rose,
Has your vet taken x-rays recently?  A common problem with malocclusion is that the roots of the teeth can grow too long. If the filing are no longer working you should request x-rays just too see... If you just got your chinchilla back from a filing and he isn't doing well it could also be that a tooth was filed too short.  This would cause major pain and the chinchilla would continue to drool and not eat.  One last thing I can think of right off is a splinter.  We had a chinchilla splinter her front tooth once.  From the front she looked fine but if you turn her to the side and look into her mouth you could see a piece of her front tooth was broken off and sticking into her mouth.  We were able to snip that piece of tooth off and she was just fine.

Unfortunately without seeing your chinchilla we can only guess but hopefully something will help you figure out the problem. 

[Rose]

Wow, I had no idea that having they're teeth shaved to short could be a problem.  I"ma little upset because I found a vet who was close to home that I could take him too.  When I called to ask about the drooling he suggested that I take him back to the original.   That kind of irritated me but at least he was honest.  If he did shave Morts teeth to much, then his teeth should grow back just fine right?  I'll have to let you know what they say on Monday, early morning for me!  Thanks for the advice.

[chinclub]

Our experience was years ago with a horrible vet.  When the chinchilla can back its teeth were ground down so far they were bleeding.  My guess is my vet exposed the pulp of the teeth.  She was in so much pain!  Hopefully that is not the case with yours.

[Jo Ann]

  Hi Rose,
   I'm confused a little ... Let's see if I am understanding this correctly ... One vet took care of his drooling by shaving his teeth ... then you took him to a second vet or the same vet?  And it did not work that time.
   Did the second vet shave his teeth?
   It is possible that the vet closer to where you are living (1) does not want or know how to shave the teeth OR (2) the vet that is closer to you would rather not take over a treatment that another vet started ... I could understand either reason for the one closest to you referr you back to the first vet.
    Is the vet that is closest to you the second vet or a third one?  This is where I am a bit confused.
    I totally agree with Jamie ... I just took it for granted (a mistake) that the vet would x-ray the teeth first.
    Are these exotic pet vets?  Are they experienced with chinchillas?  Not all exotic pet vets are experienced with chins, because chinchillas are relatively new to the pet world.
   Let us know how things go![/i]

 
Jo Ann

[paulfg]

Hi, this sounds somewhat similar to the problem we ran into back in the fall.  Our Chin "Chi" needed to have a CAT scan to identify that he had an abcess (sp).  X-rays don;t always show this problem.  Unfortunately it was very difficult us to find a place to actually do a CAT scan on a chinchilla.  After about 10 days we found a place and after 3 days or so we found the problem.  However by the time we were able to treat him with proper antibiotics he was too far along.  The story is much more complicated than I mentioned but I do highly RECOMMEND a CAT scan on your chin - it may save his life if he's not too far along already?  Good luck!

Paul

[chinchillagrl06]

If he is loosing weight you may want to get some LifeLine to supplement. http://chocolatechinchillas.com/_wsn/page8.html
LifeLine is fantastic and my chinnies think its Candy. LOL

[Rose]

Sorry to confuse anybody!  In a nutshell I took him to a new vet that is closer to my home.  The vet was upfront and said that he hasn't had much experience but he would do what he could.  He's great with my other pets so I gave it a shot.   After Mort was still drooling he suggested I go back to my previose vet, even thoug it was a drive.  So there are only two.    Is that better?   

So, I took Mort back to his previose vet.  They said that his teeth were not shaved enough and he still had a pointy one.  Plus, there was a cut on his tongue and it looked pretty infected.  So they are going to shave and then put him on antibiotics.   So I guess its a lesson learned, if you find a good chin stick with it!  I'm just glad the first one didn't try to "tink around" with my little guy and was honest.  That really makes me respect him more.  Thanks for the lifeline website!

[Jo Ann]

Hi Rose,
Great to hear this vet can take care of things properly ... and ... yes, it was much better that the new vet was very 'up-front' with you and did not try to correct a problem he was not familiar with.  You have good reason to respect him for that alone.

    Keep in mind that antibiotics kill ALL bacteria and can not tell the difference between the good bacteria (the ones that digest his food properly) and the bad bacteria that causes the infection.  For this reason ... to keep everything moving properly ... he needs some added good bacteria ... live culture yogurt, asodopilioous, or critical care given halfway between the doses of antibiotic.  (At least 3 hours apart.)  Reason being ... the antibiotic will kill the good bacteria in the supplements, if given to close to the same time AND the yogurt is a milk product and would cancel out the good the antibiotics do if given close to the same time as the antibiotic.
   
Keep us posted![/i]

 
Jo Ann

[chinchillagrl06]

LifeLine also has the acidolphis (sp?) in it. It's wonderful stuff. I can see such a difference in my pet pair since I've been using it. 

[Rose]

Thanks for the tip about the yogurt!  I had no idea the antibiotics would do that! 

[Jo Ann]

  To humans, too.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

The poor little darling.
I've seen the worst mallocclusion has to dish out.
Feel along his jaw line, and feel how big the bumps are.
Are chin with good teeth has a nice clean line.
Most malocclusion will leave bumps in the jaw as the roots grow.
If the mouth has been cut giving a homemade pediolite in a water bottle will help it heal. Salt does wonders to soars, much better than the gator aid , though both are great for preventing dehydration.
Crush pellets and mix with the yogurt if he's not eating well.
I have one that's been getting trims  sence early 2001.

[Rose]

Lucky for me He only needs to be trimmed every year and a half.  So not too bad.  $122 later (wow the vets does get expensive!) and he has his medication.  He was even given some medicatian that will help put back the bacteria.  Of course, i would have rather saved myself the money and used yogurt but alas, i am not a vet.  Who am I to argue with one!  I'd like to thank all of you with your great tips and ideas.  So glad theres a place where you can get good information!