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[dwavella]

My male chinchilla passed away 4 days ago and female chinchilla has been eating minimally and is quite weak at the moment and seems to be out of breath. Can anyone help asap?

Thanks

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

Given the lack of detail, I doubt that heatstroke can be ruled out.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

I am so sorry for your loss, and you must take action to make sure your girl stays alive. I reccommend a vet visit if you can rule out heatstroke.
Can you also give us more detail? What else is going on? Have their been any environmental changes to the chins, both to the deceased before he passed and to the female?

[GrayRodent]

What is the temperature in the room? - rule out heat stroke. Temp above 75F (24C) is often fatal for chins.
What kind of diet are you feeding?
How old is the hay they are eating? Is it fresh and from a good source? Is there any signs or smell of mold or moisture in the feed?
Could they have ingested something poisonous?
Did the male have the same symptoms before he died?
Are there any signs of watery eyes or nasal discharge, or any signs of wheezing or unusual noises?
If you have access to a veterinarian it would be a good time to take this one if it is not heat stroke. See if you can find a vet that treats rodents like guinea pigs and rats.

[glafond]

If she is not eating well, I would see a vet if possible, if not possible I would purchase oxbow critical care formula (can be found at petsmart and other pet stores) and administer it through a syringe as indicated on the bag.

In addition to what the others have said.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

@Glafond: I have heard much about the critical care formula. Do you know anything about it, meaning, what makes it different from a high quality chin food?

[glafond]

@Glafond: I have heard much about the critical care formula. Do you know anything about it, meaning, what makes it different from a high quality chin food?

The critical care formula, from what I understand has extremely concentrated ingrediants, so just giving the little bit prescribed will give the chin nutrients that a good meal would give, but its liquid so it gets into the system a little faster, this is my best description of what critical care formula is.

I would classify it - in terms of humans - like IV fluid.

[dwavella]

The temperature is about 27 C. It is a bit hot I know but I live in Malta (Southern Europe). I keep her inside all the time to avoid excess heat. I used a pipette to get her to drink a little bit. She is refusing to eat anything, not even raisins. Tomorrow I will be taking her to a vet; after long hours searching for one, I finally found one. I really hope she lives, I already lost the male about 4 days ago It would be too sad to lose them both. She makes strange noises as if she's out of breath and keeps moving her head upwards slowly. All this started just after the male died.

[mojito]

Keep in mind she is probably depressed as her friend just passed away, chins are very close to one another after they begin to bond, and its typical for a depressed animal to not eat/move very much. Let us know how the vet visit goes!

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

She moves her head upward? That sounds like seizures...

[GrayRodent]

This sounds like a severe respiratory infection or pneumonia. The vet will likely prescribe antibiotics. See if you can find critical care or something like it. Oral antibiotics will most likely make your chin stop eating for a few days and you will need to hand feed until it starts eating on its own again. You can grind some pelleted food in a coffee grinder and soak it in water until it is soft and see if she will eat that off a spoon if you don't have critical care. There are other things you can do if that doesn't work to get your chin to eat something.

If the temperature in the cage is 27C in the day your chinchilla may be too stressed to recover. You could put some cold water bottles or wet terra cotta pots in the cage to help being the temp down. Although the dampness may cause a ringworm infection in the long run she has to get out of the heat to recover from this.

I hate to say it but I think your chin is in really bad shape. I hope she pulls through but it might be a fight for a while.

[mojito]

If they are putting their head up constantly it's probably not seizures (don't rule it out completely without a vet tho); you can freeze some water bottles and put them in front of the fan to help cool the room down, another thing I've done is freeze a damp washcloth or towel, unfold it and put it on top of the cage (make sure they can't chew it)

[ABC Chinchillas]

Sounds like respiratory distress the chinchilla needs a vet chinchillas do not generally get that depressed at the loss of a cagemate. They may go slightly off thier feed but nothing that severe you have a very sick animal.