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[Amanda-22]

Up until the first part of April my 7 year old chin was healthy as he could be. During the first week in April my mom noticed that Maya was drooling a bit, I wasnt the concerned about it because he was eating and acting fine, I finally noticed that all of a sudden he was no longer eating his pellets or hay thats when I called the vet, got him in and looked at and it turns out two of his teeth had curled and were digging into his cheek, she filled them down and sent us on are way home. He became himself again after that until last week where I noticed he wasnt eating much and was just lazy, got him into the vet on thrusday and turns out he had a spur on his tooth so she filled it down and sent us on are way. Sense thrusday I can get a few pellets into him and little bit of hay, I have been trying to feed him Critical Care but that isnt working out to well, now he is hardly pooping and when he does it very tiny. I have weight him and he clocks in at 444g and from what I have read the norm for a chin is around 500g.

He eating Oxbow Pellets, Oxbow Timothy hay, and mix of Oxbow Orchard Grass and Oat hay. He does get a raisin every now and then as a treat.

Im just at a lose now, I dont know what to do and its stressing me out, should I go back to the vet and see if they can help me out? Or am I just stressing myself out for no reason.

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

Well, it could be that when the spur was filed down on Thursday, the vet nicked the inside of your chin's mouth. The inside of a chin's mouth is an incredibly tiny space to be working in, and sometimes that happens. This could cause enough discomfort for your chin to stop eating.
My "dental chins" never liked Critical Care, but I did have good success with feeding 2 other liquid formulas:
1) Hay Liquid Chow: fill a clean coffee grinder with equal amounts of rolled oats and hay. Alfalfa leaf grinds up well for this purpose. (If you only have timothy hay, I'd cut it up a bit before trying to grind it). After grinding, take a teaspoon of this powder, add some vanilla nutritional shake mix(like a 1/8 of a tsp) and enough water to make it liquid-y enough for you to get into a syringe.
2) Pellet Liquid Chow: In your clean coffee grinder put:
1 Tbsp Pellets, 1 Tbsp rolled oats, 1/4 tsp nutritional shake mix, and grind  to a powder.Then add a Tbsp of rasberry yogurt and enough water to make it thin enough to syringe feed.
The shake mix I used was called Spiru-tein(brand is nature's Plus).
This is not set in stone - these formulas are just to give you an idea of alternatives to Critical Care, as it is important to get some food into your chin's tummy. Come next week, if your chin still shows no interest in eating hard foods, i would run him back to the vet, so they can take a look...
good luck, Lori

[Amanda-22]

If all else fails I will give the other two liquid formulas a try. Do you know of any other shake mix I could use to replacs the spiru-tein? By the look on the companies website they dont sell that mix in Canada. Also could I use Alfalfa hay? or is that the same as Alfalfa leaf?

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

Oh yeah, use any type of soy protein shake mix - I'd suggest using an unflavored version or a vanilla flavored(this is based on what my chins liked).
As for the alfalfa, I always had the hay on hand - the leaf grinds better that the stalks, so I'd take a small clump of hay, crush it in my hand and let the crumbled leaf part fall onto a plate, and that's what I'd use for when I had to make the formula.
Both these "recipes" are really quick and easy to make. If you can't get the shake mix, just omit it. I put it in for extra vitamins, etc.
You don't want your chin to lose his appetite, which could happen if he goes long enough without eating. If he's still not taking the critical care, tempt him with something else. My suggestion would be to try the liquid hay formula, since hay is so crucial for their gut.

[Amanda-22]

I will make one tomorrow once I either get yogurt or the oats. Is rolled the same as old fashion oats?

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

Yes, rolled oats are the same as the old fashioned ones. You can use quick oats as well, since they're going to get pulverized anyway.
Has your chin been taking any food at all for you?
Lori

[Amanda-22]

He will eat a small mouth full of the CC and I caught him a few hours ago nibbling on a peice of food, so at least he is getting something into him.

[Amanda-22]

Well its been almost two weeks sense my little one had his teeth filed down, he is eating but only half of every pellet he picks up. When I woke up this morning his chin was wet and I know that is a sign of when his teeth are getting bad.

Im just wondering if its the food he is on. For his first 6 years I had him on living world but the year that he has been on oxbow ive had nothing but teeth problems.

What other foods could I move him to?

[GrayRodent]

Sadly there is a condition called structural malocclusion that chinchillas can inherit and the risk is high if the breeder does not take care to breed known maloccluders out of the line. It is a genetic disorder where the skull does not grow properly and the teeth do not align. The constant growing of the teeth requires precise alignment to grind down the entire surface otherwise part of the surface grows out and generates those tooth spurs the vet files. Sometimes the vet will miss one that is in a hard to see area so I would recommend another exam if you decide to go that route. The nature of this kind of problem is usually progressive. With that being said I'm not sure if that particular type would present 7 years down the road so I wonder if maybe it could have been caused by something underlying like trauma or something stuck in the gumline.

I would consider Oxbow pellets to be in the top 5 recommended pelleted diets partially because it does not have sugary stuff mixed in that can cause tooth decay. It is also a firmer texture than cheaper foods which has more tooth trimming potential. Cheaper mixes tend to be softer and sugary which can cause chinchillas to eat less hay which can also cause tooth overgrowth and the sugar, if high enough, can cause rapid tooth decay which can result in misalignment. Perhaps the chinchilla was doing better on softer pellets since he ate more of it (softer foods are less irritating to a chin with tooth problems) but the problems you are having may have been inevitable depending on the cause of the malo. Having wood and pumice in the cage also promotes good teeth with unlimited access to wood being essential.

Perhaps others who have experienced before can comment. It is my understanding that tooth filing does not solve the underlying cause.

[Amanda-22]

Well im calling the vet today to get him in, im also going to ask for an xray and go from there. But if anyone has gone through this please give your imput.

[Chinchillas4u]

Hello, my name is Bonnie. I have a chinchillas that I took in as a rescue who is now 8 who has the same issues it seems as your chinchilla does. We have 3 chinnies, 2 years old, 8 1/2 and my oldest is 15 1/2!!! Two years ago my 8 1/2 year old started to have issues with his teeth. Spurs, teeth growing out of alignment getting sharp points and a few cavities if you can believe it. The vet has taken out loose teeth with cavities which have grown back in. When I say taken out, she just gave them a little push and they fall out. He goes evey month like clock work to have his teeth looked at and have any issues taken care of under light anistetic. As this is going to continue for the rest of his life I spoke with our vet and owners of the clinic to reduce that amount that I pay each time. My bill went from $400.00 a month to between $150-200 depending on how severe the teeth were each time. It's pretty much $100 for anistetic and $50 for the trim. Now that being said we are able to manage it for him. I weight him twice a week and monitor his food and stool to know when it's time to go back in. We give all our chinnies lots to chew on. They only get Chinnie pellets and alfalfa pellets (mine don't like the loose hay, go figure) plus a mixture of grains suited for humans, 8 grain bulk cereal I buy at the grocery store with extra rolled oats, flax seed and quinoa added in. We cut out treats 5 years ago, no more raisins. They get apple branches, pine cubes we cut up from untreated wood and dried cactus wood instead. I can tell you that for the most part like posted above it can be a genetic thing and most likely it will need to be a long term treatment plan. It is manageable, don't give up. Our little guy is healthier and happy as always now that we have it in check but you need a good vet who knows what they are doing. Please e-mail me at Bonnie-c@telus.net if you have any questions. We have had chinnies for 15 1/5 years as my oldest is 15 1/2. I am by far an expert but can offer advise or any help that I can. I hope all goes well. Keep us posted, the chin community is a wealth of knowledge and experience. I like to think we're a great bunch who just love our fuzzies !!!!

[Jo Ann]

   You and your vet can find a world of information at the California Chins website.  It is a research group in California for Chinchillas.  They often do do consults with vets.  You can find them at: http://www.cachins.org/  They also have information and several recipes for chinchilla supplements you may find very helpful.

   A chinchilla's health is often directly related to the health of it's teeth and it's digestive system.  The teeth are the instruments for the ability to start the digestive system.  When they are not able to be used normally, for whatever reason, your help, as their chin parent, and your vet's experience and help will probably be needed for him to survive.  Tooth problems may be what is called malocclusion, or something stuck between his teeth or even a cracked tooth or spur on the tooth.  An X-ray should tell you this if the exam cannot.  If he can not chew his own food, it's up to you! 

Here's a recipe I have used many times for my little ones:
 
Homemade Critical Care

1/2 cup ground Alfalfa Hay
      (Timothy or Meadow Hay is OK, but Alfalfa is the richest ... whatever you can find that is fresh and crisp)
1/8 cup rolled oats
      (Not the kind with the Quaker on the box ... the natural ones that came from a field
       ... they can be found in a feed store usually or from someone that raises horses)
 1   capsule acidophilus (found in most health food stores)  Keep bottle in refrigerator once it has been opened!
 5 or 6 drops Pedialyte
      (I use Gerber baby food apple flavored individual size bottle because pedialyte
      is only good for 24 hours after opening.) The rest of the bottle I use in the water
       bottle 2 ounces at a time. Empty, wash and rinse between filling.
 2   small air-tight containers

Instructions:
(1) Grind the alfalfa hay and the rolled oats in the blender or coffee grinder (Wait for dust in container to settle before removing the top or you will have a green dust cloud floating in the room.)
(2) Allow powder to cool in refrigerator for about 15 minutes before adding acidophilus!
(3) Empty one capsule of Acidophilus into the powder mix.
(4) Use a table spoon of mixture with a few drops of the pedialyte to moisten it.
(5) Form little 'foot balls' about the size of a raisin. 
(6) Give your chin 2 or 3 at a time at least 4 times a day. More often, if he will eat them.
(7) Store extra 'footballs' in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
( Store left over powder mix in another air-tight container in the refrigerator.
(9) Store Acidophilus in Refrigerator at all times after you open the bottle!

The necessity to store in the refrigerator is because the acidophilus contains the flora needed to keep the digestive system working properly in order to keep it working as needed.  Acidophilus must be kept refrigerated to remain viable.

Your chin's poop/feces should always be oval shaped, moist and firm ... and allot of it ... not small, not hard or dry, and not mushy wet either.  When a chin is sick or having problems, I keep a layer of white paper towels or butcher paper as a lining in the cage ... check it to see any changes in the poop and change the paper daily.  This can be a constant check on the digestive system.  When the poop/feces changes, your chin's health is changing.  There should be lots of poop ... a decrease in the number, size and/or texture of the poop usually means there is a problem.  Poop can be one of the first signs of illness in a chinchilla.  This will be obvious long before you may notice any other sign in time to help him get well a.s.a.p.

If a chinchilla's digestive system is not working properly, he can get stopped-up or constipated.  For humans, this is uncomfortable and can cause pain ... for a chinchilla it can kill.  When a chinchilla gets stopped up, his system makes him feel full ... because he is ... full of not digested food.  He thinks he is not hungry because his tummy feels full, so he does not eat ... when he does not eat he gets weaker and weaker.  A chinchilla's digestive system or "gut" must remain properly active or it can kill him.

I am not a vet, but I have been raising and breeding chinchillas for over 20 years and have had over 200 at any given time during many of these years.  I still have several that are living from the original 10 that I started with.  They are in their 20s and are in their senior years.

Your love and dedication to your chin is needed for them to survive.  The rewards they give you are multiplied many times over ... they can make you smile and laugh at the end of even the worst of bad days for you.  This is called chinchilla love!  Keep your little one happy and healthy and he will do the same for you!

Hope this helps!  Keep us posted!
Jo Ann
Luv 'N Chins