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[crathan]

I am a relatively new chinchilla owner (have had my chins about 3 months now), and one of them has matted/clumpy fur around his eyes. I took all 3 of my chinchillas to the vet when I first got them, and the vet said the same chin now having the matted fur was sick with a lung and eye infection. The vet prescribed an oral antibiotic to be given twice daily for a week as well as gentamicin eye drops to be given twice daily for a week. I did this and then took the chin back to the vet to be reevaluated (this was at the end of December). At that point, the vet said the lung infection was gone but the eye infection was still present. She prescribed a repeat dose of eye drops, which I gave. In my opinion, the eye drops didn't do anything for my chin, and he didn't present with any other symptoms of illness, so I didn't take him back to the vet for another follow up visit. He continues to eat, drink, bathe, and play (though he is less energetic than the other two), but the fur around his eyes is noticeably matted/clumped. I'm not sure what to do. I feel like the vet would just prescribe the same eye drops that were given the last two times and didn't seem to work. I'm also not sure how serious of an issue this is, especially since my chin seems to otherwise be healthy. Are chins like humans in the sense that they can get eye boogers from time to time and it's no big deal, or is there something more serious at play here?
Any advice would be helpful. Please help me figure out what's going on with my chin. Thanks.

[GrayRodent]

There are a couple of minor things it could be. Yes, chinchillas can get eye boogers on occasion that don't amount to anything but they should not be there every day. In my healthy chinchilla in his two year life I've only encountered one time that I actually wiped around his eye because there was some mucus dried on.

One possible cause is a defective or clogged tear duct which is minor. Sometimes this can be caused by chinchilla dust causing inflammation. See what happens if you hold the dust bath for a week. Healthy chinchillas should be dusted at most every other day for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Anything more than that can cause problems.

Another thing it could be, considering your pet's recent history, is an antibiotic resistant infection. Your vet should be doing a culture to identify the infection or determine if it is an infection before prescribing antibiotics to determine which one will be the most effective. Depending on the type of microbes involved it could be dangerous and may escalate into a respiratory infection if left unchecked. Usually an eye infection will clear up in a day or two with antibiotics. Best thing to do is discuss it with your vet as soon as possible. Respiratory infections are not something to mess with and can escalate into fatal pneumonia in a matter of hours in some cases. They are also usually contagious and it could endanger your other pets.

Another possible cause could be significant but I would not suspect it for a chinchilla that is eating properly and is at a good weight and that is dental problems. If your pet started out at an unusually low weight you may want discuss having its teeth examined. Sometimes the roots will clog the tear ducts if they are overgrown.

[mike9jc]

Hello,
Did the matted fur ever go away for your chinchilla?  Mine is having the same issue.  I took him to the vet (she thought it was a respiratory infection).  Gave him oral antibiotics and an eye cream for 2 weeks.  He is still very active and acts normally, but his fur is always matted by his eyes.  Do I just need to help clean the fur in that area?  Or is it possible that he still has an infection?
Thanks,

[GrayRodent]

If she thought it was a respiratory infection you may want to go back for another exam. My chinchilla had some irritation that had very minor crusting on and off for about 5 days.
You are saying "eyes" plural. When both are involved you might be looking at something more serious.
I recommend getting a culture done and try to identify the infection. Then you can determine which antibiotic will be most effective.
Respiratory infections are not something to mess with and the risk of death is very high with those. It still could be something else.
I recommend investigating it further and getting a diagnosis.

[GrayRodent]

If the fur is still wet see your vet. If it's just matted use a damp wascloth and see if that helps.

[dozla]

Hi, did your vet offer to do an xray? as my chinchilla had this symptom of flat fur, slightly wet around his eye.. then he started to lose weight.. turns out the roots of his teeth had grown into his head and eyes which you couldn't see without the xray. was an awful time as he was being treated for an eye infection. Chinchillas hide pain. i had to have him put to sleep whilst under anaesthetic, he was only 9 months old.
you can try weighing your chinchilla weekly and see if he is losing any weight which may help evaluate him.
Don't mean to scare you.. just wouldn't want anyone else to go through it just in-case it isn't an eye problem.

[GrayRodent]

I think the best thing to do in these situations is rule out an eye infection first because they are somewhat common and typically are easy to treat. Most eye infections go away in a matter of days. If it's a respiratory infection that must be treated before it turns into pneumonia which I've yet to see a chinchilla recover from. Seen one come close though. Those usually don't last more than a couple of weeks and respond well to meds. If your pet is losing a lot of weight it is certainly time for an x-ray or tooth exam.
And yes weigh your chinchilla weekly. If you don't know what its healthy weight is you might not be able to tell if its sick. When chinchillas start acting sick it is sometimes too late to save them because they are very good at hiding illness.