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[hlianapa]

Hello. My boyfriend's chinchilla, fluffy, died this morning and we just don 't understand the reason. She was our first and beloved chinchilla. We got her with her son and 2-3 months later we took their old cagemate too, so that they were all together again.. they were really healthy and happy, until 2 weeks ago, when fluffy wasn't herself anymore. She couldn't breathe well, she was not eating drinking or pooping, neither running or hopping as she was before. We thought she was pregnant, my boyfriend told the vet the symptoms and she said she was probably pregnant but it could be dangerous for the labor to make x -rays to see if she was pregnant or not, so we just waited until one day that she wasn't well at all. We took her to the vet and she said fluffy wasn't pregnant, she had pneumonia. We started antibiotics and special nutritional food . We pushed her to eat to keep her strong and alive and gave her water and after a while she was hungry and she asked for food by herself. We thought she was getting better and would stay alive. She started running and jumping again. Today morning my boyfriend found her dead in her house with her eyes open. The vet said it was heart attack. What could have caused heart attack? maybe the fact she wasn't with her cagemates? Did we do anything wrong? Will her cagemates sense her absence and get depressed?

[GrayRodent]

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. I don't think you did anything wrong. Pneumonia in chinchillas is rarely survivable. I am amazed you got as far you did and that tells me you put a lot of effort into that one. I am so sorry.

Her cagemate may take it just fine, or may become depressed and stop eating after a few days. You should watch closely for anorexia and be prepared to hand feed if it should occur. It is best to give her some extra attention if possible. It is unusual but not unheard of for that to happen. No two chinchillas are the same and these boards usually attract extreme cases. Also watch closely that she does not develop symptoms of a respiratory infection just in case the other chin was contagious. The best thing to do is weigh your pets at least once a week and keep logs regularly. This can help you catch problems early if you notice a drop in weight around 15-20% of their normal baseline weight. Establishing that baseline when they are healthy is very important. You can weigh in a light travel cage if needed. Weighing is especially important when you have more than one in a cage.

Pneumonia is sometimes a symptom of heart failure. The heart and lungs function as one unit and if the heart is not pumping efficiently fluid cannot be reabsorbed from the lungs efficiently and cause pneumonia. Congenital heart failure is a known problem with chinchillas but is rarely diagnosed. I think it is more likely that the pneumonia was caused by a bacterial infection that damaged the heart and/or the lungs and resulted in a terminal condition. Usually in pneumonia cases the animal dies of pneumonia within 48 hours of a diagnosis, at least, it has been my experience here on the board. I know it's pneumonia because they usually have a seizure right at the end. Respiratory illness sometimes occurs without warning or provocation. Usually it's associated with tooth problems causing a chinchilla to stop eating, become underweight, and prone to infection. The fact is that all anyone can do is speculate without a necropsy from an experienced pathologist.

Early detection of tooth problems and respiratory infections are not always possible but it always worth examining your chinchillas each day when you handle them, make sure they have no drainage from their eyes, or wetness or excessive matting of fur under their chin or on their back (from drooling), are breathing okay (no breath sounds), etc. If they are having symptoms like depression from a sickness it is usually life-threatening. Chinchillas will hide their symptoms oftentimes until it is too late for treatment. Same goes for birds.

[hlianapa]

Thank so much!! They are really lovely little creatures, we couldn't imagine we would bond with them so much. We are watching the rest chinchillas for any changes, if we notice any change we will take them to the vet and don't wait..  the female in the other cage seems like pregnant. She is very lazy, sleeping all the time, even when she is out of the cage for playtime. But she is eating well, drinking well and seems healthy. Ar those pregnancy symptoms or we should take her to the vet too? We are going to buy some toys for fluffy 's cafemates so that they 'll have things to do and don't get depressed. The problem is that we live in Greece and chinchillas are not that famous here and there are not many things for chinchillas in pet shops. Do you think we could make some toys on our own?

[GrayRodent]

Chinchillas usually sleep during the day are and very active after sundown. They also sleep in the middle of the night. Chinchillas that are tame may have more daylight hours but it's been my experience they act sleepy during the day. You know your pet better than me so it is your judgement call.
Pregnancy will sometimes cause a chinchilla to be even less active. If your chinchilla is pregnant it is better to not try to hold or handle it as the womb is fragile and injury can easily result if pressure is put on it. Gestation is 111 days.
Toys can be made of white pine and pumice stone. Cardboard from food boxes is safe but don't give too much or they might eat the cardboard and not enough food. As always make sure your chinchillas have a constant supply of loose hay and wood to prevent tooth problems. Avoid anything with plastic parts. Plastic is known to cause bowel obstructions and lacerations when swallowed.

[Jasonred79]

Just double checking... has the temperature changed much lately?