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[Oscardoodle]

Hi, I found your site while looking for some advice.  I have a 20/21 year old chinchilla named Oscar.  He is an amazing little guy who has always been in fantastic health.  He is mostly blind this last year and has slowed down considerably.  Currently he managed to get a scratch on his eye and it is infected.  I took him to the vet and he was given metacam for pain and an antibiotic eye drop.

Here is my current problem, day 1, 2 and 3 went well, but he has decided he is done cooperating and does everything in his power to not be picked up and held for his drops, including barking and biting.

Any tips to make this easier?

[GrayRodent]

Wow that is an old chinchilla! Congrats on maintaining your pet's health for so long.

Some people find it easier to wrap their pet in a towel. This helps restrain their front feet for syringe feeding. In my experience I've not been too successful with that method but it's worth a try. Typically chinchillas hate to be handled like that to be given meds and you just have to do what you can be efficient so it goes as quickly as possible. I get one person to hold the animal while the other administers the meds. I just set him on the table and hold him down. I have everything set up ahead of time so there is no fidgeting or fooling around once the chin is out of the cage so it's over in seconds. Have a (slightly) damp washcloth ready as well in case the metacam gets on his fur. It's better to wipe it off instead of let it stick and collect and make nasty fur mats. Other than that it really doesn't much easier. As you find better ways to restrain him he will find better ways to counter you.

It's not that difficult to control your chinchilla's head once you have him to minimize the risk of biting. If you have to use gloves to get him out of the cage.

[Oscardoodle]

Thanks, he has made it easy. I have had him myself for 19 years and when I got him the person he came from told me he was between 2 and 3 years old so his age is a bit of a guess but at the bare minimum 20.

Once he is out of the cage I can get the eye drop in pretty quickly and the metacam is no prob, he takes it from the dropper willingly.  It is getting him from the cage, it is a large cage, I have been first taking the ramp out so he cant get up to the second or third level to help make it easier, but now as soon as he hears the cage door open he starts freaking out.  I know it is necessary but makes me sad because he has always happily come to the door to be picked up for a cuddle.

[GrayRodent]

I'm sorry you're having to go through that. He should calm down after the ordeal is over and his routine gets back to normal. This kind of behavior is not unusual except for the biting. Usually tame chins are not that aggressive. In your case getting him out of the cage quickly is going to be a pretty high priority.