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[Aurora-Dawn]

Hey guys, I am new to this and I have a few questions.

I have a 10 year old Chinchilla named Cheeko and he has been sick on and off for 6 months. He has a crusty nose, watery eyes, laboured breathing, he isn't moving much, he has stopped eating and we worry he isn't drinking enough water either.  He has had Chlorpalm and Baytrill for antibiotics for the whole 6 months. We have started him on probiotics because we are worried about all the antibiotics he is on. I was wondering if anyone has had something like this happen to their elderly chinches? He has a vet appointment today at 5. I am hoping they don't put him on more antibiotics.

if you have any thoughts at all as to what could be going on that would be amazing, thank you. 

[GrayRodent]

I'm very sorry to hear this. 10 years is a pretty advanced age for a chinchilla. I recommend having a culture done to see what kind of pathogen it is and what kind of antibiotic it will respond the best to. Also consider taking x-rays of the teeth and make sure they are not maloccluded and penetrating the sinus cavities although the test itself may be fatal in an already compromised animal. If malocclusion is detected euthanasia is your best option IMO. At this point you will have to start hand feeding until he can eat on its own. Antibiotics are terrible for digestion. You may want to consider benebac as a probiotic. Chinchillas are really bad about going into GI stasis when there are problems and that can cause bloat. I recommend you discuss this with your vet as well.
Considering he is going off his water in light of the other issue that is a very serious symptom. Please don't keep your hopes up too high for this one but I do pray for the best for you.