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[Beth]

Hi all.  I had to take Lulu to the vet this morning to check on her feet.  The bare patches on her toes were spreading and I wanted the vet to look at it.  First, when I tried to get Lulu in her carrying case, she escaped from the cage and I had to chase her for 15 minutes around the apartment to get her in there.  She was obviously quite upset with me chasing her. 

THEN I finally get to the vet's office, and while they're checking me in, put her on the floor right next to a barking dog!  I could hear her terrified cries and I yelled at the tech to move her, which she didn't, and gave me some snooty comment.  I'm sure this was just the assistant, and doesn't really reflect poorly on the vet himself though.

So, I picked her up this afternoon and the vet does think it's a mild case of fungus.  He advised me to buy Lamisil and apply a small amount each day and rub it in.  I bought it, but she won't let me anywhere near her.  I even bought Tinactin a week ago and have been putting that in her dust bath, but she's been leaving her feet out of the bath lately, and just sticking her head in and digging around, which is weird anyway.

When I tried to put her in the cage after getting her home, she shot pee at my arms and chattered so angrily! 

HOW CAN I WIN BACK HER LOVE NOW WHEN IT'S TAKEN SO VERY LONG TO GAIN HER TRUST?

 

[ChillinChinchillas]

That's normal. Just give her some time to calm down, and get settled. When it is time to put the ointment on, she is most likely going to fight you. It's just like having a sick kid that doesn't want to take the nasty medicine. You as the parent know what you have to do in order to get them well. I have found the best way to do it (especially until you get comfortable doing it), is to wrap the chin in a towel and get the foot from the bottom of the towel. When the chin starts fighting you, just hold her and talk calmly to her while she calms down, then do it some more. It can be a lengthy process, but I have found that if you take the time to calm her down each time she starts to freak out, it will help her trust you a little more. Then the next time it should get a little easier. My pink white male is always getting nasty (usually from getting urinated on by irritated females). He used to put up a fight during his weekly cleaning (yes, he causes that much trouble on a weekly basis), now he stays pretty calm (he still doesn't like it!). Good luck, and don't worry. She isn't traumatized, maybe a bit pouty though.

[Beth]

Thanks, chillin.  But she doesn't let me pick her up--even when she likes me!  How do I catch the poor doll in her cage without chasing her around and making her angry and untrusting (in order to put the lotion on)

[ChillinChinchillas]

When I have chins that don't come to me (like my fatty prego lady who doesn't like being checked), I put a clean dustbath in the opening and let them hop in. Then I go and sit down and force the chin to climb on me in order to get out of the dustbath. This isn't always easy either. I have had to sit patiently for over 30 minutes at times. But it gets easier each time!

PS. I had to take some disgusting cough medicine, and I stood there for about 2 minutes staring at it before I took it. I had to laugh because I was just talking about kids acting like that in my last post! 

[Beth]

Thanks again.  I'll try, but I know I'm going to have to end up chasing her again. 

She's still very upset.  She shreiks and cries at any slight noise (she woke me up three times last night with her cries) and won't come near me even when I have a raisin in my fingers through the bars of her cage.

Any suggestions on how/how long it will take to regain her trust would be greatly appreciated.  I'm so sad, because we had really begun to bond and now it's seemingly all out the window.   

[nemue]

I'm sorry to hear that!  I don't really know, I haven't had this experience yet.  I couildn't catch my girls and had to cancel their vet appointments    I felt like a bad mom, but there was nothing I could do. 

I guess just start over.  I'm guessing it won't take her as long to come around as it did before.  Good luck!   

[Jenova]

Time and patience like before.
I would give her a day or so to calm down anyway. But I had to go through this with my rabbit who I had to syringe feed antibiotics. Oh he hated me and he's a big rabbit. He kicked and scratched me all down my arms, my chest, my neck. He really hated me and even when I wrapped him in a towel he worked out how to get out and then he started to bite me, really hard. I got so upset and I was actually crying to my boyfriend that it would have been better if I'd never agreed to adopt Grim in the first place. But he told me to stop being silly. It is something that needs to be done in order to make him better. If I wasn't doing it, whoever else had him might not bother or, possibly worse, do it badly and hurt him. So I persevered for the month or so and Grim really started not to like me, I was upset but I knew it had to be done. Afterwards I left him alone for a few days and then started giving him treats and talking to him softly. Now he loves me even more than he did before. I like to think it's because he's better now and he somehow knows it's because of me. I know chinchillas are very different to rabbits, but what I'm trying to say is that everyone has to go through this with their pets at some point or another and it is horrible. You feel horrible for doing it, but if you persevere, your chinnie might not like you for a week or so but afterwards your bond will be stronger than ever. And won't it be worth it for her to be well again?

[Beth]

Thanks, Jenova.  But this means I will have to chase her around her cage and pick her up every day, which we all know causes distrust.  She doesn't want anything to do with me since yesterday.  EVEN when I have raisins!  I'm so upset.

[Beth]

 

[Leslie]

When you chase her, do you use a blanket?  If only someone had told me that when I first got my chinchilla....it would have saved an hour and a half of extreme frustration.  Just take a blanket and throw it over the running chinchilla, and she'll stop in her tracks and you can scoop her up.  Trust me.

[Beth]

Oh, Thank you Leslie.  I've tried that, and she's always too quick for me!  For now, I just squirt the anti-fungal through the cage bars when she's up close to them and try to get her feet.  Seems to be working ok, but she's still quite upset with me.  I'm really hoping she comes around soon.  I miss her love!

[ChillinChinchillas]

My new mama is going crazy trying to get to her man. I tried the blanket thing, and it just did not work for me. I will have to see if it works with any of my other chins. That is an interesting idea!

[rodafer]

I used to always have to use a small blanket or towel! It worked so well! Now she is pretty cool and will go in her cage when she knows playtime is over.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

There has been talk of using a butterfly net, or small fishing net of sorts.
Just a thought.

The only other thing is chin proofing an area/room/bathroom/closet..............

[nemue]

is she getting any better?