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[SydChilla]

Friday 1/4 I noticed Curly's eye was pink, it didn't look bad & I figured he scraped it or something. Friday night I came down iwth the flu, and did not remember to check Curly until today, and his eyes look AWFUL! I closed him off from his girls in the run, and took some pictures, attached the best one. He has been with these same two girls since October, and has not been near any other chins.  Curly is from DJ's ranch, so I don't suspect Malo but I will check his incisors. Could Malo appear so quickly? How can I check his molars?  Any opinions you can offer would be great. His diet consists of pellets, timothy hay, 3X/week oat supplement and water. His girls are due in about 2 weeks, and they are both looking healthy.

Ugh...I just checked my records and he lost 22 grams in three weeks.

[GrayRodent]

I think this one needs to see a vet ASAP. There appears to be an infection of some sort and you'll probably need antibiotics. From the photos it seems the whole eye is protruding and enlarged. If it is this is a dangerous condition that can lead to loss of the eye. Chances are the chinchilla is not eating its food because of pain from the eye infection. You'll need to start hand feeding and get a diet such as Critical Care from the vet if you confirm anorexia. Teeth can be checked by a vet under general anesthesia by visual inspection or x-ray. If you get the eye itself examined first you might find the cause was from external trauma to the eye. These kinds of things are not too uncommon in chinchillas. Definitely stop giving dust baths and keep him separate until this clears up. Sometimes these kinds of infections can be highly contagious so watch for it in the others. You might want to go ahead and clean the other cages out with bleach (of course not in the same room with live chins) just in case. If you do get a diagnosis of malo the breeder would probably be very interested to know.

That is my non-expert opinion.

[chinclub]

I agree its time for a vet and some meds.  For the malo to get so bad that the sinus cavity was invaded by roots the molars would have grown so long that you should have notices some drooling and other symptoms.  I'm thinking this is some sort of infection or injury.

[SydChilla]

Well I know just the person to see, luckily we have a breeder/vet a couple hours away. I hate to stress Curly with the trip.

[Snickerdoodlesmom]

Good luck! I hope your boy is better soon!

[SydChilla]

Friday 1/4 I noticed Curly's eye was pink, it didn't look bad & I figured he scraped it or something. Friday night I came down iwth the flu, and did not remember to check Curly until today, and his eyes look AWFUL! I closed him off from his girls in the run, and took some pictures, attached the best one. He has been with these same two girls since October, and has not been near any other chins.  Curly is from DJ's ranch, so I don't suspect Malo but I will check his incisors. Could Malo appear so quickly? How can I check his molars?  Any opinions you can offer would be great. His diet consists of pellets, timothy hay, 3X/week oat supplement and water. His girls are due in about 2 weeks, and they are both looking healthy.

Ugh...I just checked my records and he lost 22 grams in three weeks.

UPDATE:
Curly's eye is doing much better. I could not get him to a vet because a) no vet in town would touch a chinchilla and b) i had the flu & couldn't drive. Between naps I called my mentor at DJ's ranch and asked what I should do, he advised me to first feel Curly's jaw carefully and compare it to how other chin's jaws felt. I dragged myself to my "barn" (aka guest room) and compared jaws, his jaws feel fine. He also is eating fine and there are no signs of drooling or slobbering.

So, since the teeth appear fine, i examined both eyes and one is definitly worse. My expert said apply Terramycin twice a day because it sounds like an injury told me to get it at Tractor Supply. Well, God was looking after me because I happened to have some unopened Terramycin on hand. I've been applying it 2X day and his eye is a lot less red. he had a scab, or a bunch of dried goop yesterday and the eye was closed with it,but i separated the lids and put some in. Tonight he had cleaned the eye and there is a football shaped gross coating on the cornea. he's still eating fine.

I applied some T to the other eye as well, but it looks normal now so I am only concentrating on the bad eye. All the other chins in the ranch are perfect and lucky me ...we had a set of hom beige triplets born today!

Q:  has anyone ever used the teeth exam tool available from Shoots?  If so is it as easy as it looks?

Thank you all for your advice & support, I will keep you updated.
 

UPDATE1/28/13:
I faithfully applied Terramycin and the eye got worse then better. During the worst day (picture) the eye actually bled so I rinsed it with saline to clean it and moisturize the eye. There was a yucky wet yellow football shaped scab that covered all the visible eye for a couple weeks. it has gradually improved, and now there is a small bulge above, and a much smaller football shaped white spot on the middle of the cornea. it almost looks like a cataract now. He is able to close his eye about 95% and the whole surface looks moist not mucky.

Curly started gaining weight when I began the Terramycin. His activity level returned last week, and he eats everything. He is back with his girls and very attentive to Willow who is due any day. I continue to treat with the Terramycin but only 1X a day since the nasty scabby spot is gone from his cornea.

Unfortunately he looks like he's been in a war, the whole left side of his head is gray and greasy. (pictures) When he is 100% and I'm sure he's able to close the eye all the way I'm hoping the dust bath will take care of it. Picture at bottom left is his right eye.

Thank you all so much for your advice! I look forward to visiting the forums more often!

[SydChilla]

Friday 1/4 I noticed Curly's eye was pink, it didn't look bad & I figured he scraped it or something. Friday night I came down iwth the flu, and did not remember to check Curly until today, and his eyes look AWFUL! I closed him off from his girls in the run, and took some pictures, attached the best one. He has been with these same two girls since October, and has not been near any other chins.  Curly is from DJ's ranch, so I don't suspect Malo but I will check his incisors. Could Malo appear so quickly? How can I check his molars?  Any opinions you can offer would be great. His diet consists of pellets, timothy hay, 3X/week oat supplement and water. His girls are due in about 2 weeks, and they are both looking healthy.

Ugh...I just checked my records and he lost 22 grams in three weeks.

UPDATE:
Curly's eye is doing much better. I could not get him to a vet because a) no vet in town would touch a chinchilla and b) i had the flu & couldn't drive. Between naps I called my mentor at DJ's ranch and asked what I should do, he advised me to first feel Curly's jaw carefully and compare it to how other chin's jaws felt. I dragged myself to my "barn" (aka guest room) and compared jaws, his jaws feel fine. He also is eating fine and there are no signs of drooling or slobbering.

So, since the teeth appear fine, i examined both eyes and one is definitly worse. My expert said apply Terramycin twice a day because it sounds like an injury told me to get it at Tractor Supply. Well, God was looking after me because I happened to have some unopened Terramycin on hand. I've been applying it 2X day and his eye is a lot less red. he had a scab, or a bunch of dried goop yesterday and the eye was closed with it,but i separated the lids and put some in. Tonight he had cleaned the eye and there is a football shaped gross coating on the cornea. he's still eating fine.

I applied some T to the other eye as well, but it looks normal now so I am only concentrating on the bad eye. All the other chins in the ranch are perfect and lucky me ...we had a set of hom beige triplets born today!

Q:  has anyone ever used the teeth exam tool available from Shoots?  If so is it as easy as it looks?

Thank you all for your advice & support, I will keep you updated.
 

UPDATE1/28/13:
I faithfully applied Terramycin and the eye got worse then better. During the worst day (picture) the eye actually bled so I rinsed it with saline to clean it and moisturize the eye. There was a yucky wet yellow football shaped scab that covered all the visible eye for a couple weeks. it has gradually improved, and now there is a small bulge above, and a much smaller football shaped white spot on the middle of the cornea. it almost looks like a cataract now. He is able to close his eye about 95% and the whole surface looks moist not mucky.

Curly started gaining weight when I began the Terramycin. His activity level returned last week, and he eats everything. He is back with his girls and very attentive to Willow who is due any day. I continue to treat with the Terramycin but only 1X a day since the nasty scabby spot is gone from his cornea.

Unfortunately he looks like he's been in a war, the whole left side of his head is gray and greasy. (pictures) When he is 100% and I'm sure he's able to close the eye all the way I'm hoping the dust bath will take care of it. Picture at bottom left is his right eye.

Thank you all so much for your advice! I look forward to visiting the forums more often!

[gasaraki03]

Glad he is doing better i think of what i gathered

Hope the best

[chinclub]

Wow that looks bad.  They eye was bulging out at one point?  He must have undergone a major eye trauma.  Were you not able to find a vet?  He may lose the eye and if so you will need a vet and some serious meds.

[SydChilla]

Hello friends!
Just thought i should let you all know that Curly made a complete recovery and he did not lose the eye or his vision. The eye has a slight cloudy spot where it was injured but no other lasting effects.
Thanks for all your advice!