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[Sophiaxfrizzx]

Hi. I've a question about my chinchilla frizzles. On December 1st he went in to get his teeth filed because I noticed his eye was running and he his paws were bald. The vet said he had a spur on on of his teeth. Frizzles will be 7 in June and he also has a heart murmur so I was very worried about him going through the procedure. He made it through but ever since the procedure he's not eating by himself. He'll eat his treats no problem. Last week he had another filing and X-rays done for further investigation and his roots are perfect but in the xray of his body they noticed he had a small foreign body in his gut. They said the only concern they have with that is if it was lead. When I arrived home with frizzles last Thursday from the vet I noticed his right paw was swollen, red and hot. I rang the vet and they said nothing happened while he was there so I thought maybe he twisted it on the way on. I put him in a smaller cage and let him rest. The swelling and redness is completely gone but he's still holding it up.  He'll eat his treats with both paws so he is using the paw. I brought him back to the vet again this morning and his teeth are fine but she's concerned he's got lead poisoning because when she pinched his paw that was sore he didn't pull it away. She said lead poisoning can cause nerve damage and inability to chew. I just personally don't know if that's the case. He's eating treatsBalance data no problem and he eats about 5 pellets a day for me. When he got home Thursday he was eating but suddenly stopped again so I don't think it's that he can't chew. Also the paw is healing with rest so I honestly think he may have twisted it coming home. I just feel lost because I don't know what to do with him anymore. I'm feeding him critical care and he takes that no problem. After his first dental he never got back into eating by himself. His weight goes up and down. He's a very happy chinchilla full of life but just not eating. Has anyone any advice?

[GrayRodent]

I'm very sorry to hear you're having such trouble with your pet. I'm also sorry to say that because of his history you're facing ongoing health issues. Filing teeth is almost always a temporary treatment and the teeth may overgrow in a matter of months. The fact the roots are not overgrown is a good sign.
Chinchillas are easily immune compromised from stress and failure to eat and chances are you are dealing with an upper respiratory infection. (expressed with watery eyes). I would expect you have been treating it with baytril. If there are still such symptoms call your vet. Respiratory infections are very dangerous and usually fatal if not treated.

Antibiotics such as baytril are known for causing chinchillas to stop eating as well. This is very dangerous and can lead to GI stasis.

The best treatment for this is syringe feeding at the dose and direction of your veterinarian. I would recommend feeding at least three times a day. I recommend consulting with your vet on adjusting the dose to help compensate for the weight loss and also having another dental exam. Chances are the teeth need to filed again. Perhaps they missed something which is not all that uncommon in these cases.

The digestive system in chinchillas needs a steady and constant stream of nutrients to keep the microbial culture in the intestines at the appropriate levels. Imbalance in this area causes a cascade of complications including bloat which can be fatal. Some recommend the use of probiotics such as bene-bac.
If there is a partial bowel obstruction that can explain digestive symptoms. If it's toxic such as lead it should show up in a blood panel. Usually lead exposure is caused by chewing on surfaces coated with lead-based paint.

Bowel obstructions are known to occur because of ingestion of cloth products, paper beddings, cardboard, and plastic. Plastic should never be used in a chinchilla's cage. Paper and super-absorbent beddings can cause skin conditions as well as obstructions. Use of artificial "fleece" fabric is okay as long as you don't see damage on the fabric.

As far as the foot I don't know. Sounds like some kind of injury. Hopefully not from its vet stay. As far as having no feeling there it sounds like the nerves are involved. If there's no pain response in the other limbs I'd me more apt to suspect toxicity. Otherwise what you said they said doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

I also recommend feeding no treats or special food other than critical care and hay and pellets. This may help. Unfortunately without eating hay the teeth will overgrow and form spurs much more quickly. Switch to regular food + critical care only for a while, keep track of the weight, and see if you can't get it off of the syringe feeding. A chinchilla that has had it teeth filed usually starts eating again with a week. If the anorexia is caused by antibiotics it's usually back within a couple of days of discontinuing the meds although some chins require more time. I think six weeks is excessive and there is something else going on. I think it's mostly related to what you are feeding. Certainly consult your vet and express your concerns.

Also what kind of hay and pellets are you feeding? What is his high and low weights? Are other limbs effected? It it able to move around normally?

[Sophiaxfrizzx]

Thank you for your reply. They checked him for an upper respiratory infection but he showed no signs of one. The vet said that the weeping eye may have been from needing the dental that sometimes the tear ducts can be blocked. He was on an antibiotic though because there was some blood in his urine so she suspected a mild kidney infection and if anything else was going on it would help with it too. He went back to the vet Wednesday due to still not eating after the first filing and she said the spur had grown back ever so slightly but that was due to not eating pellets. His X-rays were prefect apart from the small foreign body noted in his gut. Since his first filing which was the first of December his appetite is off. I soften his pellets and give him that along with critical care. He doesn't eat his hay for me and he only eats around five pellets a night. I think he's gone off his food because he still loves his treats so if he wasn't able to eat be it from his teeth or an inability to chew from the suspected lead poisoning would he be eating at all?

His weight is 555g at the moment. He goes from 570g to 555g and that is worrying me. As for the limbs everything else is ok apart from the paw he injured. Last Thursday his paw was very swollen, red and hot but now the swelling has gone right down. I don't know if I would say it's nerve damage due to lead poisoning because I personally think he either injured it in the vets or on the way home in my car. He's his happy little self and is well able to move around. He wants out of his cage but due to the suspected injury I have kept him in a smaller cage for rest but if he had his way he would be out of the cage running.

I'm hoping his paw is not related to toxicity but the vet said it's treatable. I have to closely watch him and bring him back next week. She said if there's no change she will do blood work and X-ray. She said the foreign object in his gut may be no harm but because he's still not back to his healthy self she can't rule it out. She said she has seen foreign objects in small animals before and it was never anything to worry about because they do eat whatever they find. I'm honestly hoping he didn't eat anything with lead in it and I'm annoyed with myself because I'm always so careful with him so I don't know what he could have eaten. He pooping normal aswell so there is no signs of an obstruction but I'm closely watching that.

I'm just worried that there's no way forward only to say good bye to my best friend but what's killing me about that is other than him not eating he's happy and jumping around. His mood is still the same, he still wants to play and he's happy. I just feel lost with him. I don't know what the best thing to do is at this point. It's a week since he was in for X-rays so he should be eating by himself at this point. All I want is for him to start eating again by himself.

[GrayRodent]

At this point I'm not really suspecting toxic exposure because that typically has an effect on all of the limbs, causes uncoordinated movement and depression. I'm glad the wounded limb is healing.

The anorexia from a tooth spur can certainly account for just about any kind of infection, especially infection in the mouth. Urinary tract infections in chinchillas are not too uncommon and certainly can be caused by a compromised immune system from malnutrition.
The foreign object could be a number of things, even an artefact on the x-ray that isn't really there but you do have a lot of things going on. If you get another x-ray you can compare them to rule out a misdiagnosis.

My recommendation is stop feeding treats altogether today. Treats can actually cause irritation to the digestive system and make the problem worse. Compensate with critical care over the next couple of days if needed but I'm hoping that's going to spur better eating habits and it can take a few days before your pet gets used to the idea there are no more treats. Make sure there is loose hay and regular pellets in the cage at all times. I think 20g fluctuations in a 570g chinchilla is abnormal but not extreme. The big question is going to be what is its healthy weight that you're trying to maintain.

Chinchillas are very good at hiding illness. Usually by the time they develop symptoms it's really bad. My advice is try a sensible approach to get him off the critical care and discuss a strategy to do this with your vet. This will require weighing, monitoring fecal output, etc. and setting limits that you don't want to cross if the process doesn't work. If there's no improvement in a week your last resort is to have the teeth looked at again. It's not uncommon for spurs to get missed.

I hate recommending euthanasia for any pet but I think you need to think it through and set limits on when it might need to be done and how far you want to go ahead of time. Dental malocclusion is a terminal disease and sometimes it is just going to be this way for the rest of the life of the animal. I know of owners who have hand fed their pets for months, get filings done every month or so for years and they'll go through ups and downs until it gets bad enough that treatment is no longer an option. Although results will vary depending on the severity of the problem.

Malocclusion is usually caused by improper breeding practices and inadequate pre-natal nutrition. Sadly, many breeders make little or no effort to keep maloccluders out of the line. If you've obtained your chinchilla from a reputable breeder they will be interested in the x-rays and results.

[BLS Chins]

Can you post a pic of the xrays? Many vets cant read them properly and say theres no problems when in fact there actually is. For the teeth to affect the eye there would need to be a massive infection or a root over growth (which doesnt describe the spur). Correct dental xrays are not full body so she may not have done specific enough xrays. How old is the chin? If its over 5 years old it may not be genetic. Husbandry and injuries can affect alignment. I would suggest  syringe feeding critical care in the mean time. A chin needs to eat 60 mls daily (divided into 10-12 ml meals) to maintain weight. 100-120 mls to gain weight. Your chin may also need probiotics.

[GrayRodent]

If you have the images to post and have problems posting please send them to me at admin@chinchillaclub.com and I'll be glad to format them for you.

[Sophiaxfrizzx]

Thanks for all the advice guys 😊 in regards to the xrays I don't have a copy but I'm bringing frizzles back for a check up so I will ask for them. She did X-rays of his teeth and the full body X-ray was done just to see if anything else was going on. I'm honestly worried that things will not get better for frizzles. He has started to eat his pellets but he's only eating 15-20 a night and I know that's not enough for him. I am continuing to give him critical care and his weight so far is staying the same. He hasn't gained any but he hasn't lost anymore. His droppings are perfect they are normal size and he's going regularly. He's in great form and wants to play all the time. I'm just really concerned about his eating. Since his first dental in early December he has gone off his food. I'm at a point where I don't know what else to do for him.

[GrayRodent]

I'm sorry to hear that. There probably isn't anything that can be done to improve it. Malocclusion is a terminal disease and it sounds like you're doing everything right to manage it.