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Post by morrischin92803 on Mar 28, 2014 4:53:59 GMT
My Chinchilla " morris " is a little over 10 years old...we got him 9/28/03. Last week my wife noticed a swollen cheek on him, so I went to google and typed in "swollen cheek on chinchilla" which brought me here. Reading a few of the threads, i got worried so we took him to a vet 3 days ago...Not really knowing or specializing in Chinchillas'...they said his cheek felt like bone, and maybe could either be cancer or a swollen tooth ?...Wed have to take him to Iowa City where a specialized vet would take x-rays...SO...what they suggested was to take some tooth medicine (which they assured me wouldnt hurt him) for the next week and see what happens. However, since the visit..Morris hasnt been his self...He hasnt been excited when he hears the treat bag, and today 3/27..he stayed in his house for most of the day.... is my little guy ok???...
I wanna say last week, when we switched his hay ( due to the pet guy suggesting it ) and morris had a little, but then never touched it..so I took it out....this is when it all started....
Anyone have suggestions ? Thanks
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Post by ilikedegus on Mar 28, 2014 14:33:48 GMT
Hi Morrischin - welcome to the forum.
A "swollen tooth"?! Does the vet mean an abscess?
He could be in pain, and the vet prodding him may not have helped.
If you post the name of the medicine (both the brand name and the chemical name, whatevers on the box), maybe someone can suggest if the medicine is making him sleepy.
However, can you make that trip to Iowa City? I know distances are long in the Midwest, how far is it? He could really be suffering.
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Post by morrischin92803 on Mar 29, 2014 4:02:33 GMT
Hi, Thanks for the reply..He is taking Baytril 0.7 ML. Im in sioux city, Iowa City is quite a ways...maybe 6 hrs. its passed des moines and im about 4 hrs from there. Yes, i do mean Abscess, sorry..couldnt think of the word fast enough..any other help would be great !! Thanks, jessie.
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Post by natnat899 on Mar 29, 2014 9:27:30 GMT
I cannot help with the medication or dosage side to it, but it might be worth calling up your vet to say that your chinchilla is off his food.
However, if it was me, I would prefer to take my chinchilla to an experienced vet because abscess's sometimes have to be drained, and I would feel more comfortable knowing my chinchilla was in good hands. I believe some can be treated by anti-biotics though. Are there ANY vets with some experience of chinchillas? 6hrs is a very long journey for a sick animal..
If your chinchilla isn't eating, you need to get him some recovery food and syringe feed him, it is very important to make sure that he eats.
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Post by ilikedegus on Mar 29, 2014 9:37:16 GMT
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Post by morrischin92803 on Mar 30, 2014 8:15:59 GMT
Thanks for the help...I'll find the name of the vet out and give him a call to see what he may suggest.
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 30, 2014 18:30:51 GMT
I don't know much about chins, but if you were saying this about a degu, I'd be thinking abscess or overgrown tooth, they can get spurs that are bits of tooth growing off in odd directions which can damage soft tissue. Normally the vet would try to get a look at the cheek teeth with an instrument called a scope first just by trying to hold the chin still. If that wasn't possible, they would give a light anaesthetic to get a good look, and if that still didn't provide enough information then an xray might be taken. Xrays are normally more useful if there is suspicion of the tooth roots overgrowing into the nasal cavity/ skull or jaw.
I second the advice to try to get him eating some recovery food like Oxbow Critical Care, they can get into trouble quickly if their guts stop functioning.
With the hay, the most important thing is to find hay that he will eat, they can be really fussy. The relative, theoretical merits of different hays aren't as important as actually finding one he actually eats planty of.
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Post by morrischin92803 on Mar 31, 2014 0:28:45 GMT
Great thank you !
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