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Post by pearlyyy on Mar 24, 2015 22:25:26 GMT
Hey, I have two female chinnys that have been quite ill recently. They've been staying with my local vet for 3 weeks as they needed daily attention and medication, although no formal diagnosis was given. They stopped eating, had really bad flaky skin and feet, and were severely dehydrated. At this point, I'd only had my girl chinnys for about 5 days, so it was really early on in our bonding process. Grace was 570g when she went in, at her lowest weight she was 480g and is now back to a steady 530g. Leia faired slightly worse as she was only 520g when she went in and went down to a worrying 430g, but she is now back at a steady 500g. I've just received them back today after being on one course of baytril for 7 days, and two courses of septrin for 7 days at a time, with metacam dog being given every day since they've been there. My first worry is that without a formal diagnosis, they haven't been treated for a specific illness although now all symptoms have cleared up. However, after leaving the girls to settle back in, I went to see how they were getting on, and noticed a small patch of matted her on grace's chin. I was able to get a good look as she allowed me to pick her up and have a look. Theres no redness on her skin, but the hair is matted in a 1cm patch down to the root. How do I manage this at home? I assume its just medication she's spat out. Please help
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Post by natnat899 on Mar 25, 2015 0:18:05 GMT
Hi, this sounds quite worrying - did you take your chinchillas to a specialist vet? You mentioned 2 chinchillas, one of which you have only had for 5 days, have you quarenteened the new chinchilla (it is usually recommended to do this, so there are no illnesses that can be passed on to your current chinchillas). Is it possible to take a photo of the flakey skin? I would recommend posting on www.chinformative.com - there are far more experienced chinchilla owners who could help you pinpoint what is wrong.
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Post by pearlyyy on Mar 25, 2015 9:08:25 GMT
Hey The new chins were in their own cage seperated from my others, they didnt meet at all and im always careful washing my hands and any equipment i use to clean them out. the flakey skin has cleared up now along with a nasty case of bumblefoot they had when i picked them up. They didnt see a specialist vet as such, just a local vet who said they had experience with exotics. Im going to take them for a second opinion at a seperate vets on friday. had them back overnight and they havent eaten much of their food so im obviously worried about this. I was convinced it was a parasite but couldnt do a blood test on leia (the 'iller' one) as she had low blood pressure. I was thinking of changing them to a different food as theyre on nuggets at the moment but seem more interested in hay and chinchilla feast i give my other chins as a treat.
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Post by natnat899 on Mar 25, 2015 11:21:49 GMT
So is it just the problem that they are not eating enough now? Or are there other symptoms?
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 25, 2015 13:37:36 GMT
If you are concerned about the dribble, then speak to your current vet who has been caring for her, they should be able to tell you if this has been happening every day. If it's medication she has spat out, then it's nothing to worry about in itself, apart from her missing the dose. If she is dribbling due to dental issues then this is a problem.
You don't always get an exact diagnosis with small furry pets, sometimes you just try a treatment and see if they respond, but you do need to trust your vet and be able talk options and ideas through.
Have they been on a different food at the vets? They might just be refusing your food because they preferred what they have been getting the past 3 weeks. I'm not a chin person at all, but I understand they should have a forage based diet anyway, so if they want to eat hay and other plant things, then that is probably a good thing. We have links in the degu area of where you can buy forage. Poor skin and fur can also be a response to a poor diet, possible from the previous owner, more forage and a variety of oil seeds can work wonders.
As natnat says, we hardly have any chin owners on the forum now, so do check out the forum she recommends.
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