Chinchilla Malocclusion

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KChavez

Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2019
Messages
7
I own two male chinchillas who are both 2 years in age. I noticed that my one chinchilla named Paco had runny eyes with white discharge. I immediately took him to the vet, and they prescribed an antibiotic eyedrop. The drops did not help, and they then gave me an ointment cream, which also did not work. I am starting to think he has malocclusion, considering his eyes. Recently, I have also noticed him rubbing the sides of his face on the bottom of the cage, and he is not taking his chew sticks and food as usual. He has also lost weight. I am taking him in to get an X-ray to confirm if this is the issue. If so, does anyone know if malocclusion can be treated or relieved? I know it is painful, and I am preparing myself for the worst if he needs to be put down. He is just so young, and his cage mate would be lonely until I could get another Chin.
 
Malocclusion can be managed and slowed to some extent if there is no root involvement yet, but not cured. You can give pain meds, hand feed, and do regular filing of the crowns of the teeth to slow the root growth (but you can't reverse it), it might buy you weeks, months, or even a couple years if you are lucky. Chins teeth are free floating in the jaw though, so even if you remove the problem teeth (without breaking the fragile jaw or skull) it will just cause the others to move out of alignment too and become a problem. Unfortunately if it is malo and it's progressed to the point of affecting the eyes then likely the roots are already pushing into the eye sockets causing pain every time he bites down, if not all the time.
 
Thank you. It is hard to tell how bad it is hurting him, if it is. I softened his food and then dried it again so it is not too mushy, and I saw him eating it. He also ate a little bit of hay and has been chewing on his wood block. I am still going to get an X-ray done to verify if his teeth are causing the issue. I am just worried about him going under anesthesia.
 
I was thinking more on this, when the vet looked at the chin and gave you eye drops and creams, did they actually do a eye stain to check for any eye injuries? It can happen that a piece of hay or something can poke them in the eye. I've also heard that the eye drops alone don't always help, if it is a eye infection not malo, you may need oral antibiotics. If they do x-rays and it's not malo I would definitely talk to them about doing an eye stain and possibly oral antibiotics and a probiotic to go with it (antibiotics alone can kill appetite).
 
They did do an eye stain to check for injuries and it came back negative. I am really hoping it is not Malo because he is so young and him and his cage mate are so close! I will be really disappointed if it is, but I will do what is best.
 
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