C. Diff?

[jenjenn2005]

Can chinchillas get C. Diff? My chinchilla recently had a lot of rectal drainage and had an anal abcess which has now resolved, but I spent a lot of time squeezing it and draining it, but I always washed my hands thourougly after. Last week, I was diagnosed with C. Diff and while I work at a hospital I was wondering if I could have possibly caught it from my chinchilla? At the hospital I always wear personal protective equipment and I am crazy about hand washing before and after patient care and anytime I pass a sink and practically all the time! And now I'm just wondering if I can give it to my chinchilla. I am still washing my hands with soap and water like crazy to keep it from spreading and I've been on antibiotic for awhile. So I just wanted to check and see if anyone had any experience with C. Diff and chins.

 

[menagerie]

I don't know about it being transmittable to chins, but I do know it's nasty stuff. My father was hospitalized with c.diff for 13 days earlier this year. The only way to tell if you chin has/had c.diff would be to have fecal testing done specifically for c.diff. I would be extra careful about washing your hands and having on clean clothes before touching your chin so you don't pass anything on.

 

[caiti]

According to the CDC, (which I don't know if they have any credibility to you, but it's a thing to consider when you're trying to make an educated guess), no one really knows.

 

[ticklechin]

Chins can get it and its usually fatal, it causes the intestines to die. I had one that was tested for that along with other things when his digestive tract died, he was euthanized shortly after. He did not have it.

 

[caiti]

According to the CDC, (which I don't know if they have any credibility to you, but it's a thing to consider when you're trying to make an educated guess), no one really knows.

I meant no one knows if it's a zoonotic or reverse zoonotic disease. I didn't mean no one knows if chins can get it or not. Oops...just noticed that