kelsey1018
Member
I have been dreading making this post, and have been reading through all the similar threads on this forum..
Anyway, one of my chins, Yoshi, has been slowly losing weight over the past month or so. I noticed he was being really picky with his pellets. He would dig them all out of the bowl, scatter them across the ledge and pick through them, crumbling them, etc. His cagemates don't do this and eat whole pellets happily out of the bowl. He has been refusing treats that he normally would have begged for (pieces of mini shredded wheat, cheerios...) I don't know if he's really been chewing sticks or toys much either. He also seemed kind of lethargic, and his teeth are a paler yellow than I'd like. I started to suspect teeth issues because of all these signs, so I took him to vet today. I feel terrible that I didn't take him sooner now...
The vet weighed him and he's only 506 g. I know he used to weigh probably 50 g or more than that months ago, but I recently moved and now don't know where my scale is. I noticed just by holding him that he felt lighter. Anyway the vet looked at his teeth and thought that the lower incisors looked a little long so he trimmed them.
Now here is what has me troubled...he asked him to do a head x-ray. He took him back to do it; they even put up a sign on the door "warning, x-ray in progress." But he never showed me an x-ray?? Ugh, in my worry, at the time, I hoped that he had done it and looked it at back there without showing me or that he decided his teeth looked well enough to not need one after all.
The other troubling thing is that he trimmed his lower incisors and I asked him, "Shouldn't he need pain meds because he'll be sore?" He said no, because he hadn't trimmed down into the pulp of the teeth. But it seems odd to me since almost every thread I've read here where a chin had its teeth trimmed or filed, it was also prescribed pain meds. I am worried that he is going to be too sore to eat at least some pellets like he was doing before.
The vet also said I should offer him fresh greens or a tiny bit of carrot to see if he'd eat it; I promptly told him that I'd always read that those weren't good for chins but he said it wouldn't hurt. I haven't actually offered him either but...I don't know.
The vet also did a fecal float and he said he'd have the results asap.
I'm still not confident in how the visit went and am just generally nervous that he didn't know enough about chins. He admitted that he did not see many chinchillas and that he mostly saw rabbits. I only went to this vet because he is the only vet that would treat exotic animals in this city. The next nearest place to take him is 2 hours away. I will take him there if I need to, especially if you think that X-rays and a different vet are absolutely imperative.
I'm waiting to see if the trimming will help and I'll be keeping an eye on how he eats, in the meantime...
I've ordered DYNE and Lifeline, because I think he's probably going to need them. (I'm thinking that even if he is still eating pellets that I will supplement with Lifeline since he doesn't weigh as much as I'd like.) I'm prepared to forcefeed if he doesn't show signs of eating after his trim. I've done it before, when Yoshi had a wound which became infected, and the old vet prescribed baytril, which caused appetite loss, and thus, I syringe-fed him every couple hours with CC and probiotics. He hated it but he recovered.
On the plus side, Yoshi only seems a little tired after his teeth trim. He is still bright-eyed, no drooling and no watery eye. I've put him in a smaller cage away from the other chins just so I can monitor his eating, drinking, and pooing more easily. He is pretty miffed about that since he can't be with his buddies in the big cage. He has a small alfalfa-hay cube (that he seemed to be nibbling on yesterday), pellets, fresh hay, and some Ryerson's supplement until I can get the Lifeline.
So anyway...Am I being overly concerned about how the vet visit went? I guess right now I'll just wait and see, since Yoshi's poops look okay and he has been eating, but he's still too small and not acting totally normal.
Anyway, one of my chins, Yoshi, has been slowly losing weight over the past month or so. I noticed he was being really picky with his pellets. He would dig them all out of the bowl, scatter them across the ledge and pick through them, crumbling them, etc. His cagemates don't do this and eat whole pellets happily out of the bowl. He has been refusing treats that he normally would have begged for (pieces of mini shredded wheat, cheerios...) I don't know if he's really been chewing sticks or toys much either. He also seemed kind of lethargic, and his teeth are a paler yellow than I'd like. I started to suspect teeth issues because of all these signs, so I took him to vet today. I feel terrible that I didn't take him sooner now...
The vet weighed him and he's only 506 g. I know he used to weigh probably 50 g or more than that months ago, but I recently moved and now don't know where my scale is. I noticed just by holding him that he felt lighter. Anyway the vet looked at his teeth and thought that the lower incisors looked a little long so he trimmed them.
Now here is what has me troubled...he asked him to do a head x-ray. He took him back to do it; they even put up a sign on the door "warning, x-ray in progress." But he never showed me an x-ray?? Ugh, in my worry, at the time, I hoped that he had done it and looked it at back there without showing me or that he decided his teeth looked well enough to not need one after all.
The other troubling thing is that he trimmed his lower incisors and I asked him, "Shouldn't he need pain meds because he'll be sore?" He said no, because he hadn't trimmed down into the pulp of the teeth. But it seems odd to me since almost every thread I've read here where a chin had its teeth trimmed or filed, it was also prescribed pain meds. I am worried that he is going to be too sore to eat at least some pellets like he was doing before.
The vet also said I should offer him fresh greens or a tiny bit of carrot to see if he'd eat it; I promptly told him that I'd always read that those weren't good for chins but he said it wouldn't hurt. I haven't actually offered him either but...I don't know.
The vet also did a fecal float and he said he'd have the results asap.
I'm still not confident in how the visit went and am just generally nervous that he didn't know enough about chins. He admitted that he did not see many chinchillas and that he mostly saw rabbits. I only went to this vet because he is the only vet that would treat exotic animals in this city. The next nearest place to take him is 2 hours away. I will take him there if I need to, especially if you think that X-rays and a different vet are absolutely imperative.
I'm waiting to see if the trimming will help and I'll be keeping an eye on how he eats, in the meantime...
I've ordered DYNE and Lifeline, because I think he's probably going to need them. (I'm thinking that even if he is still eating pellets that I will supplement with Lifeline since he doesn't weigh as much as I'd like.) I'm prepared to forcefeed if he doesn't show signs of eating after his trim. I've done it before, when Yoshi had a wound which became infected, and the old vet prescribed baytril, which caused appetite loss, and thus, I syringe-fed him every couple hours with CC and probiotics. He hated it but he recovered.
On the plus side, Yoshi only seems a little tired after his teeth trim. He is still bright-eyed, no drooling and no watery eye. I've put him in a smaller cage away from the other chins just so I can monitor his eating, drinking, and pooing more easily. He is pretty miffed about that since he can't be with his buddies in the big cage. He has a small alfalfa-hay cube (that he seemed to be nibbling on yesterday), pellets, fresh hay, and some Ryerson's supplement until I can get the Lifeline.
So anyway...Am I being overly concerned about how the vet visit went? I guess right now I'll just wait and see, since Yoshi's poops look okay and he has been eating, but he's still too small and not acting totally normal.
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