My precious chinchilla, Cotton (11.5 years old) - Last Friday was lethargic, did not eat much and seem to having difficulty breathing. Occasionally he stretches his head out and there's a click sound when he breathes in. I later on noticed that he was actually breathing from his mouth when he does that.
I quickly made a trip down to the vet on Saturday morning 23/1.
The technicians there saw that he had labored breathing, immediately put him under oxygen therapy. The vet observed that there were fluids in the lungs and some murmur. After about 1.5 hours of oxygen therapy, the vet came back, Cotton's longs were clearer then went in with the stethoscope and been diagnosed that he has grade 6 heart murmur.
Vet prescribed the following:
1. Furosemide 0.05ml once a day.
2. Fortekor (Benazepril) 0.1ml once a day
3. Critical care
4. Suggested me to buy an oxygen tank in case he is seen having difficulty breathing.
24/1 Sunday:
He is still has labored breathing. He stopped eating on his own. At first he liked the critical care so I was able to feed him by spoon. Generally lathargic all day. Little to no poo.
25/1 Monday:
Thought things were looking up when he started eating hay and pellets on his own. Still see the labored breathing and I ordered an oxygen concentrator in case he is out of breath. Turned on the oxygen concentrator for a few hours in the day. Not much poop again.
26/1 Tue - 27/1 Wed:
He stopped eating again, similar breathing issues. Ordered some food from Fuzzies Kingdom and Tanya also advice that if he wasn't eating, to grind some alfafa, oats and mix with warm water. Thankfully he took this gladly but wouldn't take a whole lot of it either. Still very little poop
28/1 Thu:
Tried force feeding Cotton with critical care in a syringe, and boy it was difficult. I am not sure how to get 30ml into him at minimum. His face kept avoiding the syringe at some point. And occasionally he had to breathe through his mouth during the feed which got me worried as to whether I would choke him. He tries to forage around but has to take his time to chew and swallow or he gets out of breath again. I decided to go to another vet for a second opinion.
Today:
Woke up today seeing the hay bowl ruffled a little bit. He pooped alot more today but they were still tiny hard poops.
Went to the new vet and she diagnosed Cotton having Grade 3 murmur which got me confused now whether to believe the first vet or the second. She suggested increasing the dosage for Furosemide to 0.10ml twice a day as the earlier dosage was too little.
Also I have been reading forums and found out that it is difficult to diagnose a murmur, does anyone know how does a murmur get diagnosed and confirmed by a vet typically?
Cotton's been with with me for 10 years and I just can't bear to see him like this. He used to be so energetic..
Sorry for the long post but any comments from you guys is highly appreciated.
I quickly made a trip down to the vet on Saturday morning 23/1.
The technicians there saw that he had labored breathing, immediately put him under oxygen therapy. The vet observed that there were fluids in the lungs and some murmur. After about 1.5 hours of oxygen therapy, the vet came back, Cotton's longs were clearer then went in with the stethoscope and been diagnosed that he has grade 6 heart murmur.
Vet prescribed the following:
1. Furosemide 0.05ml once a day.
2. Fortekor (Benazepril) 0.1ml once a day
3. Critical care
4. Suggested me to buy an oxygen tank in case he is seen having difficulty breathing.
24/1 Sunday:
He is still has labored breathing. He stopped eating on his own. At first he liked the critical care so I was able to feed him by spoon. Generally lathargic all day. Little to no poo.
25/1 Monday:
Thought things were looking up when he started eating hay and pellets on his own. Still see the labored breathing and I ordered an oxygen concentrator in case he is out of breath. Turned on the oxygen concentrator for a few hours in the day. Not much poop again.
26/1 Tue - 27/1 Wed:
He stopped eating again, similar breathing issues. Ordered some food from Fuzzies Kingdom and Tanya also advice that if he wasn't eating, to grind some alfafa, oats and mix with warm water. Thankfully he took this gladly but wouldn't take a whole lot of it either. Still very little poop
28/1 Thu:
Tried force feeding Cotton with critical care in a syringe, and boy it was difficult. I am not sure how to get 30ml into him at minimum. His face kept avoiding the syringe at some point. And occasionally he had to breathe through his mouth during the feed which got me worried as to whether I would choke him. He tries to forage around but has to take his time to chew and swallow or he gets out of breath again. I decided to go to another vet for a second opinion.
Today:
Woke up today seeing the hay bowl ruffled a little bit. He pooped alot more today but they were still tiny hard poops.
Went to the new vet and she diagnosed Cotton having Grade 3 murmur which got me confused now whether to believe the first vet or the second. She suggested increasing the dosage for Furosemide to 0.10ml twice a day as the earlier dosage was too little.
Also I have been reading forums and found out that it is difficult to diagnose a murmur, does anyone know how does a murmur get diagnosed and confirmed by a vet typically?
Cotton's been with with me for 10 years and I just can't bear to see him like this. He used to be so energetic..
Sorry for the long post but any comments from you guys is highly appreciated.