10 month female chin diagnosed hard mass in lower abdomen?

[rainey]

So I took my younger female to the ER vet this morning because all night I had noticed her grinding her teeth and doing a weird stretch/dragging her belly across the floor. She has also recently become lethargic and I can't seem to get her to eat much, athough I've seen her pee once and poop a little bit (not normal though I don't think). I had suspected she was pregnant because she's housed with a male and has been sleeping on her side the past few weeks, but I only got her in May.
The vets are saying that they can feel a hard mass in her "cottle abdomen" and it could possibly be an abnormal fetus that needs to be removed. They estimated that all the medical costs for ultrasound, stay in the hospital, and then the surgery would come out to be about $1200. Is that not crazy??? What do I do?? My other option they say is to euthanize her... Because she's in so much pain. But an ultrasound costs $260 to see what's wrong so I guess I will do that, but then there really isn't much chance I can afford to do much else... I already had to pay $165 for her to be seen at this hospital, this is horrendous, I just want her to be better

Can anyone help me out with what to do? I can barely afford the ultrasound.

 

[Olallie]

I'm sorry, but that is the only way, Maybe an x-ray might be cheaper? Other wise you might have to get a pay plan in place. or put her to sleep.

 

[Riven]

There is no reason that an xray wouldn't work to see what's going on. They charged you $165 to just see her?

I don't think that "cottle abdomen" is a real term... do they mean her hypo-gastric region? That is the only region that should have any repro. stuff.

Firstly I would not spend money when they can't even tell you for sure what is going on, the chances of an "abnormal fetus" causing these problems is highly unlikely. Chances are has a blockage and is going into stasis. I would request an xray, and until then you need to be force feeding her with CC and giving simethicone a full dropper every 4 hours.

 

[rainey]

Okay....I feel like these people here do not even care about her they just want to rack up as much money as possible! An xray it turns out is $210 but they say it won't be as informative so I'm better off with an ultrasound. I'm just worried about getting the results and then realizing I have no more money to help her out. Poor girl I wish there was another vet around..

 

[Olallie]

Okay an x-ray should not cost $210, at most $75-80, you need to find a different vet, imo.

 

[Riven]

I'm putting my money on a blockage, which shouldn't be expensive to treat. It would consist of two Rx's and hand feeding.

Are there no other vets around? It doesn't take an exotics vet to diagnosis intestinal blockage, and it's better to get her cheaper treatment, than over priced treatment. In fact, I've never heard of a "malformed kit" ever having to be removed. Generally their body reabsorbs it, or mummifies it. It is thought that some chins have lived for very long times with mummified kits in utero.

 

[RDZCRanch]

An ultrasound will rarely, if ever tell you anything. An X-ray is the best bet. Stick to your guns, she sounds like a chin with bloat which is what the stretching and dragging is about. She has something in her intestines that shouldn't be there and needs to pass. It could be a blockage or bloat. Like Riven said, simethicone drops and hand feeding. If they're feeling a large mass...are they sure it isn't her bladder or some other organ? They don't sound like they are familiar with chinchillas and their anatomy if they are saying to do an ultrasound. Any chin vet I've talked to says X-rays show you more...an ultrasound can just show if something is there and if it's alive/moving. Pointless if you ask me, since an X-ray can show you if something is there, other abnormalities and it's a heck of a lot cheaper.

Also, a chinchilla fetus that is only one or two months along is not going to be moving and can present itself as a hard mass. At this stage, if she had an abnormal fetus she would either reabsorb it or abort it. In which case, she shouldn't be stretching or dragging her belly. If she aborted and something went wrong, she could present with bloody discharge from the vagina. Reabsorbed fetuses will either be completely reabsorbed or show up during a later birth as a mummified kit, but they don't turn septic and they don't harm the chin.

 

[rainey]

Okay I am going to try to take her somewhere else but its far away, I live in boston and have no car. My phone is dying so I can't check this thread anymore but thanks so much for the info its what I needed to hear, I knew these doctors are full of bull. This hospital is called the Angell memorial center or something, bad reviews online but they were the only ER I knew of that treated chins. Thanks and I'll post back later

 

[ticklechin]

I had a father and son who both had tumors in their intestines-the vet started out with a x-ray since both had repeated bouts of bloat and stasis and then a ultrasound was done-the ultrasound was used to determine if the digestive tract was still alive after the tunor location-it was not and at that point surgery was not a option and both were put down. A x-ray is appropriate at this point. My ultrasounds were only 85.00 so it sounds like your vet is out of line as far as price-my vet is located in one of the most expensive areas in the USA.

 

[stampinchick]

I have used Ocean State Veterinary Services in Eat Greenwich RI,which would be maybe an hour- an hour and a half for you. They offer round-the-clock emergency care, and exotic care. When my chinchilla suffered a prolapsed rectum I drove about an hour to get there myself (It was a little less cause I was owrried and driving too fast) but they are very good. They also offer payment plans and even have a grant program for excessive vet bills if you qualify. I would really look into them. Their web site is www.osvs.net and theyre phone number is 401-886-OSVS (6787). Hope this helps.

 

[rainey]

She didn't make it guys i haven't been able to post on this thread because I've been too upset. Thanks though for the advice and now I'll be more prepared for future emergencies. I really need to find a better vet in the area, though, that I could get to by train or bus.

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I am so sorry Hugs.

If you would like some closure as to why she died exactly you could have a necropsy done if you are interested. It helps me to know what happened when I lose my babies.