2 rescues and need some advice!

[Claire D]

WTH??

She put a 700g elderly chinchilla on 0.4mls of Metacam once a day? Are you absolutely sure that dose is correct?

As for the Bacrtim - Assuming the concentration of the drug is 48mg/ml then she has started him on the higher dose used in chinchillas.

That's a very short description of what happened when you took the chin to the vets. Did you take the female? If so, what did the vet say about her?

You're not going to "fix" that bumblefoot in a week with epsom salt baths. If he has deep holes under those scabs (which is certainly possible) then it could take weeks or months - you may also need to prepare yourself for the possibility that they may never fully heal.

 

[ticklechin]

YOWZA, the max dose of metecam for my 900 gm chin was .25ml according to my vet at the time and the bactrim should be .3ml. No mention of chlorhexidine soaks it seems.

 

[Claire D]

and the bactrim should be .3ml.

For a 700g chin the dose is in the recommended range.

The Metacam dose is mahoosive though & I sure as heck wouldn't give that to an elderly chin.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

she prescribed me
metacam 1.5mg/ml-0.4cc once a day
bactrim 0.45cc once a day

also i brought the female in but she saw nothing wrong with her, said she seemed fine and figured the fur loss was chewing.. thats why i only posted about grinch

she wants me back in a week to look at him again,
she said that his scabs are extremely bad and she is concerned with his age to even do the removal surgery on them...she told me if i can make him comfortable and atleast get some infection or all infection out shed be much happier...

she is worried about putting him down due to the age he is because she said ANY animal has a higher risk when they are put down...she said he will also need ALOT of stuff cut off and she wasnt sure if she wanted to put him through that...
does that sound rite??

when i went she checked there ears, teeth, and body..she said there teeth were in wonderful condition for there age

 

[Claire D]

Did she confirm that the female was/not pregnant?

There is little or no point in doing surgery on the old boy's feet IMHO. In theory debriding his feet (removing the scabs, dead tissue etc) would be fast & would show what is happening at a deeper level but, quite frankly, I would not go down that route. Gentle debridement with dressings is a much kinder option than putting an oldy under anaesthetic.

The dose of Metacam is massive. It is way outside of the normal prescribed dosage range for chinchillas & for an old chinchilla I would not give that amount.

Is the old boy showing signs of pain in his feet?

Chins can live with chronic, non-healing bumblefoot for years - sometimes it is a case of managing the condition rather than trying to heal it.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

my mom basically said what you said...this has not happened over nite and apparently he isnt in SEVERE pain because he is eating/drinking/breeding fine... that it would be horrible to do that to him with the age he is and such..same opinion the vet kind of had, she just was worried about making him comfortable..

if that amount is way to much please let me know what to give him and ill cut it back....my mom even said at the vet that seemed like alot of med, she use to be a vet tech so she had some knowledge to know but she put her thoughts aside and trusted the vet... he has only had it 2 times so far.. so how much should i cut it back to??

he doesnt seem to show pain, but he doesnt move around alot but neither does holly. it might be because they are older maybe..but they are both pretty lazy, chill, chinchillas in my observations with them.

she didnt confirm that she was pregnant because i told her she was.. you can feel the baby/babies rolling/kicking/moving in her stomach so i know in fact that she is.. but she did tell me that she was healthy for being pregnant..didnt show any concerning signs.

 

[Claire D]

The usual way to give pain relief is to start very small & increase if necessary. Personally I would pull him right back to 0.05ml once a day & see how he goes on that. If he is not showing signs of pain then he doesn't need gigantic doses of Metacam.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

ok thank you i will do that instead... why cant i find a vet near me that knows what they are doing......

 

[ticklechin]

For a 700g chin the dose is in the recommended range.


The Metacam dose is mahoosive though & I sure as heck wouldn't give that to an elderly chin.

I give it twice a day, that is what I missed this vet RXed it once a day. .3ml twice a day, 48ml/ml right off the bottle for a 740gm chin that is was used in conjuction with a occular antibiotic for a eye infection.

 

[mishellyshel]

the vet probably prescribed .04 and not .40

the .04 is 4 10ths of 1 cc which is the small syringe and you fill it to .04

 

[chinchillalover0927]

it says .4 not .04

the paper she wrote and the actual medicine bottles say the same things...i think she meant to give me .4 not .04..

 

[chinchillalover0927]

i took some pics today...i also only gave him half of the pain meds she prescribed me to give...

these are some pics after his foot soak

it looks like it is opening up in certain spots so im hoping i can get alot of this infection out of his poor little feet...

here is a pic of him curled up, im trying to keep him warm and let him dry up from soaking..he got his hiney and his tail a little wet..

 

[Claire D]

The more of those scabs you get off, the worse those feet are going to look initially - because you are opening up the raw, flesh areas underneath.
You could very gently rub a little medical grade manuka honey onto those areas too - it will help soften up & remove the scabs.
The problem you are going to have is keeping those open areas clean when the scabs come off. It looks to me like the wounds will be far too deep for anything like bluekote.

 

[chinchillalover0927]

today i noticed that holly has white discharge coming from her vaginal area...is this an indication that she may be very close to labor? her nipples are long and she does nothing but sleep all day lol...i just wanted to be sure that is what that might be... the baby is still rolling around like a ping pong ball

 

[starleomach]

a white dishcharge? does it have an odor..I have never noticed a white discharge before delivery usually that comes with an infection

 

[chinchillalover0927]

i didnt smell anything out the normal,
since i have gotten her she kind of had a urine smell from back there but she doesnt seem dirty , but i dont smell anything fowl or different than usual with her... its a white creamy kind of discharge rite around her vagina

 

[Cuddlebug]

I would keep a very close eye on her. A white discharge on a pregnant female is definitely not normal. Laying around and elongated nipples are, however. She may have some sort of infection that could cause you to lose both her and the kits.

 

[Dolyphinm]

Do you mean it literally felt like she had a ping pong ball in there cuz that makes me wonder if it is an infection mass or a mummified kit. I don't know how good of an idea it is, and hope some of the breeder chime in, would it possibly be worth it to go get an ultra sound done to see if there are living kits in her. With her potentially being so close though I know stress of that could be rough when you want to handle them the least right now.

 

[starleomach]

The rolling around sounded like the kit was moving..on its own I am assuming. But the discharge really concerns me....

 

[Narcissus]

Could the discharge be her cervical plug? I have never seen a chin go into labor, but with most animals the female will lose a white "plug" right before they go into labor. I could be horribly wrong, but I can only go off previous experience with other animals.