Acting Disoriented

[MAMA]

I got my Daughter a new chin about a month ago. Good little guy who has been eatting and drinking fine and pooin alot. He has always been very active at his chosen times and always appeard fine. I let him out tonight to run and play. Had evrything blocked off so he couldnt get into anything. He was runnin and playin fine for about 30 min. and then stumbeled to the side, which I thought was just a trip or something but it didn't stop. He all of a sudden for no apparent reason started falling to the side when he tried to walk and acts like he is disoriented. He moves like a drunk leavin the bar after close. I called as many vets as I could at this hour but dont have any open near me. They all don't have a positive answer other than an inner ear infection. I have been trying to litter train him but he rather uses it as a dry bath. Could this be part of the problem? If it is a inner ear infection is there anything I can do for it here at home? I hate seeing him like this and am scared my Daughter may loose her new beloved pet. Anyone ever experience this?

 

[menagerie]

I got my Daughter a new chin about a month ago. Good little guy who has been eatting and drinking fine and pooin alot. He has always been very active at his chosen times and always appeard fine. I let him out tonight to run and play. Had evrything blocked off so he couldnt get into anything. He was runnin and playin fine for about 30 min. and then stumbeled to the side, which I thought was just a trip or something but it didn't stop. He all of a sudden for no apparent reason started falling to the side when he tried to walk and acts like he is disoriented. He moves like a drunk leavin the bar after close. I called as many vets as I could at this hour but dont have any open near me. They all don't have a positive answer other than an inner ear infection. I have been trying to litter train him but he rather uses it as a dry bath. Could this be part of the problem? If it is a inner ear infection is there anything I can do for it here at home? I hate seeing him like this and am scared my Daughter may loose her new beloved pet. Anyone ever experience this?

He is probably suffering from low blood sugar after exercising too much and being in too warm a room. Rub some Karo syrup on his gums to see if he comes around. In a pinch you can try offering a raisin. He will need to see the vet and possibly get subcutaneous fluids. In the future, cut back on his out time, especially when it's warm.

 

[Sandi]

The only time I ever experienced something like this was with my first chin. I was in the bathroom with him for playtime and he quickly hopped onto the sink but ran into the ceramic toothbrush holder and that must have startled him and he fell from the sink to the floor. He was stumbling after that fall exactly as you are describing that is happening to your chin. I was very scared and called my vet who told me to put him in a small carrier or cage where he can't move around too much to hurt himself. He described it almost like a cuncussion. Are you sure something didn't fall on him or he didn't fall off something? I did take my chin to the vet to get him checked out that same night. He was ok after about an hour or so while we were at the vets. Keep an eye on him. How is he now?

 

[MAMA]

Thank you so much. You are a Godsend. He is already acting better. I put a fan on him. He isn't falling side to side but still seems not to sure of himself cause he hasn't tried to jump up higher in his cage. Should I leave the fan on all time? How low can his temp be? I cant seem to get him to eat raisins and dried fruit. The lady who had him prior had a container of snack mix but my stores dont carry it. What else could I try to give him for treats to help keep his sugar from getting low? If he acts well in the morning do you think he still needs to go to the vet or should this just be a lesson learned? Again Thank You SOO much.

 

[MAMA]

He was in the livingroom with me on the carpet and the only thing he could jump on was the couch but he never fell and I was with him mostly the whole time. He is doing better and not so floppy. I think the prior response was on the right track. I put him in his house in the bottum of the cage and gave him sweets and put a fan on him. I am hoping in the morning he will be his usual speedy little self. Thank you so much for your help, I was so panicing. Thanks

 

[Claire D]

Sounds like a low blood sugar or over exertion fit - how is he doing now? How old is he?
I would reduce his exercise to around 5-10 minutes and build it up very slowly as long as he does not show signs of fitting again. Some chins (especially young ones) tend to go a bit nuts and they don't know when to stop - building up the exercise time allows them to become more "fit" (pardon the pun) so low blood sugar/over-exertion is less of a risk.

 

[mishellyshel]

also the temperature of the room should be 65 - 70, not higher than 75.
my house is so cold i usually wear a sweatshirt all summer!
i wouldt start giving too many raisins just to sweeten him up. there are other treats that you could try too and many people here make chin friendly cookies that have black strap molasses in them instead of pure sugar.
you can also tell if they are getting overheated when their ears start to turn pink or worse yet red. it is more difficult to tell in a standard, but you can still tell they are getting overheated.

also the fan is ok for circulating the air but having it blow on them really doesn cool their core down much, it is better to have the air on a lower temperature.

 

[MAMA]

He isnt falling or flopping around today. He just seems really moepy or tired. He is still at the bottum of his cage which is realy unusual for him. He is a standard Grey male I dont think very old but old enough to have had a son. His eards dont appear pink or red. I can see the pink lines of his veins but it looks to be a normal thing. I never thought that he would over work himself. I turned the ac on to stay at 65 so I guess I have to just wait and see. How long should I give him to snap out of it before worring? Thanks for the help this is an excellent site with some realy good kind people.

 

[Cuddlebug]

Since it has been several hours now and he is still not acting like himself, I would recommend that he see the vet asap. If it was over heating or over exertion, he should have snapped out of it by now.

 

[Claire D]

Since it has been several hours now and he is still not acting like himself, I would recommend that he see the vet asap. If it was over heating or over exertion, he should have snapped out of it by now.

Yes I will second that - generally exhaustion or low blood sugar fits have fairly short recovery times. I have known it take 24 hours for full recovery but that's unusual.

How is he behaving now? Is he eating and drinking ok? Moving around ok?

If you are still concerned that he is not acting as he normally does then I'd definitely opt for a vet visit.

Good luck and please keep us posted on his progress.

 

[Stackie]

Just to add to this, the fan will do nothing to cool him off. Fans do not work in keeping the chin cool because they do not sweat. Keeping him in a direct draft created by the fan isn't a good idea, either. The only thing to use in reducing a chin's temperature surroundings is an air conditioner.

 

[MAMA]

He is drinking and walkin around fine but doesn't seem to be eatting and is still staying in bottum of cage. I checked him couple hours ago and one eye was slighlt matted shut but eventually opened and the other looked like it had been goopy at some time. Anyone know of a good vet around Ashland that truely knows what they are doing? Everyone I have called sound so clueless and inexperienced. Thanks to you all. Will keep updated.

 

[saphire]

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping things will be fine

 

[Claire D]

Can he swallow or is he having difficulty?
Have you managed to get any food into him?

If he's still lying at the bottom of the cage and is "not quite right" on one side of his body it is possible he has suffered a stroke or has something neurological going on - I would get him to a chinchilla competent vet ASAP for a full assessment - he will need nutritional support and fluids amongst other things.

In the meantime I would treat him for shock - Debbie has written an excellent article which will help with that - here.
The basics of treating shock are:
keep the chin warm (but not hot)
give plenty of fluids (but be very careful if the chin has difficulty swallowing)
calm, quiet environment
vet ASAP

Sorry I cannot offer advice about a good vet - I am hoping someone will be along soon who knows of a good vet to help you.

 

[MAMA]

PLEASE everyone prey for chi-chi. I checked him this morning and he is laying on his side ears back and panting. Tried to see if he would get up and walk any and he wont he wont move his legs. Im trying to get him to vet ASAP but the vet that handels chinchillas went out of state. I dont know what else to do. He was drinking out of his water bottel yesterday and was movin around. He also has wet eyes. He is so fatigue. If anyone knows whats wrong with him and what to do for him till the dang vet gets back or I can find another please let me know. Thanks and please pray.

 

[emily.j.roth]

There is a vet in Akron (I know it's probably an hour away, but it's still better than driving to an E-Vet in Columbus), their information is

Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital
1053 South Cleveland-Massillon Road
Akron, OH 44321-1689
Phone: 330.666.2976
Exotic Vets: Dr. Riggs, Dr. Cook (both of North Coast Bird and Exotic Animal Specialties Group)

I've never been there, but it's recommended by someone else on this website. I hope that helps!

 

[eycamry]

You are not using cat litter or anything similar for litter training, are you? My chins don't usually try to take baths in wood shavings. Just wanted to make sure... Best of luck to Chi Chi. Hope it is nothing too serious! He is my prayers!

 

[Easterpiggy]

You are not using cat litter or anything similar for litter training, are you? My chins don't usually try to take baths in wood shavings. Just wanted to make sure... Best of luck to Chi Chi. Hope it is nothing too serious! He is my prayers!

I was about to ask the same question. my chin go out one day ( a long time ago) and he got into the cat box and he got a UTI from it. let us know what happens. good luck we a re praying for you.

 

[Cuddlebug]

How is he doing today? Did you get him into a vet, and if so, what did the vet say?

 

[MAMA]

Sunday after I gave my last post I did all that I could to try and help,treat him and comfort him. I called everyone in the phone book and came up with as you said Akron or Columbus. I got my sister to take us to Akron. By the time she got home and was on her way to pick us up. I had to call and tell her it was too late. I lost chi-chi around 12pm on Sunday. I definately failed my lil baby. My daughter was so heartbroken and thought that somehow her being gone for 2 weeks some how caused the problem. I assured her that in no way at all did anything she did contribute in any way to his baffeling, unfortunate passing. Yes we was useing litter for the potty training. I was told by 2 different sources that it was ok and the usual substance used. I did think it was very odd him using it as a bath but was assured that he would stop and train properly. For this and other obviouse reasons I am doing all the research I can and trying to find the most accurate and consistant info I can to hopefully figure out what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future and other possible problems. Thank you very much to all those who were kind and tried to help wheather it was advice or prayer. R.I.P CHI-CHI