A
Azure Chinchillas
Guest
As a newbie here - I have been having a general read of various threads.
I have just finished reading the sticky by Tunes - entitiled "It's Not Always Easy" - and I feel compelled to add my tuppence worth.
Caesarean Section - A Case History
The following is a case-history, and contains no clincial references ................
In 19 years of breeding chinchillas, I have always counted myself lucky that none of my females has ever had any significant difficulty in giving birth.
However, all that changed just before Christmas ..
One of my (actually, joint owned with Claire D) best Standard Females (Winner of the "Best Adult Standard Award" at the NCS National Show 2005) was immanently due to give birth. Due to the fact I had not witnessed any signs of mating, I was unable to accurately pinpoint her "due-date" within a couple of days. But the active foetuses were a sure indication that she was very close.
I made my usual preparations: a heat pad under the cage (as my chins are housed in an outside unit), a clean newspaper lining for the cage, and the removal of the male into separate accommodation, to prevent a "breedback".
With these preparations made, I felt confident that she was well-catered for, but I was in for a shock on my return from work (I had checked her that morning) when she was found, looking very lethargic and out of sorts.
I immediately checked her over, and saw the crown of a kits’ head fully visible, half-in–half-out. It was dry, which indicated that she had probably been in labour for several hours. There were no apparent contractions, that meant that pulling the kit free was going to be a struggle, to say the least.
I washed my hands and located a tube of "KY-Jelly" that I keep in my first-aid kit (it is a very useful thing to have around when breeding chinchillas, due to the males occasional tendencies of getting "fur-rings"). I managed to lubricate as much of the kits head as I could, and was able to ease it out of the birth canal. On checking the eyes and mucous membranes (inner eyelids and gums) - it was very obvious that the kit was well and truly dead.
The ideal way of assisting expulsion of a foetus in a chinchilla (so I have been informed) is to hold as much of the kit as possible, and pull upwards towards the females nose, in time with any contractions. But this was going to be difficult, as there were no contractions.
I attempted pulling the kit free a couple of times, but this was causing the female a lot of pain, so I knew that she was going to need immediate veterinary intervention.
By this time it was well past 8pm, so the emergency vet was called out. I explained the situation, (although little explanation was needed) and the female was given an Oxytocin injection to stimulate contractions. A little liquid paraffin was syringed deeper into the birth canal, in order to lubricate things a little more. The female then had two big contractions and the vet was able to pull the kit free whilst I held the female in a suitable position.
The average size of a chinchilla kit is 45g-60g, anything over 70g is considered to be very big. But this kit (a male) weighed-in at a whopping 85g, so no wonder she was having trouble with him. Sadly, although an attempt was made to resuscitate him (always worth trying, as some kits that have appeared to be very dead, can be revived) but on this occasion, it was not to be.
We could both feel another kit, but it did not appear to be presenting normally. The female was given another two shots of Oxytocin, but was unable to push the kit into the birth canal.
X-rays were then taken to establish the position (and number) of kit/s (just the one) and it was decided that a c-section would be necessary as it was not advisable to give any more than three shots of Oxytocin.
By this stage her joint owner - Claire D - had travelled down to accompany me - whilst we waited.
We both waited for that phone call from the vet once she had finished the operation. It was a very long wait, and we were on tenterhooks hoping that all would be well.
At about midnight we got the call to say that the female survived but the remaining kit did not (hardly surprising really), and we were able to pick her up at about 1am (once she had recovered a little). I asked to see the second dead kit, it was also a male and, once again, absolutely HUGE.
The female was absolutely and totally exhausted, not to mention still very woozy from the anaesthetic. She had already been given some sub-cutaneous fluid therapy and pain-relief, but on her return home I ensured that the heat-pad was under her cage, for additional warmth, and she was also given a little fluids too, which she really enjoyed. She was then left quietly to recover from the stress of her ordeal.
Claire D - then took her back to her place - for some intensive care (as I had to be away on business that week).
The final bill for the emergency c-section was £433, which goes to show that if you wish to breed any animal, you must be prepared for any sudden (expensive) emergencies.
The female has now made a full recovery. But we have elected to retire her from further breeding, as there is a chance that internal scarring from the c-section may give her future problems, and that is a risk I am not willing to take (although I would be very curious to hear other peoples opinions on this?)
There is actually a prologue to this story - but I will leave it up to Claire to finish the tale .......
I have just finished reading the sticky by Tunes - entitiled "It's Not Always Easy" - and I feel compelled to add my tuppence worth.
Caesarean Section - A Case History
The following is a case-history, and contains no clincial references ................
In 19 years of breeding chinchillas, I have always counted myself lucky that none of my females has ever had any significant difficulty in giving birth.
However, all that changed just before Christmas ..
One of my (actually, joint owned with Claire D) best Standard Females (Winner of the "Best Adult Standard Award" at the NCS National Show 2005) was immanently due to give birth. Due to the fact I had not witnessed any signs of mating, I was unable to accurately pinpoint her "due-date" within a couple of days. But the active foetuses were a sure indication that she was very close.
I made my usual preparations: a heat pad under the cage (as my chins are housed in an outside unit), a clean newspaper lining for the cage, and the removal of the male into separate accommodation, to prevent a "breedback".
With these preparations made, I felt confident that she was well-catered for, but I was in for a shock on my return from work (I had checked her that morning) when she was found, looking very lethargic and out of sorts.
I immediately checked her over, and saw the crown of a kits’ head fully visible, half-in–half-out. It was dry, which indicated that she had probably been in labour for several hours. There were no apparent contractions, that meant that pulling the kit free was going to be a struggle, to say the least.
I washed my hands and located a tube of "KY-Jelly" that I keep in my first-aid kit (it is a very useful thing to have around when breeding chinchillas, due to the males occasional tendencies of getting "fur-rings"). I managed to lubricate as much of the kits head as I could, and was able to ease it out of the birth canal. On checking the eyes and mucous membranes (inner eyelids and gums) - it was very obvious that the kit was well and truly dead.
The ideal way of assisting expulsion of a foetus in a chinchilla (so I have been informed) is to hold as much of the kit as possible, and pull upwards towards the females nose, in time with any contractions. But this was going to be difficult, as there were no contractions.
I attempted pulling the kit free a couple of times, but this was causing the female a lot of pain, so I knew that she was going to need immediate veterinary intervention.
By this time it was well past 8pm, so the emergency vet was called out. I explained the situation, (although little explanation was needed) and the female was given an Oxytocin injection to stimulate contractions. A little liquid paraffin was syringed deeper into the birth canal, in order to lubricate things a little more. The female then had two big contractions and the vet was able to pull the kit free whilst I held the female in a suitable position.
The average size of a chinchilla kit is 45g-60g, anything over 70g is considered to be very big. But this kit (a male) weighed-in at a whopping 85g, so no wonder she was having trouble with him. Sadly, although an attempt was made to resuscitate him (always worth trying, as some kits that have appeared to be very dead, can be revived) but on this occasion, it was not to be.
We could both feel another kit, but it did not appear to be presenting normally. The female was given another two shots of Oxytocin, but was unable to push the kit into the birth canal.
X-rays were then taken to establish the position (and number) of kit/s (just the one) and it was decided that a c-section would be necessary as it was not advisable to give any more than three shots of Oxytocin.
By this stage her joint owner - Claire D - had travelled down to accompany me - whilst we waited.
We both waited for that phone call from the vet once she had finished the operation. It was a very long wait, and we were on tenterhooks hoping that all would be well.
At about midnight we got the call to say that the female survived but the remaining kit did not (hardly surprising really), and we were able to pick her up at about 1am (once she had recovered a little). I asked to see the second dead kit, it was also a male and, once again, absolutely HUGE.
The female was absolutely and totally exhausted, not to mention still very woozy from the anaesthetic. She had already been given some sub-cutaneous fluid therapy and pain-relief, but on her return home I ensured that the heat-pad was under her cage, for additional warmth, and she was also given a little fluids too, which she really enjoyed. She was then left quietly to recover from the stress of her ordeal.
Claire D - then took her back to her place - for some intensive care (as I had to be away on business that week).
The final bill for the emergency c-section was £433, which goes to show that if you wish to breed any animal, you must be prepared for any sudden (expensive) emergencies.
The female has now made a full recovery. But we have elected to retire her from further breeding, as there is a chance that internal scarring from the c-section may give her future problems, and that is a risk I am not willing to take (although I would be very curious to hear other peoples opinions on this?)
There is actually a prologue to this story - but I will leave it up to Claire to finish the tale .......
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