Barking, Spraying Urine, Hiding

[Idgie]

In the evening Ripley wouldn’t come out of her house, even for treats. It is the middle of night now & Ripley was jumping and let out a cry & then started barking. When we went to check on her outside her cage, she let us touch her briefly. Then it sounded like she jumped again and now she is barking very angrily and is spraying urine. She won’t let us even come near her cage. She won’t take treats and is hiding again now in her house.
Not sure if she hurt herself and doesn’t want us to touch her or if some strange noise frightened her before dinner and she’s still afraid hours later? I have never seen her or any of my chins behave this way.
Of course, we are out of state in Palm Springs area and it is Sunday, so not even sure that we could find a vet for her, if needed.
Just wondering if anyone else has come across this behavior.
Thanks

 

[Pepperpot]

I would very carefully, and with minimum stress pick up your chin and give her a good check over to see if there is any apparent physical problem.

 

[Idgie]

She is hiding in her house now after hopping and barking/growling/chatting all night. She has been picking at herself & I’m thinking that she is going into heat. She has never been this aggressive before, though. She gets a bit grumbly, but has never sprayed at us.
She did just come out of her house, jump on a perch, and take a treat! Now she is back hiding in her house. Here’s hoping that being in heat is all that it is.

 

[Idgie]

Ripley mostly slept all day in her house. Not sure that she came out to eat or drink. I was able to give her some alfalfa hay in her house that she ate without her peeing on me. But now she is banging around inside her house grumbling & barking. Very angry and I have no clue why. She is very distressed. She keeps grooming herself and/or eating poops. She has never behaved this way when she is in heat before.

I will call my vet that I have back home tomorrow and if necessary, will try to take her out then. But clearly she does not want anyone to come near her and will only pee or bite if I try to grab her.

I guess that I was just wondering if anyone else has had this experience before. I never have with my other chins.

 

[nightnurse]

Just trying to brainstorm and be helpful. Excessive grooming? Is she focusing on an area? If it's her private areas she's focusing on is there any signs of discharge or unusual wetness? Makes me wonder about pyrometria. (Uterine infection). My boy will act weird when he's scared and barking- kinda distant and like he's focusing or doesn't want to be seen. It always passes though. Is there any new scents or essential oils in the house? From your description it sounds like something is uncomfortable for her and she doesn't want to move and then blames you for the discomfort when she does. I hope she's feeling better today. I get not wanting to upset her too much with handling as mine is a bit of a grump too but you might have to.

 

[Idgie]

Thanks. She is grooming her private parts. She just starts spinning very loudly and growling/barking in her house off and on all night long. (Haven’t slept much for 2 nights now.) It is so hard to see her so upset.
Monday morning now, so I plan to beg any exotic vet to see her today. We plan to drive back to Chicago tomorrow and I certainly cannot travel with her like this for 3 days.
It will be very hard to get her out of her cage, but I know that I will have to. I didn’t want to take her out if I had no vet to take her to. There were no emergency vets available for chins within hours of here on Sunday.
Hopefully someone can help her.

 

[Idgie]

Just an update. Went to see a vet in LaQuinta, CA, Dr. Jeffrey at Village Park Animal Hospital. He was awesome! Highly recommend! He did a great exam while sitting on the floor. Staff was friendly, too.

It turns out that she is indeed having a bad heat. Her plug is only part way out. She seems to be picking at it and getting mad when it hurts (and rightfully so). It probably doesn’t help that we aren’t at home, either.

So we are safe to travel.