Birth Complication

[Fairview1309]

My female - exact age unknown - attempted to give birth today. Looks like it was breech. The top half of the fetus is still inside and I cannot get it out. She is quiet. Will let me handle her. Tries now and then to get more of the fetus out. I do plan to get her to a vet as soon as possible in the morning. However, I am concerned about losing her before I can get help. The local emergency vet will not see chinchillas. If anyone has any ideas, I would really appreciate it.

 

[tunes]

If you cannot get the kit out, she needs to go to a vet now. Many, many complications can arise by waiting, not the least of which is a serious infection from a dead kit rotting inside of her.

Can you very gently manipulate it at all? If not, whereabouts are you located? Maybe someone can help you find a vet that can see her.

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

Your female will be very ill by morning if you wait. I don't get why emergency vets are not willing to see chinchillas.

On a side note-any chinchilla birthing emergencies need to be taken care of immediately and not wait. She is in critical condition. I would seriously start calling other vets.

 

[Jenn]

Sorry, I am not a birthing expert, but my first reaction was to agree with the others and scream vet now. Your female can't wait. Unfortunately, a vet should have been found long before today, just in case of an emergency like this. I sure hope your female will be ok! Please give us an update when you can. I'll be sending prayers your way.

 

[Fairview1309]

Many thanks to those that responded! Thankfully, she (Lu) passed the remainder of the fetus. She seems like her old bouncy, happy self as if nothing happened at all.

The 2 emergency vets available to me did not feel comfortable seeing chins. I was very upset.

As a side note, I never intended to breed her. She was a rescue from KS Humane Society that their vet had sexed as male. I then got another male (really a male) just to have as a companion. I feel pretty stupid to not have done more homework some time ago. Promise this will never happen to my little girl again!

 

[Claire D]

Did she pass the placenta? It is very important that she passes everything and that she gets checked out for infection or retained products of conception - because if anything is left inside it will most likely cause infection.

I'm sorry you had to go through this. Mis-sexing chins seems to be all too common

 

[VolunteerChin22]

This is gross but was the kit fully formed or was it mummified? Keep an eye out for infection in either case but if it was mummified you definitely need to be closely watching her for infection. Any discharge or lethargy? Eating?

 

[Fairview1309]

I did not find the placenta. Just assuming she ate it. Second kit fully formed. The mom, Lu, seems like her old self. I'm letting her rest up. I've held her a few times. Haven't noticed her eating yet. Vet said no need to bring her in if she's eating, drinking, and otherwise normal.

Does anyone recommend any special post-partum care? How many days should I wait before replacing her dust bath?

 

[Lillybabe]

I agree with others who say that she should still see a vet. Also maybe you ought to supplement her a bit with some alfalfa hay and/or an actual chinchilla supplement to help her recover from pregnancy. I am so relieved to hear this chin wasn't intentionally bred. So scary when people breed on purpose and don't have a vet handy. I can understand the difficulty of finding an emergency vet who will see chins. The vet office I took my chin to originally actually stopped being able to do the procedure I needed done. Thankfully the vet I had been seeing had moved to the University's vet office so I could still see him. I am not sure what I would have done if there had just no longer been a chin savvy vet in town.

 

[Cuddlebug]

Another reason to take her to the vet is that she could have a third kit that has not been birthed. She has already had trouble with one, so it is possible that she could still have problems like a third kit still inside her.