Caboose's Infection

[Claire D]

It would really help if you could go through both of my posts & answer all of the questions you have left out......

Then the chinchilla 'coughed up' fluid during the xrays being taken? Really?

Did the vet take a swab of the fluid & send it off for M,C,&S?

Why are you self prescribing & giving this chinchilla Metacam?

Did you weigh her before you gave it to ensure you were not giving her an overdose?

So you actually have no idea what caused the pneumonia?

Ok, so now she's peeing on herself & can't eat or drink?

Are you weighing her? How much does she weigh?

Is she producing her normal quantity & size of droppings?

Is she drinking normally now you have taken the Baytril out of her water?

What sort of bedding do you use?

Exotic Nutrition is not something I am familiar with - can you tell us what it is please?

Is there still vaginal discharge present? Did the vet send off a swab of the discharge for M,C & S? You need to know what the bacteria is so that you know the Baytril will be affective for a start.



The concern we are expressing here is for your chinchilla - if she is only 6 months & has all these problems then she should be showing signs of illness. What you are posting does not tie in with the diagnosis - we're trying to help you but it appears that the story is contradictory in places. If you read the posts back, perhaps you will see why we are concerned & why we are saying the story is changing.

Pyometra is a serious condition - it can & does kill chinchillas if not treated aggressively enough.
Pneumonia is a serious condition - it is also a killer of chinchillas.
If this was my chinchilla I would not be happy with the vet's diagnosis & I would want answers.

 

[lolanu]

Sorry, I forgot to respond to the weight one.

Then the chinchilla 'coughed up' fluid during the xrays being taken? Really? That is what she said. I have no idea if chinchillas can cough...

Did the vet take a swab of the fluid & send it off for M,C,&S? She took a swab, I am not sure if she sent it away.

Why are you self prescribing & giving this chinchilla Metacam? She is in pain. She was grinding her teeth and whimpering slightly. I know this is a serious problem, but what else can I do? I have gotten her to a vet. Should I take her in again right away?

Did you weigh her before you gave it to ensure you were not giving her an overdose? No. For some reason the vet did not weigh her. I am going by the fact that she weighs roughly a bit over half the weight of Eve, who was prescribed .1 ml.

So you actually have no idea what caused the pneumonia? No, I do not. Whether she really has a uterine infection and it traveled through her bloodstream, whether she inhaled dust, whether she swallowed something cleaning herself... no.

Ok, so now she's peeing on herself & can't eat or drink? She does have some incontinence. She eats small amounts of hay every few hours, but has not touched her pellets.

Are you weighing her? How much does she weigh? No. My guess is .5 lb - .75

Is she producing her normal quantity & size of droppings? Yes.

Is she drinking normally now you have taken the Baytril out of her water? Yes.

What sort of bedding do you use? I was using Carefresh wood shavings, I have switched to Carefresh Naturals.

Exotic Nutrition is a blend of vitamins "for chinchillas" (they have a website if you want to look) - Phosphorus, Calcium, Iodine, Ash. I'm not too sure about that ash bit...

It also has probiotics and such to help with the digestive system.

 

[Essentia]

Can you post the website? I've been searching for it on google and all I'm coming up with is websites for "exotic nutrition" (as in, nutrition for different exotic animals).

 

[lolanu]

http://www.exoticnutrition.com/

She is eating the chinchilla booster under Chinchillas - Vitamins

 

[Essentia]

I hate that they don't list the ingredients or analysis on their website. >.<

 

[lolanu]

Yeah. I can take a picture of the full list and post it.

Or not, the type is way too small. Here goes.

Live Saccharmyces cervise yeast corn gluten feed, wheat middlings, malt syrup and corn sugar molasses dried in such a manner as to preserve fermenting activity, Soybean meal, dicalcium and mono \calcium phosphates, Vitamin A palmite, D-activate plant sterol (source of vitamin D2), vitamin E supplement, choline, chloride, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, thiamine, pyridoxine, folic acid, vitamin B-12 supplement, sodium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, ferrous sulfate, ethylene diamine dihdroioide, colbolt carbonate, maganese sulfate, copper sulfate, zinc sulfate

 

[ticklechin]

How did you come up with the idea of feeding that? Also, the chin needs to be weighed to have metecam Rxed for the correct dose, you don't just guess.

 

[lolanu]

The dose was very small; I will stop giving it to her though. I figured they didn't get all of the vitamins they need when they aren't feeling well and don't eat as much. I would get critical care but none of the vets here carry it and I'm not sure how long it will take to ship in. If she does have pyometra, I will order it.

 

[ticklechin]

Menagerie can have it to you in a couple of days, I would not feed that, I would feed ghetto critical care before that-I:E ground up pellets soaked in water with pumpkin. Their pellets have all the vitamins you need.

 

[tunes]

I would not feed that supplement to any of my chins.

If you want a good, safe supplement, contact Tanya when she gets back from vacation. She has many different types of herbal supplements and my chins love every single one of them.

 

[lolanu]

Alright. I have been hand feeding her mazuri crushed up with spring water.

 

[lolanu]

Thank you all for calmly explaining things to me. I appreciate it, I still have a LOT to learn. (Obviously lol)

 

[Essentia]

If you want a good, safe supplement, contact Tanya when she gets back from vacation. She has many different types of herbal supplements and my chins love every single one of them.

Agreed 100%. Tanya has an immune boosting supplement that works well.

 

[Claire D]

Thank you all for calmly explaining things to me. I appreciate it, I still have a LOT to learn. (Obviously lol)

We've all started somewhere - chins can be a steep learning curve at times. :wacko:

This is part of the reason I am suggesting you don't take on any more chins at this time - just so that you can learn more about chinchillas in general & have time to care for Caboose while she is unwell. It's not a criticism of you; more an attempt to stop you getting overwhelmed or risking the new chins with infections which you don't have answers for yet.

Please get some scales to weigh Caboose - you need a proper weight so you can monitor her wellbeing & also so you can make sure she is not losing weight.

 

[Claire D]

How is Caboose now?
Have you managed to weigh her?
Is she eating normally?

 

[lolanu]

Thank you for asking.

She is doing great. Trying to force her way through her bars, frustrated with her smaller "sick cage", peeing on my pillows, despining my books, etc.

I have not managed to weigh her, I plan on buying a scale soon, but I can feel that she's put on weight. She eats like a horse now, I have to fill her bowl twice a day! I make sure she's eating her timothy though.

 

[Claire D]

I have not managed to weigh her, I plan on buying a scale soon, but I can feel that she's put on weight.

Why have you not bought a set of scales yet? It is really important to have scales if you have a sick chinchilla. Monitoring weight is a basic requirement with chinchillas that are ill. TBH there is no excuse for not having scales.