cannibalism??

[starleomach]

To get rabies you have to be exposed. Other animals in the home would be ill. I would imagine these Chinchillas were never consistantly cared for periods if starvation, neglect and dehydration can cause brain issues.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

also if they eat the cedar shavings because they were starved that could possibly cause brain issues??

 

[VolunteerChin22]

I know I'm getting a little far out here,but is there any case or possibility of rabies in chinchillas?Looked back through posts saw heavy water intake initially and then episodes of bizarre behaviour. Or even something else neuro similar to mad cow?

I wondered the same thing - if this was a dog or cat that's what I would have suspected. Knowing about the bedding though does make me think "horses and not zebras" rabies being the zebra. Even, still she would have to have ingested a lot of bedding for the chemical to affect her, right? I think she would have died from impaction before brain issues set in from ingesting cedar bedding.

Im thinking some sort of brain abnormality as the finding. Please let us know what the outcome is.

 

[mercynursie]

I know that rabies requires exposure to an infected animal, but who really knows what these poor animals were put through and other animals that have the poor misfortune of belonging to these people probably aren't cared for/vaccinated either.People used to never think that rabies could infect horses/cows/etc either.I know back in 1988 when I was blessed to be able to own my first horse I request rabies vac for him.The vet was actually suprised said it wasn't necessary,etc but would vaccinate if I really wanted him too.We did and as the years went by, my large animal vets actually began recommending the vaccines for large animals.I think it was about 5 years ago we had a confirmed rabies case in a horse a few counties away.The animal of course was put down,2 nearby pasture mates had to be quarantined for a very long period and a few of their dogs put down due to no proof of vaccination.The owner also had to be treated.It was never determined exactly how the horse was infected but speculation was that it may have been in contact with rabid racoon,fox or feral cat.Since the chin is going to be necropsied I'm sure they'll check for it, but it never hurts to be sure.

 

[Katie_2013]

Any update from the vet about the necropsy?

 

[Narcissus]

nothing abnormal was found...... it is so frustrating! I still have no answers

 

[RDZCRanch]

It doesn't sound like rabies. Rabies is not straight aggression, it is overly affectionate one second and attacking the next...not necessarily cannibalization or self mutilation.

It sounds to me like she had either a chemical effect or an infection causing neurological damage that made her attack her kits and self mutilate. I've seen it happen in rats when they get ear infections that are untreated. They literally will rip themselves apart because they go crazy when the infection hits their brains.