chin heatstroke

[Luci]

so i found a question on Yahoo answers where this girl's chin is having a heat stroke. i called her number and am on the phone with her.

she has no means of getting to a vet. so i recommended she at least put his dust bath in the fridge and give it to him. she has a chinchiller and a fan. she said her house is 75 and shes tried putting a damp cloth on him. i told her she shouldnt get him wet.

she also fed him an apple. so im thinking that it was hot today (100 in cali), his playtime was too long (3 hours), and she have him apple so he may have a tummy ache.

what should i tell her?!?!?!

she says she cant get to a vet at all. its midnight, none of her cars work and the vet is 2 hours away.

 

[Luci]

as an update, i told her to at least get her chin to ANY emergency animal vet for some AC and maybe some critical care.

im hoping her lil one pulls through and i gave her the link to this site so in the future, she has more information on hand.

 

[LemonSqueezi]

Next time she can leave the freezer door OPEN and keep him by the door to cool off. Tell her to buy a window AC for him and to keep it no warmer then 70 at all times. 65-68 would be ideal for a chin.
Also make sure she doesn't use any plastic balls for playtime.
If she can't afford air conditioning,she needs to reconsider having a chinchilla as a pet. Its a bit to convenient that none of her "cars" plural? work.

 

[ticklechin]

If your car does not work, call a taxi. If the chin was showing symptoms of heat stroke it needed a emergency vet, home vetting won't cut it.

 

[mishellyshel]

I know chins like cool temps but i dont consider 75 degrees at the point that a chin would get heatstroke, unless it was because he was out for 3 hours? maybe there is something else wrong with him.
I would get marble tiles and put them in the freezer, then put them in the cage. Also you can put those cooler paks in their cage, the hard plastic ones, no the soft ones.
When my air broke and before I temporarily moved my boys to the basement, it got pretty hot in my house and I just kept alternating marble tiles, putting cooler packs in their cage. I also put an ice cube in a bowl to see if they would try and lick it.
tell her no playtime for the next couple days and no fruit or vege.

 

[LemonSqueezi]

No they won't get heatstroke or exhaustion in 75 if they are sitting there doing nothing ,however if they are jumping around a lot and playing in 75 they can easily over heat, especially out of the cage with no water bottle and depending on how humid it is in the room it can make it even more easy. If a chin is hot how are they supposed to cool down with only warm air in the room? 75 is not ideal for active chins and can be dangerous. Many have chins who adjust to it over time but I'd love to dress those people in fur coats and make them adjust as well. An ice cube in a bowl is not ideal as it will just melt and get them wet.

 

[lydz]

My Fatso will overheat at 75 if he gets a good run and I only leave them out about half and hour to forty five minutes. His brother is not affected. it is never to the critical point but he will lie on his side on his marble tile (which he does even when not heated), sleeps it off for 10-15 minutes and the npops up. one thing I've done is filled a mason jar with ice and water and put it next to him and he will sometimes lean against it.
If the weather is not hot enough for A/c (it's been cool in chicago, before playtime I will turn it on just to avoid any problems.
I knwo I freaked out the first time but if it is not too bad, he seems to calm him self down.

 

[Luci]

just as an update, i got a text from the girl this morning and she had her chin put to sleep.

she said he just got worse through the night. i still gave her the link to this forum in case she ever considered getting another chin. summer is always so hard on these lil critters.

 

[LemonSqueezi]

Luci, thank you for trying to help this poor chin. Perhaps its better for the chin to be put down if their owners can't properly care for them. I wish people realized how important keeping it cool for them is.
RIP little chin.

 

[mishellyshel]

aww......that is so sad.

lemon--i just tried the ice cube thing to see if they would lick it, i didnt leave it in their cage.........i just panicked and was trying everything. i usually keep temp on 70 and i have a ceiling fan circulating the air. i am usually in fleece pants and a sweatjacket in my house and my son is always under the blanket!!
i also dont let my chins have that long of a playtime.

 

[LemonSqueezi]

Mishelly,
Wasn't criticizing your care for chins, I was just disagreeing with your comment on 75 degrees.

 

[mishellyshel]

oh i didnt think you were. i was just saying that i was so nervous that i was trying everything!

i was also sorta asking/confirming about the temps. i try to keep the house around 70ish but sometimes on those hot/humid jersey days even with the shades down, my house gets up to about 75 despite the central air running all day. i do leave the ceiling fan on to circulate the air and they are not in a sunny spot and they seem fine. no pink ears on my mosaic. now if i take him out for more than 20 minutes of play he gets the pink ears and the dramatic laying on his house of exhaustion, while my standard when he wasnt sick would play as long as i would let him and never get pinkish ears or lay down.

 

[tunes]

If it was 75 degrees, I personally wouldn't offer play time at all. Whether it's for 10 minutes or an hour, you're still putting them at risk by having them run around, raising their body temperatures, in 75 degree heat.

 

[mishellyshel]

ok thanks. playtime is usually at night so the temps are back down to 70ish but just in case i think i will get a thermometer in the bathroom before taking him out.