Chin with Malo

ovw17 · Dec 13, 2022

Hi all,

I am looking for some advice as to when it is “time” to let a fur baby go. Unfortunately, I have a chinchilla that is in advanced stages of Malo. She has gotten regular teeth trimmings until this point. Within the last few weeks, she started drooling and became uninterested in food. It was almost overnight that her condition just plummeted. A few days ago, at my most recent visit, the vet took x-rays and noticed root elongation. The roots are growing into the sinus cavity, and down into the jaw.

My heart is broken, as I know how painful this is for my chin. After seeing the x-rays, the vet felt it was still necessary to trim the teeth and monitor her state over the next few days.

Knowing Malo is a death sentence, I asked when I will “know” it is time - as well as asked when it is best to consider her quality of life. The vet discussed putting her on pain meds for an extended time or getting her in for another appointment. Neither of those, to me, seem like an appropriate “fix” to an unfixable situation.

Currently, she is on 4 different medications plus syringe feeding with Critical Care. The vet asked that I give it a few days, and if she doesn’t start to eat on her own to bring her back. At this point, I am beside myself. She HATES being syringe fed (as would I) and she seems to not even want to take it anymore. She just lets it roll down her belly. I plan to give it a few more days, but when is enough, enough?

The vet I have been seeing is 2 hours away. I suppose I am wondering what to say if her condition doesn’t get better. Is it wrong of me to not want to take her knowing there isn’t anything to cure this? I have been going back a forth between taking her back or taking her locally to be euthanized. She usually bounces back well after trims, but this time she just looks so sad and pitiful. It is breaking my heart. Even if her condition seems to get better (eating, lively), I feel like she still will be in excruciating pain…

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice, or if anyone has gone through this before.

Thank you.

Amethyst · Dec 14, 2022

What I look at is, is she able to go back to being a normal chin for a longer then it takes for her to recover? For example, if she gets the teeth trimmed, recover takes a week or less, then she is good, back to eating, drinking, chewing on toys, and running around like a normal chin for months then it's not time. However if she gets a trimming and it takes weeks to get back to normal, or she never gets back to normal before needing another trim, then it's time. Also once the roots start growing it's a matter of time, if they aren't far enough to cause any problems yet you may be able to wait, just using pain meds for now to manage the pain. If you can feel the roots causing bumps along the lower jaw or the eyes are getting watery those a both signs the roots are pretty far along and it's better to let her go.

If the roots aren't that bad yet, which I assume maybe why the vet said to wait, I would give it a couple days. See if she improves, if not it might be time to let her go with a peaceful death before she has a painful one. She may even be trying to tell you she is ready to go by refusing to eat. I know it seems sudden that she went downhill but chins are so good at hiding illness and pain. By the time you actually notice a problem it means they have likely been having a problem for a little while and they are now in so much pain or so sick that they can't physically hide it anymore.

ovw17 · Dec 14, 2022

Amethyst said:
What I look at is, is she able to go back to being a normal chin for a longer then it takes for her to recover? For example, if she gets the teeth trimmed, recover takes a week or less, then she is good, back to eating, drinking, chewing on toys, and running around like a normal chin for months then it's not time. However if she gets a trimming and it takes weeks to get back to normal, or she never gets back to normal before needing another trim, then it's time. Also once the roots start growing it's a matter of time, if they aren't far enough to cause any problems yet you may be able to wait, just using pain meds for now to manage the pain. If you can feel the roots causing bumps along the lower jaw or the eyes are getting watery those a both signs the roots are pretty far along and it's better to let her go.

If the roots are that bad yet, which I assume maybe why the vet said to wait, I would give it a couple days. See if she improves, if not it might be time to let her go with a peaceful death before she has a painful one. She may even be trying to tell you she is ready to go by refusing to eat. I know it seems sudden that she went downhill but chins are so good at hiding illness and pain. By the time you actually notice a problem it means they have likely been having a problem for a little while and they are now in so much pain or so sick that they can't physically hide it anymore.

Thank you so much for the response. It’s been 4 days since her trimming. She still hasn’t been able to eat or drink on her own. She has shown some interest in food by poking her head in her bowl and picking up pellets, but she does not eat them. She also has shown little to no movement within her enclosure throughout the day.

Yesterday, I noticed she has been grinding her teeth a great deal. I don’t believe I noticed this after her previous trimmings. However, she was back to her normal happy self by this point in the past.

I plan to give it until Friday, and then give them another call for an update.

I appreciate the support!

Chinmin · Dec 14, 2022

ovw17 said:
Yesterday, I noticed she has been grinding her teeth a great deal. I don’t believe I noticed this after her previous trimmings. However, she was back to her normal happy self by this point in the past.

Hey, I know it's been pretty tough for you both. I hope she's now showing positive signs of recovery.

ovw17 · Dec 15, 2022

Chinmin said:
Hey, I know it's been pretty tough for you both. I hope she's now showing positive signs of recovery.

Thank you so much.

She still isn’t improving. After being able to clean her up a bit, I can tell they shaved her jaw on one side and the sight of the bumps is horrendous. I am losing hope.

There is a huge ice storm where I am located, and schools were closed. So, I am glad I am able to spend a full day at home with her today instead of having to work. It’s a blessing in disguise.

Chinmin · Dec 16, 2022

ovw17 said:
Thank you so much. She still isn’t improving. After being able to clean her up a bit, I can tell they shaved her jaw on one side and the sight of the bumps is horrendous. I am losing hope.

There is a huge ice storm where I am located, and schools were closed. So, I am glad I am able to spend a full day at home with her today instead of having to work. It’s a blessing in disguise.

So sorry to hear about it. It's great that you can spend the day with her.

Thanks to the storm.