Chinchilla heart abcess

[Sarah53427]

Hi everyone!

I've been reading this forum for a while but this is my first post.

I noticed a very subtle change in my chinchilla - being strange around her water bottle. I took her to the vets as I thought better safe than sorry! She was diagnosed with a lung infection and had dropped from 530g to 480g. She was treated with antibiotics and syringe feeding. When she returned in a week that had cleared up.

Her weight then dropped and we went back to the vets. Now an internal abscess in front of the heart had developed. We were told the abcess couldn't be treated as the body builds a wall around it to protect resulting in antibiotics not being able to get in. The vet thought she had about 2 weeks left.

It's now 3 weeks and she's still here!! She's put on 40g and is being syringe fed 45-55ml of oxbow critical care. In the last couple of days she's started eating again. A couple of days ago she went into the vets for 3 nights as we were away. She lost 30g but they thought that was due to a change of enviroment. 2 days back at home and she's put on 20g.

This is a very long winded way of me asking if there's anything else I can do for her- any other foods to build her up? Any suggestions at all...

Thank you for your help!!

Sarah

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Is there another chin knowledgeable vet you could see? Maybe a second opinion?

I'm glad she is eating on her own again and putting weight back on.

 

[Dreamlite]

I agree with a second opinion. Abscesses can be cleared up with meds in most cases. How was the abscess diagnosed? A heart abscess would only be noticeable by xray.

 

[Sarah53427]

Hi all

Thanks for your replies. She had blood tests and an X-ray. The X-Ray showed the heart abcess- the thought it could be a tumour but other things in the blood test pointed to an abcess. He's a chinchilla specialist and I'm satisfied with his opinion. Just wanted to check if there are any others foods or anything I can give her to build her up. She's put on another 10g today and it still pooing lots so I know there's no blockages!

Thank you!

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

Why doesn't he even want to try to treat it? Is there no chance what so ever the meds might work, even just a small amount?

 

[Sarah53427]

Opps may have missed that out - she is on three medications too but he said they won't shrink the abcess. At least she seems to be improving though. Keeping a very close eye on her.