Chinchilla not eating/chewing - no mouth issues found...

[Jessica T]

I am hoping that someone out there will have had a similar experience to mine, (preferably one that ended happily) and can tell me how they remedied the problem.

We have a 6 year old chinchilla named Gus. He's had a very happy and healthy life. A few weeks ago I noticed that he wasn't eating as many alfalfa pellets as usual and that his poos were smaller and less abundant. I took him to the vet, who did a thorough check-up and concluded that perhaps he needed to be on a drug for "motility" (gets the bowels going but doesn't loosen them) and an antacid to help with tummy trouble. We gave this to Gus for the recommended 3 days and he did begin to eat and poo more.

But shortly after, his feeding dwindled again. The other odd thing was his lack of interest in chew toys. He is always seeking out bigger wood chips in his shavings and loves when we leave him edible products to gnaw, but for the past couple weeks he has not been chewing them. He was also grinding his teeth more than usual.

Naturally, this made us think he had a problem with his teeth.

This week I took him to the vet again. She did a thorough check-up before deciding if it was ok to sedate him for the exam. In doing so she discovered that he has a heart murmur. Because this can greatly increase a chinny's risk under anesthetic, we had an ultrasound done to figure out the nature of the murmur. It turns out he has a mild degree of cardiac disease, specifically "mitral valve insufficiency". It's caused a thickening of one of his valves, but not of the heart itself. He has a good heart rate despite this and is pumping blood well, his body is coping and we're in the very early stages of this problem. For now no medication is required and the specialist did not think that his lack of interest in pellets and chew toys was due to this.

They then did the mouth exam, which turned up nothing!! Even the xrays were fine. Turns out he has nearly perfect teeth. So now we (including the vets) are somewhat stumped as to what is troubling him. He is back on the motility drug and antacid, along with a painkiller that I was told is similar to Tylenol for humans. I am giving him Critical Care to supplement his eating, as he's still eating fewer pellets and less hay than usual. He is drinking, peeing, is alert and happy to come out of his cage, makes happy sounds, jumps around, looooves his dust baths..... The hope is that whatever is bothering him will go away while he is taking these medications that are helping him continue to eat. But, I'm a worry-wort (and also 5 months pregnant), so of course am thinking ahead and wondering what we do next if this doesn't work. He's to be on the meds for another 10 days, so we still have a lot of time to tell the tale...

I was hoping that by posting this story someone may have encountered a similar problem. If so, I'd love to hear your experience - was it a weird pathogen causing the illness? Did it just go away on it's own? Were you told it might be a temporary problem with something undetectable in the mouth/gut?? IF we need to go back to the vet, I'd love to have a few ideas in the back of my mind to throw out as suggestions of what it could be based on my observations of him and on what I've heard of happening to other chinchillas. Every sign we've observed points to a problem with his mouth.... Yet nothing wrong can be seen.

Thank you very much! Gus thanks you, too.

 

[ticklechin]

Does he have drool? If you pull back his lips to expose his front gums and front of the incisors, do you see any moisture? When you hand feed him, does he willingly eat or do you have to make him eat? If you offer him something tasty, does he eat it or does he struggle? You state he is drinking, is it the normal amount he has always drank? How is his weight? Any large increase or decrease? Smell his fresh poo, any odor at all? Any change in attitude, sleeping in odd places, frantic behavior when it comes to his chew toys or bedding? Any time has his penis not retracted and you found it out of the sheath? When he does eat a pellet, does he nibble, swipe his mouth, drop it and run away or does he just eat it? Smell his breath, any foul odor or fruity odor? Pull his skin up front the back of his neck, does it retract? I have dealt extensively with teeth issues and gut issues along with heart issues, so may be able to give you some ideas from a owners perspective.

 

[Pepperpot]

I have a four year old male chinchilla who has experienced exactly the same issues. He suddenly stopped eating back in September, and his droppings became very small and dry. He was a little more lethargic than usual, but would take his sand bath. He also refused to chew any of his toys, which previously he had loved. I had full teeth and jaw x-rays carried out, with a complete check under sedation - nothing, in fact his occlusion was perfect. I then had complete blood chemistry and testing carried out -nothing. My vet was totally baffled.
I was suffering high levels of stress at the time due to serious issues with neighbours, and it is my belief that he fed on my stress and became depressed.
His breeder, who is also a good friend took him for six weeks for me while I tried to sort myself out.
During his time with his breeder, he firstly refused to syringe feed, but then would take cc from a syringe only. He would strop and tantrum if she tried to feed him anything else and fling his food round his cage. We agreed that his syringe feeds should be withdrawn, and he must decide wether he would feed himself or not. Thankfully, he did.
He will take cc from a bowl, dry pellets when he wishes, a little hay, a little alfalfa and will freely eat lightly soaked pellets. He loves oats and wheatgerm also. He's basically stable now, very slowly gaining weight and his poops are normal. Feeding him his still a challenge, but at least the sulking has ceased and he seems to be interested in living again.
I hope this is of some help to you.

 

[Jessica T]

Thank you for your time! Here is the answer to your questions, perhaps you can tell from my answers whether this sounds like a tooth issue or not:

Does he have drool? NO

If you pull back his lips to expose his front gums and front of the incisors, do you see any moisture? NO

When you hand feed him, does he willingly eat or do you have to make him eat? He will eat from the syringe very willingly, and he takes treats no problem. Hay and pellets are dropped when handed to him, though he does eat a FEW pellets in the night and wrestles his hay around (I don't think he consumes much of it)

If you offer him something tasty, does he eat it or does he struggle? He eats it right up

You state he is drinking, is it the normal amount he has always drank? As far as I can tell, his drinking patterns haven't changed. And his pee is normal, too.

How is his weight? Any large increase or decrease? He had lost 50g over 10 days before I started feeding him critical care. We need to buy a small scale to weigh him at home but his tummy feels full and round (as usual) and he is eating critical care at the level recommended on the package.

Smell his fresh poo, any odor at all? NONE

Any change in attitude, sleeping in odd places, frantic behavior when it comes to his chew toys or bedding? He has not slept in his favourite place in a while - like since I started noticing that his eating was off. His fave spot is in a pvc tube. He does get somewhat frantic when we hand him chew toys - more frustrated than anything. He tries to chew them, but gives up and throws them aside.

Any time has his penis not retracted and you found it out of the sheath? NO. Also the vet checked his penis and saw no issues there.

When he does eat a pellet, does he nibble, swipe his mouth, drop it and run away or does he just eat it? I haven't observed him eating a pellet lately since he only does it through the course of the night.

Smell his breath, any foul odor or fruity odor? NO. The vet did this as well and found nothing odd.

Pull his skin up front the back of his neck, does it retract? Sure does!

Do these answers make anything clearer, or do they perplex you? Thank you so much for your input, it is so very appreciated!!!!!

 

[Jessica T]

Thank you so much for your response! It makes me feel better to know that another chinny was in the same boat and recovered. (Though I wouldn't wish this upon any chinchilla or owner!!). It is odd, but perhaps it is just a rough patch in life. I can't think of any tension going on here that may have been passed onto Gus, like in your situation, but who knows what he's been feeling. He really does not seem depressed - makes tons of happy chirping sounds, especially when food is offered, when we let him out of the cage, and when he gets a bath. I appreciate your sharing, we'll continue the extra care and hope he comes out of it as your chinchilla did!

 

[ticklechin]

So from your response, my experience tells me he is not in discomfort until he puts something in his mouth. It does not appear to be a gut issue, those issues usually mean a fight to feed. If I was to take a guess based on what I have dealt with in the past, it could be a cracked incisor-only when he tries to chew it hurts, no chew no pain. This is pretty common especially with chins who have cage rage and chew bars. I had one who had a cracked incisor-it was cracked under the gum, as the tooth grew out he ended up with no incisor when it fell out, it grew back and he was fine, this was a 2 month ordeal. You can't see the crack on a x-ray nor visually. So depending on if the crack is horizontal or vertical is how long the issue can go on for, horizontal grows out, vertical can be more tricky.

 

[Jessica T]

Hi Dawn,

That sounds extremely logical considering what we've observed. Why isn't a crack visible on the xray? I thought that was the point of them, haha.

Do you know what we can expect to see and after how long if it is a horizontal crack or a vertical crack? Should we be looking for an increase in pain or decline in eating as it worsens? Will it become large enough to eventually catch on an xray, or just cause the tooth to come out? Is there any way to monitor it (eg xray again after a certain amount of time?). Is there anything we can do to help him now - like perhaps stay on the metacam until the issue is resolved?

Thank you again, so very much, for your input. We have always thought the issue was something like this, but never thought of this situation as we expected cracks to show up on the xrays.

 

[semenasma]

I had a very similar problem with my chin a few years ago. I noticed she wasn't eating much but all other behavior was normal. I had a vet check her mouth, do x-rays, an ultrasounds and blood work. We couldn't find anything wrong. I had her on baytril (antibiotics), Metoclopromide and cisapride (GI motility). In addition, I was hand feeding her critical care, Pedialyte, and baby food daily. We even filed her teeth just in case we were missing something. This went on for about 3 months and she finally started eating again. It has been about 6 years since then and I have never had another problem with her. It was honestly the strangest thing.

I hope your guy gets better soon, I know how stressful it is to have a sick baby!
illowfight:

 

[Jessica T]

Hi everyone who had posted on here and was offering help. Firstly, thank you! It's safe to say Gus is back to normal. We never did figure out the problem. Though my husband and I still maintain it was an issue in his mouth. He is back to eating on his own, and full of beans when let out of the cage. Never been so happy to find him trying to chew things he isn't supposed to!

The pain killer (metacam) that he was on certainly helped, it enabled him to accept food, which in turn gave him energy and kept his gut healthy. As well, Critical Care was a life saver. My vet recommended mixing in a small amount of unsweetened apple sauce. I did this, and he was successfully wanting to eat 1.5-2 tablespoons (dry volume) of it a day. I'd give it to him as 1tsp (dry, but mixed with water and applesauce) at a time....so 6 times a day. Getting up in the night and coming home for lunch were well worth it, small sacrifices to make for a loved pet!!

I'm telling you this in case you encounter a similar problem, or ever are in a situation where syringe feeding is necessary. Again, this kept him alive and I am thankful for knowing the few tricks I did to get him eating it.

Thanks again for the help and support, wishing you and your chinny(s) health and happiness!

 

[ticklechin]

Yay GUS!!!!