Chinchilla suddenly seems to be dying

[robehickman]

I think my chinchilla is dying, she's barely able to balance and very lethargic. There's a video of her here:



I took her to the vets almost two weeks ago due to a large patch of lost fur with unknown cause. She had also lost some weight due to eating less due to tooth issues progressing, that she has had the whole time I've had her (adopted from RSPCA in 2019).

At that time she was otherwise acting like her normal self. I've been at a festival from last Thursday to today, and came back to find her like this.

The vet gave me some loxicom pain killer, with 0.3ml/day dosage in case her teeth were in pain, leading to her not eating enough. I hope that this hasn't had an adverse reaction and caused the current issue.

The medicne may be causing the issue as after giving her today's dose she has deteriorated markedly and as of writing she can't balance. She has also had a few fits of violent shaking (sezure like, which has never happened before).

I'd hate to have harmed her by trying to help, she was recovering very well and recovered most of the weight she had lost at the point before I took her to the vets.

She was eating very well on ground up wet food just before I went, I was seeing signs of the heavy breathing right before I went to the festival, but had no time to investigate it.

mum has been looking after and feeding her while I've been away.

 

[Amethyst]

So you have been keeping a weight record on her? She looks thin, but you say she was eating well on her own, at least 2 tb (or about 30g or more) worth of pellets (before wetting) per day, and how much if any hay? If she isn't eating you may need to be hand/force feeding her.

Also when you say tooth issues I assume malo? If so have you been getting regular x-rays to make sure the roots are not growing too? When you say the vet gave you pain meds, was that mean you already brought her in today? or was it meds you had from before? Unfortunately even with regular teeth trimming eventually the roots will almost always start to grow too, and there is nothing you can do at that point but end their suffering. The roots on top will end up growing up into her skull, which can end up poking her eyes or even brain, and the roots on the bottom will grown down into the jaw, eventually breaking it.

 

[robehickman]

This chinchilla was mistreated before I adopted her, and the RSPCA confiscated her from her previous owner, and she was estimated to be between 10 and 12 at that time.. She has always had one tooth root that's been very elongated (jaw lump).

The meds are from the previous vet trip. I think that she already has tooth root elongation into the eyes as there has been some wetness around the eyes for about a month.

She has been eating about as much food as you mention but has never wanted to eat hay, with it always being available. My previous chinchilla would eat it happily.

She has lost weight in the last two weeks, and was about 350 grams two weeks ago.

The vet was trying to recover her weight to be able to remove the elongated root tooth, although it was risky.

 

[Amethyst]

This chinchilla was mistreated before I adopted her, and the RSPCA confiscated her from her previous owner, and she was estimated to be between 10 and 12 at that time.. She has always had one tooth root that's been very elongated (jaw lump).

The meds are from the previous vet trip. I think that she already has tooth root elongation into the eyes as there has been some wetness around the eyes for about a month.

She has been eating about as much food as you mention but has never wanted to eat hay, with it always being available. My previous chinchilla would eat it happily.

She has lost weight in the last two weeks, and was about 350 grams two weeks ago.

The vet was trying to recover her weight to be able to remove the elongated root tooth, although it was risky.

Ok, I assumed she had already been to the vet today would definitely get her seen by the vet as soon as possible, she might not make it to the morning. Even though she is only around 10-12 it might be time to let her go, root elongation is basically going to cause constant pain until it kills her, and will be a slow painful death so normally they are on daily pain meds for the rest of their life.

If she isn't eating any hay the amount of pellets should actually be a lot more then just the 30g (which is the average amount of pellets a normal chin eats plus hay per day) especially for weight gain, since hay makes up the bulk (roughly 75%) of a chin's diet. Also if not given a proper diet in the past it's very possible she is suffering from organ failure at this point as well, which could explain the marked turn for the worse after getting pain meds, if her liver and/or kidneys are failing her body is going to have a hard time or may even not be able to process the meds at all anymore.

Personally I would not recommend removing teeth, there is a high risk of breaking the jaw, especially if the teeth are not already loose/falling out or dead, as well as high risk of infection (it happened to one of my chins). Even if she survives and heals, the way their teeth are you are really just prolonging her suffering and buying a little bit more time by removing teeth. The remaining teeth will shift around causing a lot more misalignment and the opposite tooth wont have anything the wear against, meaning she will need to be regularly going under to have her teeth trimmed for the rest of her life, which is not only costly but also hard on the chin.

 

[robehickman]

Ok, I assumed she had already been to the vet today would definitely get her seen by the vet as soon as possible, she might not make it to the morning. Even though she is only around 10-12 it might be time to let her go, root elongation is basically going to cause constant pain until it kills her, and will be a slow painful death so normally they are on daily pain meds for the rest of their life.

If she isn't eating any hay the amount of pellets should actually be a lot more then just the 30g (which is the average amount of pellets a normal chin eats plus hay per day) especially for weight gain, since hay makes up the bulk (roughly 75%) of a chin's diet. Also if not given a proper diet in the past it's very possible she is suffering from organ failure at this point as well, which could explain the marked turn for the worse after getting pain meds, if her liver and/or kidneys are failing her body is going to have a hard time or may even not be able to process the meds at all anymore.

Personally I would not recommend removing teeth, there is a high risk of breaking the jaw, especially if the teeth are not already loose/falling out or dead, as well as high risk of infection (it happened to one of my chins). Even if she survives and heals, the way their teeth are you are really just prolonging her suffering and buying a little bit more time by removing teeth. The remaining teeth will shift around causing a lot more misalignment and the opposite tooth wont have anything the wear against, meaning she will need to be regularly going under to have her teeth trimmed for the rest of her life, which is not only costly but also hard on the chin.

She was 10 to 12 when I adopted her in 2019, now she is more like 14 to 16. My previous chihchilla died at 16, also due to malo.

From what I've read online regarding my previous chin, malo in chinchillas seems like a very pervasive issue. Are you aware if the root cause of why it develops in captivity has been found? have chinchillas been kept that have been completely free of tooth issues?

I agree with your points regarding stress from tooth removal, and the organ failure explanation would make sense.

 

[Amethyst]

She was 10 to 12 when I adopted her in 2019, now she is more like 14 to 16. My previous chihchilla died at 16, also due to malo.

From what I've read online regarding my previous chin, malo in chinchillas seems like a very pervasive issue. Are you aware if the root cause of why it develops in captivity has been found? have chinchillas been kept that have been completely free of tooth issues?

I agree with your points regarding stress from tooth removal, and the organ failure explanation would make sense.

Ohh sorry I misread I thought you said she is 10-12, at 14-16 she is reaching average max lifespan for domestic chins (15-20 years). She is basically equivalent to in her 70s if human (I use cat age charts to get a rough idea since they live about the same amount as a cat), so it's very possible she is having other age related health issues too.

There are a couple reasons chins can have or develop malo, the most common reason is genetics, people breeding chins without any knowledge or care. Malo (malocclusion) is simply misalignment of the teeth, and just like humans and other animals that can be caused by them simply not growing in straight. The reason it's such an issue for chins is their teeth keep growing their whole life, so if they don't align they don't wear down properly, and there is no such thing as braces for chinchillas like they have for humans and even cats and dogs now. Chins that have malo, even if it's minor should not be used for breeding, but you have idiot "backyard breeders" that just get a couple of chins with unknown genetics (pet store, rescue, classified ads, etc) and let them breed either intentionally or by accident misgendering them. The resulting kits then sometimes go on to get sold to others that do the same and the cycle continues. Since genetic malo is almost 100% preventable it's frustrating and makes me mad that it's still an issue. At this point if people actually paid attention to what they are breeding then genetic malo would just be an occasional "birth defect" issue not a common problem in the population.

The other cause of tooth issues like malo is environmental, things like an accident, illness, or injury damaging the teeth or jaw leading to the teeth becoming misaligned. Or it can be from not wearing down the teeth, like not getting or eating enough hay to wear down the molars fast enough and enough chews to wear down the incisors leading to the teeth overgrowing. Or from improper diet like being fed sugary treats that lead to tooth decay and tooth loss or malnutrition causing teeth becoming loose or falling out.

There are chins that never develop tooth issues, my current chin is around 16/17 and his teeth are just fine. I don't know his genetic history, I got him and his brother when they were 3 (his brother passed a couple years ago), but chins from good genetics, that are taken proper care of, and no accidents, are unlikely to develop tooth issues. Some people do get lucky and get a pet store chin or one from a rescue that doesn't have any genetic issues, but if you want to be more sure of getting one that doesn't, or at least is less likely to have genetic issues you are better off going with a responsible breeder. Chins really can live well into their teens and some can even live into their 20s, the oldest chin on record was almost 30 when he died Oldest chinchilla ever . You can even some times find people claiming they had chins that lived into their 30s, I'm not saying it's not possible but I have yet to see any actual proof.

 

[robehickman]

She died earlier today, and had deteriorated very rapidly, this morning she was still drinking and eating food from a syringe. But that was for the best I think, It wouldn't have been good for her to keep suffering.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge about malo, and I completely agree regarding careless breeding being irresponsible. It's not fair on the animals to perpetuate something that causes long term suffering. I'd be curious though about the state of malo in wild populations as obviously they don't have people 'matchmaking', and they reach breeding age before natural selection would eliminate the problem genetics.

There's a good chance that genetics was the problem in both of the chinchillas I've owned, the first of which came from a pet shop, the second was adopted as noted. I have no idea of the lineage of either.

I'm glad that your current chinchilla is healthy, and hope that he lives a good life.

I'm not sure if I want another chinchilla at this exact time, I still feel pretty shocked given how abruptly Babs deteriorated and died.

 

[Amethyst]

She died earlier today, and had deteriorated very rapidly, this morning she was still drinking and eating food from a syringe. But that was for the best I think, It wouldn't have been good for her to keep suffering.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge about malo, and I completely agree regarding careless breeding being irresponsible. It's not fair on the animals to perpetuate something that causes long term suffering. I'd be curious though about the state of malo in wild populations as obviously they don't have people 'matchmaking', and they reach breeding age before natural selection would eliminate the problem genetics.

There's a good chance that genetics was the problem in both of the chinchillas I've owned, the first of which came from a pet shop, the second was adopted as noted. I have no idea of the lineage of either.

I'm glad that your current chinchilla is healthy, and hope that he lives a good life.

I'm not sure if I want another chinchilla at this exact time, I still feel pretty shocked given how abruptly Babs deteriorated and died.

I'm sorry to hear that, at least she isn't in pain anymore.

My guess with the wild chins is that malo is not a big issue since their life is so different. In the wild their diet is very low in nutrients and also mostly very dry and course vegetation, so they need to eat a lot more to get enough nutrients. Also we give chins dust baths made of already finely ground up pumice, in the wild chins need to chew up the pumice rocks themselves to make dust to roll in. All that chewing and grinding means not only would they wear their teeth down faster but also misalignment would cause an issue with being able to eat enough which in turn would effect their ablity to reproduce successfully. So it's very likely when it does pop up in the wild those animals are not the ones that get to mate or their offspring don't survive. Also wild chins only live about 5-10 years, so even if they do successfully mate if the misalignment isn't that bad they can live their whole life with it. Domestic chins get a nutrient rich pellet food that requires very little chew/grinding and has all the nutrients they need not only to stay healthy but to grow nice strong mineral dense teeth. Strong teeth are actually harder to wear down and require more chewing/grinding and yet many domestic chins end up chewing less then their wild ancestors, which is why even a slight misalignment of their teeth in a dometic chin can cause such an issue. The pellets helping grow strong teeth is also one reason why, even though they contain all the nutrients the chin needs, eating hay is still so important, it requires a lot more chewing to eat a pile of hay they it does a bowl of pellets. The other reason hay is important is it adds additional fiber into the diet which helps with digestion.

 

[HaXena]

So sorry for your loss. Those little buggers can really burrow into your heart. How wonderful she had you for her final years after such a rough start.

 

[Ashleyxm1]

She doesn’t look at all well, movements
can tell allot, she kind of looks unbalanced to me.

 

[JohnniePierce]

yes it is a bad news to share with you, maybe it has some disease in the body