Chinchillas with Pneumonia

[ChiChiKuro]

Long story short, my ex-boyfriend sprayed cologne in the room, I found out about it. Was super pissed, took them to the vet 3 days after the incident (it was then when I found out what he did) and it's been 3 weeks. I have two chinchillas, or at least I HAD two, I only have one now.

I took them both to the vet and when I had got there they said it was definitely respiratory (no duh) and gave me baytril and probiotics. For two weeks those weren't helping so I went back and asked for something else and they gave me this pink liquid (cherry flavored) stuff and that didn't help. ): Chichi couldn't breathe this morning, he was shaking and on one side and gasping, the vet I go to wanted $300+ to do MRI's, Xrays, and more and I don't have that kind of money to spend on bills when he said he couldn't garauntee they'd figure out what's wrong.

They said if the antibiotics aren't working (because they only treat bacterial infections) then they don't have anything else they can do for him. Chichi was put down today and now Kuro is becoming more and more sick. Im so mad I could kill my ex-BF for how dumb he is.

I don't know what to do and I want to exhaust all options before putting Kuro down as well... He's coughing and squealing like he's in pain and I don't know what to do. The vets ask for hundreds of dollars.

 

[starleomach]

The best way to treat Pneumonia is Baytril In my experiance. you can give him breathing treatments. Do you have a nebulizer? I doubt it was the cologne sprayed in the room that caused it. The sad thing is other than anti-biotics there is nothing that can be done. I am amazed that the baytril didn't work at all. What was the dosage? did you follow the directions giving it 2 times a day?

 

[ticklechin]

I would use a nebulizer for the breathing and ask for a antibiotic such as SMZ to enhance the baytril, they are synergistic (better than by itself) and work well in difficult to cure infections, good choice when fighting a tough URI.

 

[ChiChiKuro]

Yes, I gave it in 12 hour increments like it said. 7:30 AM to 7:30PM and Chichi (my brown baby) wasn't getting any better. His dosage was .3 on the little syringe and my big one Kuro was .35, these past few days Chichi wouldn't even swallow or lick the baytril when I put it on his mouth, then yesterday morning he was too far gone. ):

Kuro is only doing slight sneezing and every now and then a squeal. I have this pink liquid (Vybramilin) and I'm not sure if I can give that within 30 minutes of using the Baytril or not. I haven't used it yet.

Now that ChiChi is gone, Kuro has twice as much Baytril... would it be unwise to keep giving it to him until all of his and chichi's prescription are used up?

 

[Christina Noraas]

Do you have a humidifyer (spelling error?)? They help get moister in the air and loosen gunk in the lungs.

 

[ChiChiKuro]

I don't. I could buy one. Once he's officially better though I'm going to sell him to someone with more experience, I can't own them after not being able to save my very first and favorite one. Kuro is just going to remind me of what I did wrong.

 

[ticklechin]

If he is having trouble breathing and you can't get a nebulizer, steam up your bathroom with a hot shower, turn the shower off, and take him in there for just a short time. I will help loosen things up with his breathing.

 

[Silverrose]

When my chin had a URI, I also used a method similar to Dawn's for my chin. Please note that my chin is very calm and well behaved and I would not recommend this method if your chin is squirmy or gets spooked easily. I boiled water either on the stove, either in a pot or tea kettle. Once the water is boiling, I would hold my chin near the vessel, then waft the hot steam toward his face with my hand. I would do this in 5 minute intervals with a minute break inbetween over a 30 minute period so he would not get overheated. I definately noticed an improvement in his breathing after his little steam session. His sniffling was much less and he looked more comfortable breathing. In addition, he was on oral Baytril and Gentocin eye and nose drops. Like mentioned before, antibiotics are you're best bet for clearing up a URI. Just keep at it and don't give up hope yet. Good luck to you and your chinnie.

 

[ChiChiKuro]

Kuro isn't really having trouble breathing,he just sneezes every now and then and is hunched over. He eats all his hay, doesnt touch the mazuri pellets much (pellets were chichi's favorite) he poops a lot and drinks water. I think he'll pull through if I keep up with the baytril, I willget a humidifier sometimes this week. Right now I have a heater in the room, I give him vitamin c tablets andI'll try the steamy bathroom technique.

I wish chichi would have made it, but hewouldn't even swallow the baytril... Why was he sicker than kuro? Shouldn't theyhave equally been as sick?

 

[Christina Noraas]

ChiChi probably got it first.

 

[ChiChiKuro]

Also I wasn't doing anything different now than when chichi was alive they both had equal treatment.

 

[addictedtochins]

Once he's officially better though I'm going to sell him to someone with more experience, I can't own them after not being able to save my very first and favorite one. Kuro is just going to remind me of what I did wrong.

Where do you live? Perhaps someone on here with more experience can take him for you and a better chance of recovery for the chin. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[caiti]

Chichi could have had a weaker immune system. All you can do is give your pet every reasonable treatment and hope for the best, there are uncontrollable variables in every situation. Unless you didn't give them basic care and didn't take them to the vet (which we know you did), I can't think of why you should blame yourself. I don't know anything about how chins react to cologne. Maybe it made your chins more susceptible to some bacteria or virus that was already there or maybe it's just a coincidence.

I hope your Kuro gets better and I'm sorry about Chichi. I have no experience with URIs so I can't offer any advice but I'm sure the advice you've been given is good advice.

 

[ChiChiKuro]

Where do you live? Perhaps someone on here with more experience can take him for you and a better chance of recovery for the chin. I'm sorry for your loss.

I live in Washington, near Seattle. It would be better if someone took him, I'm giving him the Baytril and he's in a warm room 60-65 degrees, not near a window. He has plenty of hay and pellets, I have one water bottle with a vitamin c tablet that broke down in it (the vitamin c tablets you get at petsmart) and one fresh water bottle. Umm... I guess what everyone said is true, I just have to wait, because honestly I don't know what else to do at this point.

I would love it if anyone that is in Washington could take him. I'll give him away from free, I just want him to be with other chinchillas soon (probably not right now since he has pneumonia) but soon.

Also, I came home today and he barely touched his hay or his pellets and his poops aren't long and oval like, they're little balls. This doesn't look good but he hasn't sneezed for the hour I've been home...

 

[Laurie]

URI's affect each chin differently.

 

[addictedtochins]

Here is Claire's homepage. E-mail her and see if she can help. She knows everybody.
http://www.chinchillas-northwest.com/

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Pneumonia (if that's what they have because mine didn't sneeze) is highly contagious so anyone taking your chin needs to be very careful if they have other chins- I had 3 chins die that were all in the same cage - one died in 48hrs, one died 72hrs after that one and the other made it through 10 days and died. the latter two I found in time to try baytril but it didn't work. I highly doubt the perfume had much to do with it unless he sprayed it on them, but who knows. I'll never know if this is what happened but I was sick around the same time and I think they either got it from me or I got it from them. I stay out of there if I am sick now just to be safe. Pneumonia seems to have a very low survival rate - don't beat yourself up.

Are you hand feeding him? His appetite will likely be depressed from the antibiotics so you will need to hand feed and give him probiotics at least two hours after the doses of antibiotics if you aren't already doing that.

 

[soysauce]

My chin got a bad like really bad URI. She sounded terrible there was wheezing every time she breathed, no runny nose, or eyes. She made it through the rough patch and is perfect now. So there is hope for you and Kuro. She was prescribed baytril and still had a healthy appetite with it. Im sure that you and Kuro will make it through. Soy sauce and I have our paws and fingers crossed for Kuro.

 

[caiti]

Also, I came home today and he barely touched his hay or his pellets and his poops aren't long and oval like, they're little balls. This doesn't look good but he hasn't sneezed for the hour I've been home...

Sounds like he probably isn't moving enough food through him, I would start hand feeding either his ground up pellets or critical care or something like that. Around 60-80mL a day I think is the norm. I've hand fed once but others here do it regularly and have pretty much mastered it. So someone can talk you through it if you don't know how to hand feed or there are a myriad of threads about it if you search "hand feeding" or something.

With respiratory problems, I don't know if there is anything you need to know or do different when you hand feed. I'm sure someone on here knows but the main thing once they stop eating is to just get food in their stomachs.

 

[ticklechin]

The round poo indicates the digestive system is slowing down, he needs CC and should really have a motility drug to keep the digestive system contracting.