Choking chin ?

[aznmexaggie]

I have only had one instance of choke and it was in a kit who stole a treat from her mom. I had never experienced choke before but the only thing I could think of was to do the centrifugal swing which I do for newborn kits who have aspirated fluid during birth. I cupped her in my hands, swung her down a few times and was able to grab the treat which was brought to the front of her mouth.

I have never witnessed choke in an adult chin, even in Rayna, who has dental disease/malo.

 

[AZChins]

I've had adults choke twice, confirmed by necropsies. It doesn't happen much at all though with adults, it's mostly in very young chinchillas because they are smaller and tend to bolt food. It's not all that common, but it does happen every now and then...and there's nothing that can be done unless you are right there and can do something about it. Swinging an adult by the tail would probably get whatever is stuck lodged in deeper.

Adults are more susceptible to aspiration into the lungs, which can lead to pneumonia, than choke for sure.

 

[ticklechin]

The technique of swinging by the tail was only a loose idea by Addictedtochins, the technique that is like it is in the link and could work in the case of a emergency since it is used on kits I am told to remove fluid from the lungs.

 

[Claire D]

I've had adults choke twice, confirmed by necropsies.

Out of interest, did they also have other problems, Susan? Choke usually accompanies other illness like tooth problems or respiratory issues etc. It's rare that it occurs on it's own.

it's mostly in very young chinchillas because they are smaller and tend to bolt food. It's not all that common, but it does happen every now and then...

Interesting - again (curiosity on my part) have you had experience of this?

Swinging an adult by the tail would probably get whatever is stuck lodged in deeper.

I guess in theory - since the chin would be securely held with it's head down & then swung - the swing would force anything out towards the mouth.
Mind you, it's not a theory I want to be trying any time soon. :hmm:

 

[AZChins]

One the vet found NOTHING but that something was restricting the airway. The other one the vet thought that there was a problem with a possible respiratory infection that may have made it hard to breathe, it was an older chin.

I've had a few young chins have problems with choking. The first one I ran to the vet and the vet passed a tube down to the stomach and cleared the blockage. The others were choke with the copious amounts saliva coming out of the mouth and the chin dying suddenly. I had one customer have this happen to her 3 month old chin. The one that I had necropsied had choked on a pellet(s). I think that the lady's chin had choked on a treat, but I can't remember for sure because it was years ago. That's just a few out of hundreds or thousands. With the babies, I am not sure that there was any underlying problems except that they didn't appear to have other symptoms before the choking death.

There's just been so many chins that have come through here...the occurrence of choke is almost nothing. I do wonder how many times a chin dies suddenly and without any symptoms that it could actually have been from the airways being blocked. I've noticed that the lips turn blue when it's happened, but that can happen if a chin isn't getting enough oxygen.

I wouldn't swing a chin either! You never know what damage could be inflicted. Maybe whatever is stuck would dislodge, maybe it would get stuck further. The esophagus is just a tube of muscle tissue that passes food to the stomach. Something could get caught, get dislodged and get pulled into a lung. I'm not going to try it to gain experience with it as a treatment.

My vet did mention something about chins becoming choked by giving them something that could expand like psyillium husks or fiber. I have no experience with that though.

If your chin is in distress, get to the vet. That's really the only thing that can help.

 

[Claire D]

Thanks Susan - that's all interesting
I've only ever seen choke once in all my years of keeping chins & working with the rescues - the chin concerned had a heart attack while she was eating - so the choke was associated with an underlying condition.

I wouldn't swing a chin either! You never know what damage could be inflicted. Maybe whatever is stuck would dislodge, maybe it would get stuck further. The esophagus is just a tube of muscle tissue that passes food to the stomach. Something could get caught, get dislodged and get pulled into a lung. I'm not going to try it to gain experience with it as a treatment.

Oops! Think we're at cross purposes, Susan.
When I posted I would not want to test the theory I just meant I wouldn't want to have to deal with choke any time soon, not that I wouldn't swing a chin in distress.
I probably would swing a chin in an emergency if I could not get anything stuck in it's mouth out or I suspected choke.
The article Dawn posted shows that it can work with rats so I see no reason why it would not work with a chinchilla. It works in children too - I remember my Dad holding me by the legs & swinging me (gently) upside down when I was choking on a crisp (potato chip).

I agree - the bottom line is that where choke is occurring in a chin there's a very short time frame to save the animal.
I think that if a foreign body is blocking or partially blocking the oesophagus then the risks of swinging the chin are probably less than doing nothing, given the time constraints.
Given the opportunity I'd probably do an initial swing & then get to my vets ASAP - the swing may well clear the oesophagus just enough to stop them going into respiratory distress/arrest while you get to a vet for more help.

 

[AZChins]

I know what you meant.

I don't really know what would happen with that. It's worth someone trying if the chin really is gagging and nothing else can be done.

The little guy I got to the vet was 6 weeks old. He was having a lot of trouble and gagging and uncomfortable...I was about 5 minutes away from the vet at that time. She put him under with the gas and very gently put the tube into his mouth and pushed it down. She said she could feel the resistance of whatever was blocking things up to pushing and then the resistance went away. He woke up and he was just fine.

That's really the only time that I caught it in time to do anything at all about it. I have found them just dead in their cages the other times. These instances are years and years apart and it has happened very few times....I can't say that I have that much experience with it because it just doesn't happen much.

 

[Stackie]

Swinging Bear didn't cause the object to lodge deeper. It also didn't cause any damage. It saved his life. For the time being anyway...he passed a few days later due to his URI.

If you know how to do the swing correctly and support them, there's a slim chance it will do any damage. It's better than leaving them to suffocate while driving to the vet- immediate action needs to be taken if they are not breathing. Being a vet tech I use the swing all the time on newborn puppies. It's not something I would suggest to someone inexperienced, but if done right, it can work.

 

[AZChins]

I had no idea that it was a common practice.

I'll try that if I ever have to again. Who knows what the future holds?

 

[ticklechin]

So shall we call the technique the "chin swing"? At least the OP got a good answer now what to do if there is a medical emergency and there is no time to get to the vet.

 

[tunes]

I've always known they did it with puppies and kittens (I've used it on puppies), and I've used it many times with kits, just not with adults. That's why I always just call it "the swing" or "baby swing."

 

[deejay]

hi all

im new at the chin world
my chin is 10 weeks old and today he started doing so weird sounds
and looked like if he was chocking,i saw a vidioon this site of a white chin also doing the same
so i regestered to speack to that person but nou i cant seem to find the vidio...

can someone please help...