Riven
Bad Chin
I've heard people wonder if chins can be depressed or express sorrow for lost mates etc.
I'd like to start with saying not every chin needs a friend. Many are very happy being the "only child", but I have a story that I watched unfold in front of me.
I have a friend who's helped me clean cages for years, feed the chins, and care for them while I've been gone to shows, ill, or what not. She knows what's normal and how to care for them. I trusted her to get my batch of Recessive Whites on a plane to Denmark...
I have a female who is very special to me... she dances in circles due to having a bad eye, and she'd gotten to the point where she would trample her kits. This chin was a gift to me from someone who helped me a lot and I didn't want to just sell her off to a home and never see her again, and that's when my friend said since you are getting rid of the majority of your chins... I think I should get one. She'd always paid special attention to this girl and always enjoyed her while helping me.
So about 3 weeks ago her kit (that she didn't trample!) was weaned and she was ready to go to her new home, originally they talked about taking both, but decided on just the one. Today she told me her eye was goo'd shut, so I said you know what to do, just wipe with a warm cloth and open it up, she probably just got something in it. Later it was closed again so I went to look at it. The first thing I noticed was she was thin... she was too docile... and her ears were sad.
I said well maybe she's lonely, she's always been with other chins in the room or with her, she was concerned about her eye and asked if I thought it was best if I took her home for a couple days ( she was worried she wouldn't do a good job for her eye, I was more worried about the weight loss), and I said that would be fine, I could put her in the empty cage I have or in with the couple young girls I have. She said quietly on my lap the block home... I began to worry more than I had let on. I treated her, and decided she needed the company of the other girls. Because if there was any contamination to be done, I'm sure it would have been done in the years that she'd been helping me coming in and out of my barn and helping me regularly. I decided the gain was worth the risk.
Within 30 minutes she was eating and drinking like she hadn't eaten or drank anything in weeks, hay, feed (all this is the exact same she had been getting as it all came from my house), her ears are perked again, and she's playing with the young girls. Her eye is opened up after being cleaned, I found a small piece of shaving in her eye lid.
In the end... although I'd love to say I have some special chin powers, I know that the truth is she was lonely. She was always around other chins and felt alone without others around. I'll keep her here for a couple more days then send her back along with her daughter so she will have company in her new home, and I'm always just down the block.
I'd like to start with saying not every chin needs a friend. Many are very happy being the "only child", but I have a story that I watched unfold in front of me.
I have a friend who's helped me clean cages for years, feed the chins, and care for them while I've been gone to shows, ill, or what not. She knows what's normal and how to care for them. I trusted her to get my batch of Recessive Whites on a plane to Denmark...
I have a female who is very special to me... she dances in circles due to having a bad eye, and she'd gotten to the point where she would trample her kits. This chin was a gift to me from someone who helped me a lot and I didn't want to just sell her off to a home and never see her again, and that's when my friend said since you are getting rid of the majority of your chins... I think I should get one. She'd always paid special attention to this girl and always enjoyed her while helping me.
So about 3 weeks ago her kit (that she didn't trample!) was weaned and she was ready to go to her new home, originally they talked about taking both, but decided on just the one. Today she told me her eye was goo'd shut, so I said you know what to do, just wipe with a warm cloth and open it up, she probably just got something in it. Later it was closed again so I went to look at it. The first thing I noticed was she was thin... she was too docile... and her ears were sad.
I said well maybe she's lonely, she's always been with other chins in the room or with her, she was concerned about her eye and asked if I thought it was best if I took her home for a couple days ( she was worried she wouldn't do a good job for her eye, I was more worried about the weight loss), and I said that would be fine, I could put her in the empty cage I have or in with the couple young girls I have. She said quietly on my lap the block home... I began to worry more than I had let on. I treated her, and decided she needed the company of the other girls. Because if there was any contamination to be done, I'm sure it would have been done in the years that she'd been helping me coming in and out of my barn and helping me regularly. I decided the gain was worth the risk.
Within 30 minutes she was eating and drinking like she hadn't eaten or drank anything in weeks, hay, feed (all this is the exact same she had been getting as it all came from my house), her ears are perked again, and she's playing with the young girls. Her eye is opened up after being cleaned, I found a small piece of shaving in her eye lid.
In the end... although I'd love to say I have some special chin powers, I know that the truth is she was lonely. She was always around other chins and felt alone without others around. I'll keep her here for a couple more days then send her back along with her daughter so she will have company in her new home, and I'm always just down the block.
