Drizzle is having surgery. :(

[Essentia]

So, my newest rescue is scheduled for surgery on Monday. He was surrendered to me with a hurt paw and we have been battling infection ever since he got here. He's been on Baytril for 2 weeks, and the hand just keeps getting infected. Plus, he's been chewing at it a bit so that definitely isn't helping. The vet looked at it today and there is bone showing from the first two fingers where he has chewed and necrotized (is that the right word?) tissue going on with the hand itself. The vet is going to go in and remove all the dead tissue and those fingers, and possibly another finger that didn't look good. He said if he feels the hand can't be saved once he gets in there he will amputate the entire thing.

This poor baby has such a hard life and he is just so spunky. He's the only chinchilla who I have had on Baytril that has continued to eat. Plus, he is constantly trying to get out for playtime. I hate that I can't let him do too much because of that hand. He's alert, and sweet and loves his scritchens. I think the lack of hand is going to give him even more personality. He already has a few chunks missing from his ears from an unknown injury long ago. I hope after all this I am able to find him the best possible home. He truly deserves it.

So please, keep us in your prayers and thoughts! The vet has lost a chinchilla during surgery before, so he is worried, but is willing to try everything he can to save this little guy, as am I.

 

[lauralynne]

I'm sorry, Crysta! Sending prayers and positive thoughts!

 

[threewingedfury]

Good luck Crysta. I hope the little guy improves.

 

[Essentia]

I thought about our conversation the entire time I was in the office, Tiffany. My husband called me a softie the second we were out of the office, but I do think I made the right decision. My first question to Dr. Hart was about quality of life, and cost, especially since we aren't sure if he will continue to chew the wound afterward. Because Dr. Hart is plain ol' awesome, he said he will use this as a learning experience, and is only charging me a small amount to cover the costs of anestesia and such. Basically, he's only charging me $100 for surgery, and he said he would be willing to bill it over the course of a few months if he needed to (though that won't be necessary). After he said that I decided I wanted to give him one more chance before I let him go. Dr. Hart even said he would have been heartbroken if I decided to put him down, but he would do it if that's what I wanted. That made me feel even worse, as that's not what I wanted to do either.

Hopefully all will work out.

 

[threewingedfury]

Wow, I really need your doctor then. Down here, I'd never get a surgery under $400. Glad he's willing to work with you. It's hard to find nice vets.

 

[MelodyR]

Come on, Drizzle, we're all cheering for you to get better!!!!!!

 

[alli713]

Is this the chin you were thinking of getting the cone for? If it were me, I would put a cone on him, especially after surgery.

MuShu was biting herself to the point of making a wound, and when I had the cone on her for 3 weeks, the wound healed and allowed it to get better without her messing with it.

 

[Essentia]

Yes, this is the same chin. I ordered one from the website you gave me, but it hasn't arrived yet. I hope it gets here before Monday. They just sent me the confirmation for the order, so who knows how long it will take them to actually ship it off. Ugh. Honestly, he hasn't chewed on it at all since that first time, and that's when he caused all this damage. I will be putting the cone on him though the second I gets it here. My vet is skeptical saying his neck is too small to hold a cone without him getting it off, but I'm here to prove him wrong.

 

[alli713]

Oh good! Well, I hope it gets there in time.

It will stay on, believe me. MuShu kept hers on for 3 weeks. It's a type that you tie on, so you can tie it as tight as you need. The first time we put it on MuShu and let her try and hop around, she did get her little paw up into it to try and take it off, but then we just tied it a bit tighter, and it never came off after that.

I hope it heals up after surgery so that he leaves it alone and doesn't have to have it amputated!

 

[starleomach]

Good luck to drizzle

 

[Jazicat]

Just saw the pictures of Drizzle and he's a cutie! Bless you and your vet for all you are doing and we will also keep you in out thoughts.

 

[Claire D]

I've read through your posts & I'm curious as to why the vet wants to mess about amputating just digits?

Chins adapt really well to only having 3 legs & I'd be opting for full amputation at the shoulder - this reduces the risks of him chewing at the wound, reduces the risks of failure to heal through underlying infection tracking up the paw (if there is infection and necrotic tissue then this is a distinct possibility), & reduces the risk of post-op pressure being put on a low amputation stump and/or scar tissue. Blood supply is also better further up the leg so a higher amputation will heal faster too.

 

[Essentia]

The vet is worried about pain afterward. He said he has lost chinchillas who just couldn't deal with pain. I specifically asked him about removing the entire arm, and he said he wants to try this first. I spoke to the bird rescue who surrendered him to me, and they are wanting to help with the costs, so she said she would rather go this route first as well.

I am printint out your post to give to him tomorrow. I am dropping him off in the morning, and he is doing the surgery in the early afternoon. I do want to do what is best for him, and if you truly think this will be an easier surgery on him, I want to push for it.

If you have any other information you can link me to, or just more that you can type out here that I can bring, please let me know.

 

[Essentia]

Oh! And Ali, I got the cone already. Bringing it with him tomorrow.

 

[Claire D]

The vet is worried about pain afterward. He said he has lost chinchillas who just couldn't deal with pain.

TBH I've have never heard of a chinchilla dying from pain post-operatively.
I've had chins have amputations, full spays, C-sections etc and as long as they have adequate pain relief then they tend to do fine - it is underlying complications such as shock or septicaemia which usually result in death.
Many vets will give Rimadyl or Vetergesic (usually the latter) just before the chinchilla is brought round & that is usually sufficient until they can go onto Metacam.

I specifically asked him about removing the entire arm, and he said he wants to try this first. I spoke to the bird rescue who surrendered him to me, and they are wanting to help with the costs, so she said she would rather go this route first as well.

Personally I would always opt for full amputation unless it is one toe which is affected or if the risks of self mutilation are almost non-existent.
Your chin has been chewing his foot consistently which indicates that the paw is painful and/or infected - it is better to take the limb off high up (at the shoulder) to reduce the risks of tracking infection (when infection travels up the limb) or continued self mutilation.
You're also looking at higher risk of infection if surgery is done on the paw - once it has been operated on the chinchilla will continue to walk on it (causing pressure on the delicate healing tissue) on the cage floor/shavings - if the wound becomes infected then you're into a vicious circle or infection, tissue damage (necrosis), and further surgery to deal with the infection.......
If the paw is put into a cast then there are risks of pressure damage (cast too tight), chewing the cast, or infection building up unnoticed under the cast, and the limb can atrophy (the muscles can begin to waste away under the cast) .......... again, not an ideal scenario.


I'd far rather put a chin through a single anaesthetic than multiple anaesthetics if "cleaning up the wound" fails. The more anaesthetics, the greater the risks of complications.
A full amputation (hopefully - nothing is ever guaranteed) means one surgery, one post-op recovery, & a faster outcome.

I am printint out your post to give to him tomorrow. I am dropping him off in the morning, and he is doing the surgery in the early afternoon. I do want to do what is best for him, and if you truly think this will be an easier surgery on him, I want to push for it.

If you have any other information you can link me to, or just more that you can type out here that I can bring, please let me know.

I know there have been several threads on here about chins with broken limbs having them repeatedly cast or splinted, treated for months, only to end up having full amputations because the other treatments failed - even though several people suggested amputation as their preferred option to start with.
I know it is not exactly the same but you're potentially looking at a similar scenario - you could have this chin's foot "nibbled" away through multiple surgeries (if they fail) and that's not necessarily in the best interests of either you or the chin (or your wallet!).

As I said above, chins do just fine as tripods and it is often the fastest, "safest" route to take when a chin has an injury which is painful & they keep self mutilating.


Does that help?

 

[Essentia]

I'm going to give it all to him tomorrow when I drop him off. I will also call him before the surgery and discuss it with him. Hopefully he'll go with it. I know he's also trying to keep it reasonable for me, but since I now have help paying for it, I'll try to get him to go for the full amputation.

 

[mercynursie]

Just wanted to let you know that you and Drizzle are in our thoughts and prayers.Hoping all goes well tomorrow.Remember even though we can't be physically with you, we're giving you long distance hugs and support!!!!:hug2:

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

Good luck to Drizzle =) I've never heard of cones for chinchillas. That's interesting.

 

[Essentia]

It's actually a 4 inch cone made for tiny dogs, but it will also fit a chinchilla.

 

[Rascal]

One of my friend's chinchilla bit his two hands seriously and continuously, no one knew why, both hands were bleeding but the chins continued to bite on himself...Both hands were removed in a surgery as they were seriously bit by himself, and the chins becomes normal again afterwards and didn't bite himself anymore...

Hope everything goes well on Drizzle.