Eye problem? Vet says she is healthy but I'm not convinced

[Josie121]

Hello friends, hoping someone can help me!

Background: I've had my chinchilla Lillian from birth, she is currently my only chin, she is approximately seventeen months old. On May 9th I came home after an overnight at work to blood all over the cage. I rushed her to the emergency vet to find out that she had fractured and misaligned her front tooth. I was given a prescription for both pain meds and antibiotics. The antibiotics had a side effect of eye irritation. The irritation did not occur until the end of the 10 day administering time period of the antibiotics. (As I have a background in nursing) I knew it was okay to stop the antibiotics a day early, and, that most often symptoms from antibiotics stop when you stop treatment. On May21st I saw the vet for the tooth check up (MUCH BETTER and will be 100% okay) yet she was not concerned about Lillian's eyes. I expressed MY concern, and told her I stopped treatment early. She said I did the right thing but that it should clear up on its own. Over a week after check up, her eyes were still producing moisture and irritation so I called the vet and was told NOT to bring her in, but was given a new prescription for eye drops. Throughout the 7 days of drops both eyes continued to be irritated, moist around the edges, and with OCCASIONAL/slight discharge. I called the vet 5 days after stopping drops and they told me to wait some more and call back in a few days if it was still an issue. I called Monday and the earliest I could make a non emergency appointment was Saturday morning.

According to the vet, Lil is healthy. The vet still claims it will clear up on it's own.

HOWEVER:

I don't know if I trust that theory. Lil's my world and I want to be sure she is okay. So here are some questions if someone can help?:

Can chinchillas get allergies? And if so, would eye moisture be a symptom?

Other considerations: the vet seemed to dismiss include the fact that I moved April 30th (from an apartment on the 3rd floor of a building to the basement (finished) of my parents house... Before moving in I sprayed Raid Bug Barrier around the perimeter of the room. Although the bottle says it's safe for animals once it drys, and most importantly Lil does NOT have play time in the basement (but a different room instead) I am beginning to wonder if this is a factor? Could the Bug Barrier be causing dangerous reactions, and/or her leaky eyes?

Additional observations: her paws are warmer than normal when I hold her. YES it is summer in New England US, but I am in the basement and it has always been cool enough for me to wear sweatshirts and sweatpants at night with comfortable temperatures during the day as well. So it's not environmental overheating. Yet, the vet took her temperature today and said it was normal. Her behavior/personality is normal. Poopies are normal, food and water intake are normal. Limited to one raisin a week.

Any advice and/or input would be wonderful. Unless I can solve this or it gets better, I am going to wait another 10 days and then go to a different vet for a second opinion. I do like and trust the vet I currently see(other fantastic experiences with other chinchillas), but something in my gut tells me I shouldn't let this go.


Sorry for the long post! And thanks in advanced.
-Katie

 

[tunes]

Barring a tooth issue (malocclusion) generally the eyes being matted are either from an infection or from a lack of ventilation/circulation in their environment. I had this problem when I first did my barn and was told by two long term ranchers that it was because I had actually over insulated the building and that there wasn't enough circulation. I added a squirrel cage and that took care of that. the other thing that might help is aiming a fan at the floor to move the air and disperse humidity. Cool does not equal dry.

If it is an eye infection rather than just a circulation issue, then drops may not be enough and oral antibiotics may be necessary. What antibiotic did you treat her with originally? I have not heard of chins having eye issues as a reaction to an oral antibiotic before.

 

[Josie121]

I started a fan immediately, so time will tell if that will help! How long do you anticipate I wait to see results if that's the issue?

And her meds were: Antibiotic- Tribrissen .3ml 2x day
Pain- Metacam .1ml 1x day

The eye drops were "Neomycin and B Sulfates and Gramicidin Ophthalmic Solution USP"

The vet said that her eyes look "clear", despite the matting and excretion.

I don't think it's Malocclusion because the original issue was the fracture, and so all the attention has been put on her teeth. The vet saw them yesterday and said they look good.

 

[Dreamlite]

You can't tell if her teeth are the issue without xrays. So the vet saying they are fine on an oral exam only does not rule them out. Since eye drops have not solved the problem I would consider getting xrays done

 

[Josie121]

I just got off the phone with the vet. I was told that the first way vets check for Malocclusion is to look orally at the teeth and that they can generally tell from that. She said xrays involve anesthesia so they try to avoid xrays at all cost. They may refer me to an out of state facility which can do a CAT scan in a few weeks if it's still occurring.

I wish I knew whether to trust the vet or not. I feel like chinchillas aren't taken as seriously as dogs or cats... And I don't know if she's sure of her work or assuming.

I just want my nugget to be okay.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

You can't see the roots by looking in the mouth. Bad malocclusion that involves the eye because the roots are up to the eye is only seen by an x-ray.

 

[Michellemazz]

(Hugs)

 

[sarahspins]

She said xrays involve anesthesia so they try to avoid xrays at all cost.

To be 100% honest, a complete oral exam should involve sedation/anesthesia, otherwise they're just making a "best guess" based on what they can see with a squirming animal (not to mention the risk of injury involved in restraining a chin to do this), and I guarantee it's not going to reveal everything. X-rays should be done at the same time to rule the things out that you just can't see by "just looking".

If your vet is "avoiding x-rays at all costs", especially when YOU are the one requesting it (because usually the only reason to avoid x-rays/sedation is the COST to the pet owner, not the vets insecurity about their ability to perform such a procedure), then they are effectively avoiding giving you proper treatment for your pet.

I would be searching for a new vet... this is not one that I would personally be able to trust very much for anything.

 

[ticklechin]

You can have elongation without malocclusion, when upper incisor roots elongate, they impede on the lacrimal canal causing the tears to not drain, bacteria then forms and causes repeated infections, without a x-ray there is no way to tell.

 

[Josie121]

THANK YOU. I will be researching and finding a place for Xrays this week.

Only question left is how QUICK should I be about this? That comes out terrible, but I am in nursing school.. it's an accelerated program and its FINALS WEEK. I have a week off starting Saturday and can make an appointment with a specialist for then. The specialist is out of state hence the difficulty making an appointment.

If it should be done NOW I can have my ex take her, I would just rather avoid that if possible.

 

[Josie121]

Just got off the phone with the out of state specialist. They won't have someone on staff to see her tomorrow before I go into class for a presentation. Furthermore, without an exam, they can't determine what step is next, meaning they don't know WHEN to tell me to come in based on WHAT type of specialist or treatment she needs. This is concerning because it's a two hour drive, and I don't want to put Lil through the stress of 4 hours of driving, only to be told to come back.

I called my original emergency vet and was told I can call back tomorrow to talk to a chinchilla specialist. Hopefully she can look at Lillian's chart and help me determine the next step.

Prayers and/or positive vibes this way please. So scared this is serious.

 

[ticklechin]

If the anaesthesia is gas, which is what most vets use who deal with chinchillas, yes there is a risk but I personally have had many malo chins over a period of 10 years, they have been put under literally 100s of times for various procedures and I only had one bad outcome, but he was a 17 year old.