Female still open after 3 weeks???

[EMSChins]

I have a 1 1/2 year old female, Trixie, that just had her first litter of kits (1 male, 1 female) just over 3 weeks ago. The birth went fine, no complications. It took her a little longer to have her milk come in but it did and the kits are nursing and doing great. Good weight gain on both of them, they appear healthy and active.

I gave mom and the babies some time to bond and try not to bother them for a couple of days. After a couple of days I noticed amber colored staining around Trixie's penile cone and anus and she is still open. She has never been stained before and is one of the most meticulously clean chins that I own. I have never seen this before on any of my other chins but I thought maybe she is just sitting in her urine while nursing.

Sometimes the stained area is moist but other times it is dry which would be about right if it is urine. Unfortunately her vagina is still open and it has been 3 weeks. Other than the staining I cannot see any actual discharge and there is no odor. On Monday, I took her to the vet and he could not find anything wrong with her. He said that to investigate further that she needed an ultrasound but didn't think her symptoms warranted it unless she started acting worse and the vet that does ultrasounds is out of town. I told him that I was worried about a retained placenta and/or pyometria but he didn't think so. He was fairly confident that she was fine and I don't know if I am being paranoid. Other than the staining and open vagina, she is acting fine - eating, sleeping, pooping, drinking and nursing her kits normally.

This morning the stained area is wet again, her vagina is still open and appears to be slightly sticky??? I have called the vet and am waiting on a call back. Has anyone here experienced this? I just can't understand why she is still open after 3weeks? The only other thing that I have noticed is that she nurses her kits while sitting up, hunched forward sitting directly on her butt with back legs spread directly in front of her (picture Jabba the Hut with 2 nursing kits in front of him). I don't know if this is significant or just a quirk.

Any input from breeders?

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

I can't comment on what you are seeing around the vaginal area because I am having a mental/visual block right now but as far as the female being open. I have several here that are open and have been open for months. I have no idea why. When they are bred they will close but otherwise they have stayed open.

 

[EMSChins]

I wil try to take a picture of it in a little bit as I need someone to help hold her or take the picture while I hold her and everyone around here is either asleep or in the shower at the moment.

Thanks for the input on being open, that makes me feel a little better that I am just being paranoid. I have just never seen it before on my other females but then I don't have that many to compare.

 

[EMSChins]

Here are a few pictures, a few more in the next post as I couldn't upload all 4 in this post. It is hard to see but she is slightly open. The staining looks a bit more amber in person but on the pictures it is showing up as yellow. Also, forgot to mention in my original post that when she tightens and then relaxes her anal sphincter and it opens a little bit you can see what I thought was pus. It is a small glob of what looks lik cottage cheese nothing comes out ofher vagina or rectum, it sits just inside the opening to the rectum. You cannot see it if she is relaxed. She didn't tighten and relax her sphincer while we were at the vets but the vet was able to get a small glimpse of what I see. He tried to swab it but said that it was't coming off so "must be a part of her normal anatomy". I have never seen this before - anyone else?

The vet still hasn't called me back. I don't want to overeact but I also don't want to lose this girl as she is our first female as the result of our beeding.

 

[EMSChins]

Two more pics:

 

[Chinantics]

Do chins have anal glands like dogs
I would bet if it was pyo you would smell it.

 

[lauralynne]

It would be possible that that the white mass you see in the anus is the scent gland.

Is there any odor?

 

[EMSChins]

Nope, no odor (my husband thinks I am gross because part of my daily chck on her includes smelling her bottom).

Just the stickiness around her vaginal opening and the fact that it is still open bothers me. Also not sure where the staining is coming from but I would have to imagine that it either has to be urine or is a discharge that I just don't catch as it is ocurring.

 

[lauralynne]

I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you!

Is she on wire-bottom cage or shavings?

 

[EMSChins]

Shavings. Pee and poop is normal. Appetite is unchanged but she didn't seem to eat much last night.

 

[AZChins]

It doesn't look like she's all that open. She could be draining from an infection or something, but it doesn't look like it would have been too bad. Maybe she's just in heat right now? Has she been like this the entire time?

Another thing to remember is that she just had kits and she's producing milk. There are a lot of hormonally controlled things going on in her body. She may be open because of that.

I don't know what to tell you about the stains. That could just be something from sitting for long periods nursing the kits. It looks like urine staining to me, but I could be wrong.

The white mass is the gland in the anus, that's nothing to worry about. I'd say that since you know there is no retained placenta, she doesn't have any real discharge to worry about and she's acting normally that you should just keep a close eye on her and see what happens in the next week or two. Get her to the vet right away if you see a lot of discharge coming out or if it's very thick or if she starts to smell or if it's a really weird color, etc.

 

[EMSChins]

She has been open the whole time, initially fully open from having the kits and being in heat afterwards and then just partially open the rest of the time. She just never fully closed as all of my other females have done with past litters. I am not panicking - just vigilant as I don't want her to go south on me and not realize it until it is too late. I only have 12 females currently in breeding so I am sure that there is much I have not yet experienced which is why I posted. I really just wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this.

I did not know about the scent gland so that is good news.

I do not know for sure there is no retained placenta as she has not had an ultrasound but I would imagine there would be discharge and a strong odor if there was. I will continue to monitor her for sure but it sounds like this is somewhat normal.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Every female is different. You can't expect them all to react to birth the same way. Some of my females stay open for two months after giving birth, especially if they have larger litters (3+).

Is the male still caged with her? That would account for the sticky and could also contribute to her staying open.

If you don't smell an odor, she's eating and drinking normally, and not lethargic I would not worry too much.

Susan is correct about the anal gland. Every chinchilla has one if you investigate. I also didn't hear about them when I started out, but I noticed one when I picked a chinchilla up by the tail and investigated. Every chin has one, they are all different sizes and while they smell alike, each chin has a different smell to me. If her anal gland is not creating a smell, you could see if it need expressed. Like dogs, every now and then a chinchilla will get a "blocked" anal gland that needs expressed. I've only had to do it once for a chinchilla after she gave birth to triplets. I think the labor was too long for her and I noticed the gland was blocked a couple weeks after she gave birth. A gentle squeeze pushed out a thick, white discharge and she's never had a problem since then.

 

[EMSChins]

Thanks Tabitha - that makes me feel better.

No, the male is blocked out of her cage so that is not the issue.

I know it is probably hard but can you explain how you expressed the gland? Where did you squeeze? I have tried looking that up but there is conflicting information as to whether these glands even exist or not.

She does give off a slight scent when she is picked up and doesn't want to be disturbed but now that you mention it I don't think I have noticed her "fart smell" lately.

 

[RDZCRanch]

You roll back the outside of the anus so that the gland is exposed and squeeze. Generally, if it needs expressed, the gland will be pretty hard and it will express immediately when you apply pressure.

The gland does exist. I can take a picture of one from any of my chinchillas if anyone needs proof or is having a hard time locating the gland.

 

[Brittany]

How's Trixie doing today?

 

[EMSChins]

She is good - no change either way so I am thinking that this is normal for her - since this is her first litter I am learning what is normal for her.

The vet created an opening for me to take her in for an ultrasound but she wants to keep her all day and wants permission to shave her to get the clearest picture.

Personally I feel like that is too much stress for a nursing chin with 3 week old kits so since she is not really acting sick - I am going to hold off for now and continue to monitor her closely.

Don't get me wrong - i have no problem with the ultrasound if it is warranted but after reading everyone's comments, I feel that this is normal barring any other red flags (ie. loss of appetite, lethargy, visible drainage...).

Thanks for asking Brittany.

 

[ticklechin]

Just as a aside-the ultrasounds I had done did not require shaving, the chin was slicked down on the belly with warm water and it worked fine other than a p.oed chin.

 

[Brittany]

Just as a aside-the ultrasounds I had done did not require shaving, the chin was slicked down on the belly with warm water and it worked fine other than a p.oed chin.

Good to know, thanks Dawn!

Glad to hear Trixie's still doing well! I would hope that if it was serious you would have seen signs already (keeping our fingers and paws crossed for you).

 

[EMSChins]

That's what I suggested but she thinks she can get a "better diagnostic" with her shaved. I don't necessarily disagree but at what cost???

At this point - I think I just needed some re-assurance that other breeders had seen this and that I was just being hypervigilant after my Sugar Ray fiasco!