Grinding teeth, small poos

[B.Cygni]

Well, here I am again. This time, it's Clau, our other Chinchilla, who's having issues.

Every night before we go to bed, we feed, water, and give our chins fresh hay. Today, both the chin's cages had been cleaned, so it was easy to spot it right away- small, hard poops. Although there was a lot of them, there was nothing to them. That was the first sign something was wrong. Next, Clau was overly docile- we took her out, and she'd still run around, but this was not the Chinchilla we knew in terms of cavorting out of cage.

Additionally, she's been grinding her teeth like crazy. She's always been one to grind her teeth when she's irritated, but up until now, it's literally had no effect on her- at all. She's a voracious eater, and a very active creature- the tooth grinding was usually only at night, and never seemed to continue for very long. Now I feel like a fool for not taking her in as soon as I heard it a couple times in succession.

Having seen the small poos, and her increased grinding (this morning I gave her a treat, and it looked like she was trying her best to eat it as carefully as possible), not to mention her lackluster energy, we decided if she wasn't better by morning, she was going to the vet. Well, she wasn't, so off she went.

She's at the vet right now, my roommate took her in- but I just don't know what to do. I feed her on oxbow hay and pellets only, lots of fresh water, things to chew... I know her last owner fed her pretty unhealthily, but I don't know what could've caused this.

I think it's to do with her teeth, but I'm just hypothesizing. If anyone has any better answers, please post them! I'm pretty upset that we're having more chin issues again, but there's not much I can do except worry forever.

Sorry if this post is all over the place. Thank you so much.

 

[EnslavedByNinjas]

First, calm down, and breathe. There's not much you can do now, she's right where she needs to be - the vet.

Tooth grinding can be a sign of pain, which can also diminish appetite and lead to poo issues. If I had to guess I would guess tooth troubles too. It could be as simple as something caught in her teeth, or a tooth having issues and may need to be pulled, etc.

The vet should do x-rays to get a very good look at all the teeth, front and molars, and also the roots of the teeth to look for malo/root elongation. Tooth issues of some sort do seem the likely culprit - so I'd really try not to think up too many other hypothesises (is that a word?) until you hear back about that. It'll be fine, sounds like you were a doting chinnie parent and caught this early.

ETA - Please do keep us updated, though! Whenever you find out something from the vet, we'll be here.

 

[saphire]

I agree with everything already mentionned.
You have done right to bring her in to the vet.. You can ask all the questions you need when you pick her up. Until then try not to worry to much (I know it's difficult) she is being taken care of.

 

[B.Cygni]

It is, I mean, there's an account no more than two or three posts down from this of a chinchilla dying from something seemingly very similar.

I hand-fed her some water last night and this morning, hoping that would ease her problems. Her tummy isn't taut, and she's just very... malleable. It's not like her to be held so easily, with no fight. I gave her a rose petal piece, and she literally took into her mouth, then nibbled for ages... I don't even know if she was chewing on it at all anymore, or just grinding.

We checked her teeth last night- normal length in the front, nice and orange- so it must be something with the molars. I'm just worried. I can't even do anything.

 

[mishellyshel]

You have done everything you can. Let the vet do their job and relax.
I have a chin that has malo and was diagnosed in March or April and I handfeed him everyday and administer meds. I just had his teeth trimmed again and right now he is holding his own. Just think of ALL the members and the amount of chins they have and then divide that with the number of chins who die and it actually is a very small percent.
Many of the chins memebers post that have died recently have come from other homes where the pet owner wasnt taking care of the chin.
You clearly take care of your chins and I think you caught whatever it was early and I am sure the vet will take care of your baby.

 

[Stackie]

Is she eating normally?

If you suspect tooth problems, the vet will have to do an oral exam along with x-rays. Teeth problems can not be diangosed by simply looking at them. X-rays will be able to tell if the roots are overgrowing.

 

[B.Cygni]

Yes, and that's what we'll be asking for today, if it hasn't already been performed.

EDIT: as for eating normally, I would say "no", but I honestly don't have sufficient data to back that up. She's been eating her food per usual, but she was slack on her hay yesterday, and the numerous small poops indicate that has dropped off rapidly.

 

[B.Cygni]

It's not her teeth- her teeth are perfect. We got x-rays, and he checked her in and out while she was under.

Her digestive tract is also clear- no blockage- but also clear in that she isn't eating anything. Her defecation remains very, very small.

He thinks it might be her liver. They're going to do urine and bloodwork tomorrow, as much as they can do here.

So we'll find out more tomorrow.

 

[mishellyshel]

Do you have lifeline and critical care that you can maybe supplement while they are trying to figure it out? I have my chins blood work if you would like to compare levels, just pm me if interested.

 

[AZChins]

I'd try the Life Line for this and maybe mix in some probiotic. That will help get things going. I'm not sure how the liver would start up small droppings except maybe something with that is keeping her from eating.

I always wonder about things like this possibly being viral. Maybe the chin is just feeling a little icky?

At this point you really need to keep her digestive system going and get the droppings back to normal. Watery Life Line and then supplementing with extra water will help with that. I know that this isn't the case with your chin, but with chins that I have had on antibiotics I always have to use the life line and give them extra water to keep everything going normally. I syringe the life line water right between the back molars to make sure that they get everything swallowed down.

I hope that she's alright and that she gets back to normal very soon!

 

[mishellyshel]

I do the same. Lots of lifeline. I add extra water to the food mix that i handfeed and I also crush up rosehips and add to my food mix.
Oh and line the bottom of her cage with white paper towels to monitor the urine and poo, that way you know if she is getting enough fluids. but you gotta get something in her to get that gut moving. if not they may prescrible Cisapride to help.

 

[B.Cygni]

She's staying overnight at the clinic until tomorrow morning, when they do the tests, so there's not much I can do at the moment. They want her to be relatively unstressed by displacement and travel, so it won't skew the test results.

I'll hear the results tomorrow.

 

[6Dusters]

I wish the best for your little one.

 

[B.Cygni]

She's home today.

Bloodwork and urine tests done, looks like it's an inflamed liver, as suspected. Pricey, and it may be because of the diet her prior owner fed her. She's gotten a few shots, we were sent home with some antibiotic, and the advice to give her a treat or two to kickstart her appetite.

At this point, I'm interested in getting some lifeline, just to be sure- is there anyone in canada who sells it, or anyone in the states who'd ship me some at a subsidized rate? D:

 

[Rickman]

Choclatchinchillas.com - Dawnna will usually get it out the same day!

 

[6Dusters]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to your fur baby.

 

[B.Cygni]

Choclatchinchillas.com - Dawnna will usually get it out the same day!

if it's coming from the states, it's going to be a lot slower- customs will certainly hold it up. is there anyone in canada?

 

[mishellyshel]

she makes it herself, so she is the only one who sells it. i give my chin with malo lifeline 3 times a day before he takes any of his meds. i do have to grind it though because he gags on the bee pollen. i dont know why, but he does.
it will be worth the wait

 

[B.Cygni]

well, I found someone who supplies it in canada, by way of Dawnna, so I'm looking forward to that.

In the meanwhile, I've been trying to coax her into eating gradually, with a touch of honey here, some fresh hay there, a rosehip, a tiny niblet of apple, water... the problem is, every time she goes to eat, she'll sneeze (indeed, she sneezes a lot since she's gotten home from the vet... :/) and then busily wipe her nose.

Did she catch a cold, now, too? I'm more than a little worried.

 

[B.Cygni]

Clau was put to sleep today, after much respiratory suffering. This morning, we brought her into a 24hr hour vet, and gave them as much money and time as they needed to do whatever they could for her.

At 6:30, she could barely breathe, and I made the call.

Thank you to everyone. If a moderator could please close this thread.