Help! Blood Everywhere, but no signs of injury

Redruby7 · Jun 15, 2023

Hi everyone, today I found a massive amount of blood everywhere in my chinchillas' cage. (By a massive amount, I mean on their wood ledges, fleece blankets, hammocks, etc.) I have done a general check on both of my chinchillas' bodies and saw no sign of injury nor can I spot any dry blood on their fur. Both of them are acting normally and are active like usual. I have had these two for five years now and this is the first time I've seen this. Both are female and they've been living together during the five years I've had them. I'm really worried and I have no clue what's wrong.

Amethyst · Jun 16, 2023

Assuming no fighting and you don't have any other animals like a cat the could have scratch them through the cage (cat scratches can be hard to see through the fur, though I would also think the chin(s) would have blood on their fur too), the most common source for a lot of blood in the cage is from cut or cracked feet. Did you check the bottom of their feet for any cracks or wounds? Even a small cut on their feet can bleed a lot, and get blood all over the cage as they hop around.

I assume you would have already checked, but just in case, did you check their private areas? Make sure they aren't peeing blood or have bloody discharge coming out. Unfortunately chins are good at hiding issues so they will act normal even if they have a urinary tract or uterine infection until it's really bad and they physically can't anymore.

Redruby7 · Jun 20, 2023

I found out that it was their feet, but I have no clue how to stop the problem. I tried applying bag balm to both their feet focusing on the injured one mainly for the past couple days, but it seems to make it worse. Whenever I apply it on her feet she would start chewing it and it ends up getting worse as well as stressing her more out. Any advice would be helpful.

Amethyst · Jun 21, 2023

Since it's been going on for a little bit now I would get a vet appointment just to rule out any possible infection. The vet might also have a different ointment that might work better then bag balm as well as prescribe pain meds incase she could be chewing on them because it hurts. Aside from that you can look at how you have your cage setup, like what are you using for flooring/bedding. If your chin doesn't chew fleece it can be a good idea to use fleece to cover most of the surfaces including all shelves and ledges for now to allow the feet to heal. Depending on the cage you have you can also just remove some or all of the shelves for now until their feet heal as well to make it easier. You should also be cleaning the cage daily too to keep it as clean as possible to prevent infection, so having fleece on the wood shouldn't cause an issue since it will be removed and changed daily. I would also hold off on giving dust baths until her feet are healed to prevent the dust from getting into the wounds and causing an infection.

When using bag balm a little goes a long way, so I just put a small amount on then try to hold the chin for a few minutes, or give them a treat or chew so it distracts them and gives the ointment time to absorb in.

Depending on how your setup is already, once healed it would be a good idea to look into perches if you don't already have them, especially if you have mostly or all flat surfaces. Chins sitting on round perches provides rolling pressure on their feet, which helps with blood flow as well as helps prevent widening of the heels (which is normally where it cracks) since they can't sit back on their heels when balancing on a perch. You can also look to make sure it's not too dry in the room as well as not giving dust baths too often, both of which can cause dry skin.

user 18287 · Jul 5, 2023

^ I was reading and found an interesting point about the feet and dust bath. I’m in a conundrum it seems. Same issue, except no bleeding. She has two sore toes, and she is currently treated for ringworm, so daily dust bath with lotrimin added. I have managed to dab Blu-Kote on her sores, but just barely. She has only been with us for nearly three weeks, poor thing. She trusts us enough to be near and run over us, but handling is a solid no. How do I treat her for ringworm and keep dust off her feet at the same time?

(PS new critter nation cage is soon to arrive)

Amethyst · Jul 5, 2023

Susie-N-Fern said:
^ I was reading and found an interesting point about the feet and dust bath. I’m in a conundrum it seems. Same issue, except no bleeding. She has two sore toes, and she is currently treated for ringworm, so daily dust bath with lotrimin added. I have managed to dab Blu-Kote on her sores, but just barely. She has only been with us for nearly three weeks, poor thing. She trusts us enough to be near and run over us, but handling is a solid no. How do I treat her for ringworm and keep dust off her feet at the same time?

(PS new critter nation cage is soon to arrive)

I would take the chin to the vet at this point. They will be able to give you oral meds if they think the dust is drying out the feet too much. That way you might not need to give daily dust baths, maybe just every other day or something since the chin will be fighting it from the inside too.