HELP!!

[RockWrapsody]

I am a brand new Chin owner. My little girl is only a few months old and was pretty active yesterday. This morning I found her out of the cage and completely lethargic. She is still breathing, will turn over if I put her on her back but will not open her eyes or move.
I took her to a vet an hour ago, he gave her dextrose under her skin and a brown sugar mix in her mouth. She is still the same. Vet said her heart sounds good.
What can I do?

 

[tunes]

Do you have any kind of poison down in your home? Could she have gotten into rat/mouse poison? Have you checked all the electrical cords to be sure she didn't get a nasty shock?

Wrap her up in a warm towel and find a better vet. She doesn't need dextrose, she just needs plain, warmed fluids, i.e., lactated ringers. This vet's answer seems to be shove her full of sugar and that is no answer. If you give us your location, we may be able to find you a vet in your area that is more competent with chins.

 

[RDZCRanch]

I hope your chin is still alive and that you can even get her to another vet. Dextrose should not be given sub-q...it has a bad reaction with skin. A competent vet should know to give the shot into the vein. Brown sugar? Was it possibly karo syrup? Brown sugar is just weird for a vet to give to any animal.

 

[RockWrapsody]

Shortly after I posted I decided to find a exotic pet vet. I live in Wickenburg, AZ which is a very small tourist town. The closest exotic vet was 2 hours away in Mesa. I got in my car and drove to Mesa. After 1 1/2 hours of trying, the vet could not save her, the final diagnosis was Pnuemonia (can't spell it). She apparently already had it when I got her yesterday afternoon. The owners of our small pet shop had no idea that she was sick.
Sadly, I took my little girl back to them, found out that she was only 6 weeks old and they introduced me to a six month old grey male. He was in their home and was also hand raised. When I held him, I fell for him. He is full of energy and yet very sweet. I brought him home and named him Izzy.
I don't know why I have such an attraction to these chins. I was just introduced to them yesterday and it broke my heart when my little girl was sick this morning. I have a lot to learn about them!
Thank you for all of your help. I will introduce myself properly in the other thread.

 

[Woodrow724]

Make sure Izzy isn't sick too if he came from the same place!!

 

[feistychins]

I'm sorry, but I have to say that is the fastest turnaround I have ever seen with a chin dying and being replaced.....amazing :err:

 

[AllieKatt]

I'm sorry, but I have to say that is the fastest turnaround I have ever seen with a chin dying and being replaced.....amazing :err:

Well if they only had a chinchilla for a day they may have not had to time to make a bond.
Someone like me on the other hand I bond with every animal super fast. So If I had an animal pass away on me after one day I would be devastated.

 

[Vyxxin]

I agree, one day...less than bonded...mostly disappointed Sorry for your shoddy luck with your first chin. GREAT job on getting her the treatment she needed, even if all the treatment failed. Best of luck with your new chin, but as mentioned...pneumonia can spread from one chin to the next in certain stages so keep a watchful eye on the new guy. Stick around, you'll learn a lot!

 

[AZChins]

I hope that the new chin doesn't have any issues. You need to watch him closely.

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

I'm glad they replaced your chin, and very sad for your loss, but do think 6 weeks is to young to be taking any chin baby home. That's just me though! Good luck on your new guy, and yes do keep a good eye on him!

Welcome aboard!

 

[AZChins]

There are people in that area and in Phoenix that will sell chins at 4 weeks old to petshops so they can get their money sooner. Six weeks is too young for a baby to leave its mama much less be placed in a petstore.

 

[Jenn]

in the OP's intro, in the intro section, it says this is a 6 month old chin, not 6 weeks...

 

[Vyxxin]

Right, the "replacement" chin is 6mos...a much more appropriate age to leave, not like the 6 week old (original) chin that died. It's never good for a chin to leave it's mother that young...and like mentioned, especially not to go to a petstore. I'd have to question the petstores policies/practices/morals.

 

[AllieKatt]

I went in a pet store one day looking for a extra glass water bottle, when my girls first started to fight...They had a male chinchilla. He was sweet looked sad...they were trying like heck to sell him to me...I simply told them no thank you I already have my 4 females who live together fighting...and I hardly have room for the extra cage...He responded well if you wana bring one in we will give you 100$ right on the spot... Really dude? I was so a poled by what he said I handed him what I was going to get (the glass bottle) and left.

 

[Vcchinchilla]

make sure u wash your cage @_@ just in case

 

[RockWrapsody]

I bonded with her but only interacted with her for a few hours before bedtime. Woke up the next am and she was lifeless. My heart breaks for every little life that leaves us. I didn't know her very well but she was very sweet. Izzy is from another place. The pet store owners had a major flood. The little girl and her sister were in the store when it happened. It went unknown for 4 days. The humidity was tremendous in there. We figure that is how she got sick. Izzy is from the owners home. He was not there during the humidity. He is much more active than the little girl (I never got a chance to see her personality to name her). Izzy is more like the Tasmanian Devil! His cage was completely destroyed this morning when I woke up. Note to self............go buy food dishes that don't move! I walked over to say good morning and he came to me and stuck his nose through the bars as if to say "It wasn't me!" LOL
I think Izzy and I are going to get along fine!
By the way, the brown sugary stuff the fist vet gave my little girl is NutriCal, stuff the give puppies and kittens with low blood sugar for energy. It is a paste.