Wingjosh
Chinchillin'
I am a proud owner of my two little guys, Louie and Rico. I have had both for 4 years now, and they have housed together all this time, until recently.
Last month, I noticed that Rico, my slightly younger one, started getting aggressive in the cage and was constantly dominance mounting.
It started getting really serious when I noticed much fur was lost from Louie and we found bite marks on the back of Louie's head from Rico when mounting him.
My poor Louie got bit pretty bad. We treated the wound ourselves (until we were able to get to the vet). We clipped the surrounding fur, cleaned the wound with a little hydrogen peroxide and applied Neosporin after.
It sadly took a few days to get into the vet, since this all happened the week of Christmas and new years and everyone was still out of town. We finally got Louie in and it turned out there was an abscess that developed underneath the bite wound. It was very hard for me to hear this, because I had to leave him with my vet to go under and have the abscess surgically removed. Luckily, he was in great hands at All Creatures Vet in Charleston.
The removal took a couple hours and they said the abscess on the back of his head/neck ended up being the size of a small lemon under his skin! I was shocked because I couldn't tell this at all by looking at the wound.
The healing process was a journey because we couldn't cover the wound to keep him from scratching and giving him antibiotics was the most difficult task ever. He was prescribed a low dose of Baytril oral, and it was stressful not just for Louie, but for us trying to give him the antibiotics. Once we got the antibiotic in though, a new problem arose. He quit eating because of the medicine, so then we had to switch to an injection of the Baytril. This was still a little difficult for us to do at home, but ended up being easier to give and he started eating and pooping normally again after being on this medication.
It's now been about 2-3 weeks since the procedure and Louie is doing so much better! He's been more lively and social then he ever has and all around happy and healthy. His fur has finally started growing back, and from what i understand its usually a couple month process for the fur to come back in fully.
My two are still separated, now in their brand new Ferret Nation 182 I bought from petsmart online for $138 with shipping! We are looking to get Rico neutered this coming month in order for my two guys to live together again. Luckily, my vet has experience with neutering chinchillas and Rico will be in good hands. I'm very excited to get these guys back together down the road but I know it will be a process. They have been absolutely spoiled and over this past month we have spent at least $800 on them, including vet bills, new cage, and bulk amount of chew toys and etc.
This guys are worth every penny and complete our happy family of cats, chins, and people we have here in my house.
I am attaching pictures of Louie's head throughout this journey....beware..the one with staples is a little scary.
Thanks for reading our story!
-Jordan
Last month, I noticed that Rico, my slightly younger one, started getting aggressive in the cage and was constantly dominance mounting.
It started getting really serious when I noticed much fur was lost from Louie and we found bite marks on the back of Louie's head from Rico when mounting him.
My poor Louie got bit pretty bad. We treated the wound ourselves (until we were able to get to the vet). We clipped the surrounding fur, cleaned the wound with a little hydrogen peroxide and applied Neosporin after.
It sadly took a few days to get into the vet, since this all happened the week of Christmas and new years and everyone was still out of town. We finally got Louie in and it turned out there was an abscess that developed underneath the bite wound. It was very hard for me to hear this, because I had to leave him with my vet to go under and have the abscess surgically removed. Luckily, he was in great hands at All Creatures Vet in Charleston.
The removal took a couple hours and they said the abscess on the back of his head/neck ended up being the size of a small lemon under his skin! I was shocked because I couldn't tell this at all by looking at the wound.
The healing process was a journey because we couldn't cover the wound to keep him from scratching and giving him antibiotics was the most difficult task ever. He was prescribed a low dose of Baytril oral, and it was stressful not just for Louie, but for us trying to give him the antibiotics. Once we got the antibiotic in though, a new problem arose. He quit eating because of the medicine, so then we had to switch to an injection of the Baytril. This was still a little difficult for us to do at home, but ended up being easier to give and he started eating and pooping normally again after being on this medication.
It's now been about 2-3 weeks since the procedure and Louie is doing so much better! He's been more lively and social then he ever has and all around happy and healthy. His fur has finally started growing back, and from what i understand its usually a couple month process for the fur to come back in fully.
My two are still separated, now in their brand new Ferret Nation 182 I bought from petsmart online for $138 with shipping! We are looking to get Rico neutered this coming month in order for my two guys to live together again. Luckily, my vet has experience with neutering chinchillas and Rico will be in good hands. I'm very excited to get these guys back together down the road but I know it will be a process. They have been absolutely spoiled and over this past month we have spent at least $800 on them, including vet bills, new cage, and bulk amount of chew toys and etc.
This guys are worth every penny and complete our happy family of cats, chins, and people we have here in my house.
I am attaching pictures of Louie's head throughout this journey....beware..the one with staples is a little scary.
Thanks for reading our story!
-Jordan
