My baby died and I don't know why

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SmileX3

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Messages
187
Location
Indiana
I had a male 10 wks old. He had a great temperment and very healthy fur but he started acting sluggish one night. The next day, he was peeing a lot and on himself and layed on his side like he was too weak. He died at the vet before they could help. They said if he had any probs that he was too weak to withstand any procedure and would surely die. We checked his feces for parasites bc I have other chins and it was negative. Now, 2 weeks later, the little girl that was in the cage with him has had diarhea for awhile and I don't know what to do and if it could be related. The AC went out for awhile but we got a window unit a few hours later. All of them were acting normal though. 3 days later was when my baby boy passed. I was thinking of breeding but the loss of that lil guy was so hard I can't imagine handling much more complications/deaths. Has anyone had similar experiences or any ideas of what may've happened? I only fed him Mazuri pellets, tiimothy hay, and bottled water so I think it could've been GI related. My AC is out on my car and I don't know that I can safely make it to the vet with my lil girl who has the sticky poo. Any suggestions on that one too or any home remedies I can do to keep her hydrated? Please help!!!
 
at 10 weeks he should not have been in the cage with the girl. What is the temperature in the house and what kind of treats were you giving him?\
Pull her food and give her nothing but hay and water for 24 hours
 
There's just so many reasons why the little guy could have passed. Little babies are pretty delicate, they may not have the best functioning immune systems at that age. Did he come from a breeder or a petstore? Regardless of where he is from, it may be a good idea to call the place and tell them what happened to him.
 
Thanks so much everyone. He came from a breeder. I've tried contacting her about it but still no reply. He was 10 wks and my lil girl was a week older than him. I asked if maybe she was too aggressive but they didn't feel any bloating or see any signs of fighting. The temp stays between 68-75. When the AC went out it got 80 but they seemed fine and active the whole time till we got the window unit in. I wondered if the rapid 10 degree drop could've had anything to do with it. This happened 3 days later and the other 3 were fine so I'm not sure.
 
Did your breeder know you had a 10 week old boy and a 11 week old girl together? You may end up with kits since even though I do not breed I believe she could get pregnant at that age.
 
She probably wasn't old enough to get pregnant...but she definitely would have been had he lived a month or two longer. Probably...it's good to take young girls away from males after they are weaned and not put them back until they are AT LEAST 8 to 9 months of age.

It would probably be a good idea for the breeder to maybe do a little more research about things if she's selling males and females together. I suppose you could invite her here, but I don't know how people would respond - constructive criticism is good but sometimes it is hurtful.
 
Good to know, I thought someone on CNQ had one that young that got pregnant, Peggy might remember if that was true.
 
Of course, it could happen at a very early age since every chin is different. Most of them probably won't have their first heat until they are around four months...but it is a bad idea to risk it since a pregnancy at that age is so risky. I've heard about very young females getting pregnant. It usually doesn't happen, but it CAN happen. Any breeder should know this and actively discourage putting young females with males after weaning....
 
I also recall reading about someone whose chin conceived at only 8 weeks of age. The time a chin becomes sexually mature can vary and it probably isn't common for them to be fertile at that age but it CAN happen... It's just like with human females... some girls reach puberty very early... and there have been cases of girls as young as 6 documented as pregnant. However, that's not the norm...
 
I'm guessing it was giardia bc the female it was just found in the female's poo. She's being treated for it. Funny thing is, the vet I took my little guy to checked his poo and found nothing, so they say. I read it can shed at different times though. I just don't feel that the vet was qualified to treat chins. She said she did but when I asked about his temperature, they said they didn't have anything small enough to check it! Then he died. Now, I've found a great vet in Indiana so thank you all for your suggestions. I'm still sad but a little better now that I know what happened.
 
Good to know, I thought someone on CNQ had one that young that got pregnant, Peggy might remember if that was true.

Sorry I didn't see this when it first came up. Yes, there was a moderator on CnQ who had a female conceive at just a little shy of 2 months. The kits did not survive, if I remember correctly, but it's been a while so I may have that wrong.
 
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