nervous female and miscarriage

[Dreamlite]

I had bought a proven pair of standard grey chins back the end of Sept. The female was about 700ish grams. Since bringing her home she I very jumpy and nervous every time I am in the room or the other chins run around (in cages near by). She has lost about 60 grams over the last 2 months and I noticed a bloody discharge yesterday that lasted for about 24 hours. I seporated her from the male. Her eating and activity is normal and there is no discharge as of today.her last litter was twin last march. Do you think the miscarrage is due to her nerves, the new house or should I retire her? She will be 5 in Feb.

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

Stress can definately cause her to abort. Just keep an eye on her. I personally would leave her shut off till she settles in more.

 

[Zoaea]

I take care of humans not chins, but I know high levels of stress can affect human pregnancy too. How ever it could just as easily be caused by a separate issue. Godin has good advice, I would also add that if you are going to breed a nervous animal you might try to make her environment feel as secure as possible. A good hiding place and maybe a higher cage, or keep her cage in a separate room, covered top, ect. As little or as much to make her calm down.

Good luck. =) Oh and do chins need to be checked after a miscarriage so that you know it cleared out ok with out infection...

 

[Riven]

I don't' feel like I have enough information.

What bothers me is the timing. I'm guessing the weight loss was from stress of moving, after two months she shouldn't have still been stressed from the move. If I had a female losing that much weight I'd have removed her from breeding.

What kind of housing do you have? I see that people are assuming you have runs, but if she came from a run situation and you have her in a large cage, that alone could be the problem. Sometimes older chins who have lived their whole lives in runs feel very susceptible and vulnerable in a large open cage.

Are you sure she's not bred now and having labor problems? I personally have never seen a chin bleed on a miscarriage, usually they simply reabsorb or birth a dead kit.

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

I've seen a handful that will bleed when further along, Nicole. I've also, just recently, had a female bleed for 1 day 4 weeks into pregnancy. Not sure what that was all about because she went on having 2 healthy kits.

I'm curious to the answers to Nicole's questions.

 

[AZChins]

The bleeding isn't necessarily miscarriage, like Jessica said happened with her girl. Sometimes it happens and as long as it isn't bright red and there isn't a huge amount of it there usually is nothing to worry about.

I have had females that will bleed after mating. Sometimes it is a brownish discharge and there will be quite a bit of it. Sometimes they bleed a little after mating and in pregnancy. It's always a good idea to watch what's going on with any discharge just to be sure it isn't something serious.

I'm almost positive that this is just a chin with a nervous personality and I don't think you would have anything to do with her losing a pregnancy. She had kits before and they did fine, right?

 

[Dreamlite]

She was in a pair breeding when I got her so I kept them the smae. They were in a 24 by 24 by 12 cage with low shelves of pine. She had 3 previous litter per the previous owner and they were all fine, no problems. She was in a larger cage with many shelves before I got her and didn't feel comfortable allowing a breeding pair in that tall of a cage. She was 800 grams when I got her, she is currently 650, ut she was fed many many treats so I don't know how much is weight loss due to stress/miscarriage/less treats. She has been seporated from the male fo a month so I'm sure its not from breeding.

 

[Dreamlite]

I checked my wieght cards on her, she was 790 when I got her and as of today she is 629. The male she came with was 826 and he leveled out at 735 about 2 months ago. So I'm conserned if its stress, the treats, or if its something major that I'm missing. The discharge was bright red, turned brown the next day and is now almost clear. She is still open which isn't. Something I have seen before. They were owned by a 4h student for her project and they got bored with them. So I'm not sure about all the prvious care on them. They both have pedigrees and are quality animals.

 

[Riven]

I would continue to watch, it doesn't necessarily mean mischarge, but definately worth keeping an eye on.

I don't know, and haven't used it personally but there are some supplements that are supposedly to help with calming chins.

Is she nervous like tries to spray you when you're around the cage or just hides? Sounds like it might just be her personality like Susan said, but I always wonder about environment changes like i mentioned as well ( not saying you're environment is bad, just different). There was a female who I had here, came here fur chewed, and had been to three places prior to leaving my house back to her original breeder, she literally looked like Swiss cheese. At her original breeders... she stopped chewing and grew out completely, a couple months later I saw her and couldn't believe it was the same animal. None of the places she lived were bad places, just something about them stressed her out.

 

[Zoaea]

You say she is open, was it a significant amount of blood? Typical wound healing (general) will go from frank blood, brown blood, to clear (serous fluid). I would still be afraid of a dead kit or some type of infection. You experienced breeders, can she get an xray to see if there is a kit, alive or at all?

At the very least I'd try to make her some hideyholes and watch for sign of infection.

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

It depends on how far along she is for xray. She could check the status by ultrasound if her vet had it but would be expensive. She would be better off just watching her. If there is a dead fetus she will be off feed, running a fever, will have smelly reddish-brown discharge, and will be lethargic. These are things she would of noticed 48-72 hrs after a kit dies in utero.

 

[Riven]

What Jessica is saying is that xray will only help really if the kit's bones are calcified, usually by that time you can feel them easily by palpation ( experienced palpators only! Other wise damage may be done!)

 

[Dreamlite]

Update. She has no discharge at this point but is still very open. I took her to avet on the 15th since she abruptly stopped eating/drinking. They did a smear (which was neg for anything) and sent out for a culture. The films showed nothing abnormal, they did dental and abd films (they don't do digital films or I would post pics of them). Right now I am force feeding her critical care and probiotics to maintain her. She is down to 575 grams today and holding with me feeding her. She will gladly take a shredded wheat but has no interest in pellets or hay. Severly confused. The vet didn't want to start any antibiotics until the culture came back. She is pooping, but they are very small (normal shaped and consistancy). Unsure if I should wait for results or go to another vet.

Eddited to add: she is acting normal. Running around, spraying and interacting to noises. She isn't lethargic which is part of what has me confused.

 

[Zoaea]

Thats some good information to Godin, I find a lot of info on breeding is generic, more people should share good medical info like that!

I hope she turns out fine Dreamlight, its so scary when chins act weirdly. =(