Norwood needs your help! RE: kit

[Claire D]

I do think people need to be aware that with ANY drug there are risks and benefits.

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I think what I am getting at is there is risks and benefits in every drug. People need to be educated about everything when it comes to their pet. I certainly don't take things lightly when using it. I am very cautious. Knock on wood I have yet to have a problem with it.

I totally agree about the fact that there are risks to every drug but here's the rub: The majority of people on a public internet forum do not have a clue about clinical issues or medication (& I don't mean that disrespectfully). If they did they wouldn't use any drugs on a chinchilla due to the risks of side effects............. I've known people to look up the side effects of drugs & then ring me in hysterics because of what they have read.

Also, we've seen it before - people are just dying to be validated for giving their chins all sorts of crap. Just because one can do something doesn't mean one should. If I posted on the forum that I fed my chins the finest caviar & truffles with no ill effects you can bet your bottom dollar someone would go & try it, "because Claire D said it was ok".


I have seen people use steroids in chins before (here in the UK) & the chins died. Jessica has experience of steroids purportedly working without clinical side effects. Angie says don't use steroids & that seems to be the general consensus. Without proper clinical trials & multiple tests we will not know whether steroids cause problems in chinchillas or not or to what extent. There's a reason vets don't recommend their use though.


It's a minefield. :wacko:

I just hope anyone reading this thread does a lot of homework around steroids, side effects, mode of action etc before considering using them with their chinchillas. Sadly, we know that some people won't & will go into using them regardless because it has been posted here.

I was telling Alex through a pm this morning that Steve and I were having this discussion last night at the dinner table and I am going to just throw this out there.

Metacam has been known to cause renal failure in cats and should be used with caution. Metacam is contraindicated in animals that have liver and renal impairment. Would any of you still use it on your chins that had weight loss due to teeth issues? On all of the chins that I/Steve have necropsied for one reason or another one of my most common findings in a chin with weight loss is fatty liver. I am sure any chin that has teeth issues that is also suffering from weight loss we can probably find that he has some sort of liver impairment. Maybe not but maybe so. We don't know because we don't have the lab values to prove it otherwise. Would you still use metacam on them? **** ya-they are going to be very painful if we don't do something right? And vets don't have a problem prescribing it. Metacam gets broken down in the liver. So we chance the risk of further injuring the liver to take away the pain.

This is where clinical judgement, skills, knowledge & experience comes into play. Good, communicative chinchilla competent vets are worth their weight in gold when it comes to issues of medication in chinchillas.

*sigh* There's a huge difference between palliative care (which, let's face it, tooth issues require palliative treatment since there is no cure) & treating for something which is curable. One cannot compare drug regimens for palliative/terminal care to non-palliative care - morphine doses, for instance, can be massive for terminal patients............

The steroids you have used have been in "last ditch" efforts, yes? Again, what is required are the skills, knowledge, experience & trust in a vet to make those decisions.
Would I use steroids on chins? No I would not (& certainly not on kits) but that's my choice based on what I know plus the advice of several chinchilla competent & exotic specialist vets. Until I have evidence of the efficacy of steroids I will not risk using them.

I think Alex needs to do what's right for her pet. If she wants to take the wait and see approach with the antibiotic than she should. Does Steve think she has an inner ear problem- based on Alex's post and her vet's finding? No he doesn't. But he didn't exam the chin so he can't make that call. It will definately be interesting to see how she does with the antibiotic. Hopefully it is just an inner ear infection.

I don't think anyone would disagree with your first sentence here - nobody is suggesting otherwise - the kit needs treating in the best way Alex & her vet (who has examined the kit) know how.


Alex, I wish you & this little one all the best.

 

[6Dusters]

Sent you a note Jessica on the dosage time line for the kit.
Mark I will check her out from top to bottom this next feeding.
Thats it for now..........

 

[6Dusters]

Update:
Two weeks old tomorrow and now weighs 82 grams. Not changes. Doing well and is happy. Can run pretty darned fast. And continues to have an interest in hay tasting. I bought some soft orchard grass and add some soft timothy from the bottom of the bag.

I did get in touch with Ralph and Barbara and they responded with this information. (see below)

Quote:
Ralph says this animal is not sick. It most likely has brain damage from birth.

We over the years have seen this occur. They have a balance issue and will curve. If held by the tail they totally lose their balance. They have some problem rolling in a dust bath.

We have put females in breeding with this problem and they had no issue littering nor passed it on.

Trying to treat it with antibiotics, etc. is not the thing to do.

It is a healthy animal that was deprived of oxygen at the time of birth.

Hand feeding for now and leaving with the mother is the best thing to do. It is probably starting to eat feed on it's own and should continue to do well.
End Quote.