Please help me figure out what is going on merged with Runny Nose thread

[SCchin]

Please look at my other thread and see if this could be his immediate problem. I am puzzled that two vets said his mouth is fine, but it does look like he may have root elongation. But he was fine right before Christmas, with the roots in the x-rays shown.

Is there any chance that what we are dealing with now is the URI? He has a wet chest (can a nose run down to their chests?), stinks (the wetness?), and is acting like he is in pain.

I don't want to put him down if a treatable URI is the problem. My daughter just noticed the nose later today. We assumed the chest was drool, but when you hold him, you get stuff on you from his nose.

Also, can you give me a strength and prescription amount to tell our vet, he does not like Baytril for chins, I may have to twist his arm....

 

[momenteller]

I think you should repost in emergencies section (or maybe a mod can move it). I've been following your other thread, but don't know how the two would be related. My impression was the x-rays showed root elongation, so you are still dealing with the teeth issue. Is your appt. for first thing in the morning?

 

[SCchin]

No appointment yet, not sure if the vet can handle it, as mentioned in the other thread. My daughter wants a vet to confirm he needs to be put down. I did give antibiotic we have here late this afternoon, the nose seems better. I can't tell if it is URI or related to the root elongation, runny nose is listed as a symptom of both, he is not wheezing, sneezing, or have the other symptoms of a URI.

I have sent an email to a few vets, ours here and another recommended two hours away that we are not a patient, hoping they will answer tomorrow morning.

Our chin is on pain meds, started them last night after I read the threads. So, he perked up a lot, everyone was playing with him tonight and saying how hard it is to figure this all out. From tonight (with double the amount of pain med. specified on bottle), he looks way better, even chirping when we come in the room. Errrrrr.

 

[tati121]

No appointment yet, not sure if the vet can handle it, as mentioned in the other thread. My daughter wants a vet to confirm he needs to be put down. I did give antibiotic we have here late this afternoon, the nose seems better. I can't tell if it is URI or related to the root elongation, runny nose is listed as a symptom of both, he is not wheezing, sneezing, or have the other symptoms of a URI.

I have sent an email to a few vets, ours here and another recommended two hours away that we are not a patient, hoping they will answer tomorrow morning.

Our chin is on pain meds, started them last night after I read the threads. So, he perked up a lot, everyone was playing with him tonight and saying how hard it is to figure this all out. From tonight (with double the amount of pain med. specified on bottle), he looks way better, even chirping when we come in the room. Errrrrr.

As was stated before URI's are deadly in chinchillas and they need to be treated with the appropriate meds ASAP. Self-medicating is not advisable. Just giving your chin antibiotics without having it properly assessed could be doing more harm than good - by throwing any antibiotics you have at the potential infection can just make it resistant and much more difficult to treat at the end of the road.

This chinchilla needs to see a chin-competent vet ASAP! Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Chinmama]

Green stuff coming out of his nose is a URI, potentially pneumonia, and needs Baytril and fluids. I just read your other thread. I have no experience with malo, but I would think it is possible that most of his current symptoms could be related to the URI. Obviously there are still tooth issues that are causing pain, but treating the URI/pneumonia and then going from there may help you to make a better decision about his future.

 

[Sycamore Chins]

I know you want to extend his life as much as you possibly can.

Even if he does have a URI or pneumonia (which could be caused by any number of things, perhaps he aspirated while trying to drink at a funny angle because his jaw is causing him pain) and you treat it and get it resolved this will not change the fact that his bottom jaw is, for lack of a better word, screwed.

The bottom jaw will not get better, and he will not be in any less pain, if you clear up every single other issue he may have.

It is a hard thing to accept. You may have many good days with him, but are those however many good days, worth the bad days he will have to go through? How many bad days will he have before you should make the decision to euthanize? If you go through treatment for a URI/pneumonia, is he going to have a much harder time recovering from that because of his underlying teeth problems? Will he ever recover from it or is it an aspiration problem that will keep occurring because his jaw isn't functioning right? <-- All things you need to think about.

 

[SCchin]

The problem is that I'm not sure about the level of expertise my vet has with chins. We are not in a larger city, so we don't have options. The vet who worked on his teeth two hours away in Charleston supposedly missed elongated roots and did extensive teeth work when maybe Quito should have been put down. Our vet here refused to give me baytril when the abscess was cut out, so I don't think we would prescribe it even if he does have a URI.

Crysta's vet in JAX has agreed to talk to me, I'm waiting for his call. I don't want to drive two hours just to put him down. The nose is runny of a watery consistency. The green possibly could be CC we are feeding him (??) there is more watery with a very small amount of green and the green is the color of the CC. He is camped out in his sand bath. Yes, you are supposed to take it out with a URI, but his chest is covered with drool from malo. So, ????? Quito doesn't have any other symptoms of a URI, no sneezing, wheezing, etc. But he does a strange thing when he eats, like he may be having trouble swallowing, he has been doing that periodically for the last few weeks. We took him to the vet a few weeks ago as well. He was playing his guts out last night, I am giving pain meds so the pain must have let up.

The vet in JAX does have an opening at 5:30 and we are about two hours away. So, we are waiting for the call and ready to hop in the car and go if we need to. This vet is a rodent specialist, so I'll let him make the call.

We are really thinking it is his time, but just want to be sure. So we are handling one thing at a time. I am giving the antibiotic that the vet would prescribe (SMZ) and metacam for pain.

 

[momenteller]

I hope you're able to get into Crysta's vet. Crossing my fingers for you!

 

[SCchin]

This vet is the closest with recommendation from here. So, a two hour drive. A local vet has been treating him, but admits he is on a learning curve with chins. So I will not fault him and am very grateful for his assistance. I am supposed to hear anytime from the vet in Jacksonville. I have already emailed Quito's x-rays to him. If he says they are bad, then I will go to the local vet to have Quito put down. I do trust the expertise that has been told me from here, but my daughter's last request was to have a vet agree with it. So I'll do that for her.

 

[ticklechin]

Chins with elongation can have penetration of the sinus cavity and be prone to nasty infections of the sinus cavity.

 

[SCchin]

UPDATE: Going to Jacksonville tomorrow for a full dental exam w/sedation. Dr. Hart says he needs to rule out points and a trapped tongue. Also, he wants his own x-rays. He also gave approval to the SMZ antibiotic.

 

[SCchin]

Pause......

Going to Jacksonville to Crysta's vet for a full dental exam w/sedation. He looked at the xrays and wants to do his own in case there are shadows on the ones I have. He also wants to rule out a trapped tongue and points.

We will definitely be able to make a sound decision with the information we get tomorrow.

 

[Sycamore Chins]

Please let us know what he finds, and also if you can, upload the new x rays!

Best of luck!

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

Thinking of and praying for you, your daughter and most of all, your little chinnie.

 

[ticklechin]

Good that you are getting a second opinion whenever it comes to chin teeth and possible euthanasia, it really takes a expert vet with teeth to make the call since yes, x-rays can be skewed.

 

[SCchin]

For your viewing pleasure, December x-rays, sorry they are so small...

 

[Chinmama]

I was just coming back to post what Dawn posted earlier.

I'm glad to know that you are willing to do what's right for your daughters little guy and not allow him to suffer. As pet owners, our own feelings can sometimes get in the way of the reality of a situation. You'll be in my thoughts tomorrow. Please keep us updated.

 

[Riven]

The body does not produce a dark green snot the color of CC, I mean it's possible, but not common. The running nose, as Alicyn said, does not change the roots breaking through the bottom jaw... as you have even noticed he is in severe pain. The trouble swallowing is pain swallowing. The running could be due to an abscess, without xrays you can't be sure.

I guess to be blunt here pursuing a poss. URI when the roots are that bad... even if it's a URI it will not fix the roots, or get rid of the pain. You can look for tons of other possible issues, but none of them will fix the roots.

 

[Chinmama]

I guess to be blunt here pursuing a poss. URI when the roots are that bad... even if it's a URI it will not fix the roots, or get rid of the pain. You can look for tons of other possible issues, but none of them will fix the roots.

She is going to the vet tomorrow for a dental workup, not for a URI.

 

[Riven]

I see that now, I don't know if I missed it or what, when I posted.