Scratching eye area/abnormal stool color and size

[ChilohBello]

Hello All,

My chinchilla is a 1 year old male. Yesterday I noticed that the fur around his eye looked different and realized it was because he was scratching at it frequently. No discharge of any kind. When I let him out of his cage, he was also rubbing the same side of his face into the floor.

Today, he has stopped with the itching and the eye area looks better. He has been as lively and friendly as ever with no changes in appetite. However, some of his stool is abnormal. Much lighter in color, smaller, and rounder. There is normal stool as well, but majority is abnormal.

After some research, I thought he might have gotten some dust or wood shavings in his eye and was planning on just taking him off dust baths for a week. Now seeing the color of the stool, I am getting worried.

Do you have any ideas or advice considering the symptoms?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[Chinmama]

How often do you let him dust? It could have been dust irritating his eye, just keep an eye on it.

Is he eating and drinking, and no changes to his diet recently? It sounds to me like he may have some constipation. Monitor his water intake (mark the water bottle so you can see how much he is drinking) and make sure he has plenty of hay.

 

[BooBoo*TheKiddo*]

I, second, the eye irritation from the dust. One of my chins has the same issue. Just keep an eye on it as Ann said. If it doesn't get better, gets super watery/running, white stuff (my grandpa calls it sleep gunk in the corner of the eye) near the eye, etc. Seek a vet.
When you let him dust, watch his eye and see if the issue occurs again. If it does, you might try switching dust.

 

[ticklechin]

It could also be something with the teeth, chins will rub their faces when something in the mouth is bothering them and the poo can become effected. I would start weighing this chin on a regular basis to make sure there is no weight loss-the first sign something orally is going wrong.

 

[ChilohBello]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions. I am going to start monitoring his water intake, his bathing, and his weight.

Good news is a few hours after I posted, his stool started looking normal again, and he took a nice long drink of water after I changed it. Seems like he's getting better but I'm going to keep an eye on everything.

Thanks again!