Severe stomach ulceration

[RDZCRanch]

One of my females died recently and when the necropsy was done, among other things, it was found that she had severe ulceration in her stomach. This was found along with massive organ failure. The vet and I aren't exactly sure what could have caused all the ulcers but we took some pictures to see if anyone else could give an explanation for this. She was acting normal and eating normal until I noticed her sitting funny under her food dish. She was one of my favorites, so I probably checked her and handled her more often than some of the other chins and she never gave me the tiniest idea she was in pain. Just in case anyone thinks they can easily tell when their chinchillas are in pain.

Do NOT click on the links if you do not want to see images of the stomach. All of the dots are ulcers and her stomach is also a bit off color from what it should be. Her stomach was completely full of food.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/fuzzychinchy/IMG_4472.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/fuzzychinchy/IMG_4469.jpg

 

[cindyv3737]

Wow! That looks very painful. Poor baby. I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[LovinTheSmallAndFurry]

Bless her little heart! I am so sorry.

 

[Stackie]

Was she ever on any type of medications in the past (NSAIDs)? Any past health issues?

I know a couple weeks ago we had a cat come into the clinic with ulcers. She had mast cell cancer of the skin- these cancer cells release histamine. This in turn, can cause ulcers according to the vet. Might be a stretch, but I thought it was interesting.

Then of course there's helicobacter pylori infection.

 

[RDZCRanch]

She's never been on any medication, she was one of my biggest, healthiest females. She's never even had so much as a bloody toe or nibbled ear.

I don't know about H. Pylori, I can't find anything that says it was found in rodents. Lots about cats, dogs, pigs, sheep and a little about ferrets and cheetas.

 

[Stackie]

Here's a study of H. pylori induced infection in rats, not sure how helpful it will be:

Helicobacter pylori-induced gastritis models demonstrated massive oxidative stress and pronounced injury in mucosal tissue. Since our model in rats reflected the clinical picture of H. pylori infection, it can be considered as a consistent model to study chemotherapeutic intervention for this type of gastritis.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20094782

I can't really find anything about normal infection in rodents, either.