ARPena415
Member
Hi everybody! I wanted to share an interesting story about my chinchilla and myself. Hopefully this can help somebody else in the future!
(Please do not take this is as me NOT recommending proper veterinary care)
In November of 2024 I decided to bake my chinchilla some treats with a recipe I found on YouTube. The ingredients were: Ground Timothy hay, ground chinchilla pellets, oat flour, and ground chamomile (optional). He loved them! But the next morning he was lethargic, grouchy and uninterested in food. In fact, he hadn’t eaten or had water all night and he is normally very friendly and social.
I work in veterinary medicine (cat and dogs only) and was allowed to take him to work with me to syringe-feed him and weigh him for the next 2 days. One of the doctors did a fast teeth inspection and they were good. I called a few veterinarians who saw exotics but nobody could see him for another 3-4 weeks! An ER/specialty (1 hour away without traffic) was willing to see him but it would have to be in the morning and during LA commuter traffic time, so I planned on taking him in on my next day off.
On the 3rd day (my day off), I fell horribly ill myself and couldn’t have taken him to the ER even if I’d wanted to (I went to urgent care twice myself). I was waking up to feed him every 4-6 hours and I bought a baby scale to keep track of his weight. We used Emer-Aid Herbivore with mint and he only had playtime every few days because he still wasn’t eating and his poops were dehydrated. I was also giving him Bene-bac probiotics, baby gas drops, and meloxicam (obtained by a veterinarian I work with).
It took almost 4 weeks but he eventually became himself again! I know this story is not a “fix” for proper veterinary care, but I wanted to share our story in case it can help someone else.
(Please do not take this is as me NOT recommending proper veterinary care)
In November of 2024 I decided to bake my chinchilla some treats with a recipe I found on YouTube. The ingredients were: Ground Timothy hay, ground chinchilla pellets, oat flour, and ground chamomile (optional). He loved them! But the next morning he was lethargic, grouchy and uninterested in food. In fact, he hadn’t eaten or had water all night and he is normally very friendly and social.
I work in veterinary medicine (cat and dogs only) and was allowed to take him to work with me to syringe-feed him and weigh him for the next 2 days. One of the doctors did a fast teeth inspection and they were good. I called a few veterinarians who saw exotics but nobody could see him for another 3-4 weeks! An ER/specialty (1 hour away without traffic) was willing to see him but it would have to be in the morning and during LA commuter traffic time, so I planned on taking him in on my next day off.
On the 3rd day (my day off), I fell horribly ill myself and couldn’t have taken him to the ER even if I’d wanted to (I went to urgent care twice myself). I was waking up to feed him every 4-6 hours and I bought a baby scale to keep track of his weight. We used Emer-Aid Herbivore with mint and he only had playtime every few days because he still wasn’t eating and his poops were dehydrated. I was also giving him Bene-bac probiotics, baby gas drops, and meloxicam (obtained by a veterinarian I work with).
It took almost 4 weeks but he eventually became himself again! I know this story is not a “fix” for proper veterinary care, but I wanted to share our story in case it can help someone else.
