Sneeezing, some sniffling, and unusual quiet cooing?

[zombiezeatbrain]

I know this topic has probably been posted dozens of times on here, so I apologize for the repetition, but I'm concerned about my chin. Today at 8 PM I let Nietzche out to play for an hour like I always do, and after an hour he climbed back into his cage, I closed it, and I went to drop my friend off at his house. Upon returning home I noticed some sniffling coming from him, followed by a few sneezes, then some more sniffling, and a couple more sneezes. In between sniffles I heard a very soft very consistent cooing coming from him, which is weird because he's practically silent all the time. He's been acting perfectly fine all day, and now this has come up?

I'm going to keep a close eye on him for the next few days, and depending on how things go I will either take him to the vet tomorrow or the next day unless things completely clear up.

 

[Laurie]

Do not wait and give this a few days--if you have a chinchilla who is doing repetitive sneezing they need to see a vet ASAP. Sneezing, wheezing and sniffling are signs of a URI which is DEADLY to chinchillas

 

[danilinn]

let us know what the vet says--if no one else has been sick, i'm interested to see if (s)he thinks it's allergies. my degu had to take two drops of benadryl a day--i know they aren't physiologically the same, but quite similar.
hope your little guy is on the mend!

 

[zombiezeatbrain]

Do not wait and give this a few days--if you have a chinchilla who is doing repetitive sneezing they need to see a vet ASAP. Sneezing, wheezing and sniffling are signs of a URI which is DEADLY to chinchillas

okay, I made an appointment with the vet for tonight at 8 PM. thank you for your help.

 

[Dolyphinm]

Make sure he is eating. A lot of times they stop eating since they can't breathe right to eat. He's going to need meds and between feeling like crud being sick and the meds you might need to hand feed so when you are at the Vet please get supplies to hand feed from them to have handy just in case.

Good Luck.

 

[Laurie]

Keep a very close eye on him, if you notice wheezing and labored breathing and any signs of lethargy get him to the evet right away. Chinchillas with a URI can downhill very fast. If it is a URI most often vets prescribe Baytril because it is a strong medicine and works, but chins do tend to stop eating while receiving a baytril treatment--see if you can get the injectible baytril as this does not mess with their stomach. If you can't then you'll need to handfeed critical care and in between the dosage time for baytril at the halfway point between doses you'll need to do acidophilus which is a probiotic to keep his gut flora balanced.

 

[caiti]

Hope the vet visit goes well! Let us know how he's doing.

 

[zombiezeatbrain]

Hope the vet visit goes well! Let us know how he's doing.

The vet did give me Baytril. I'm supposed to give him one dose of Baytril twice a day in the morning and at night for 7 days. They are also running a centrifugal flotation test with Giardia Elisa. Since his one sneezing fit two nights ago, I've noticed an improvement in his eating, but I never noticed a change in his activity at all, he's been as playful as always. Unfortunately, Laurie, I didn't see your post until today, so I never asked for the injectable Baytril and haven't gotten Critical Care or Acidophilus yet. I just started giving him the meds this morning though and his food dish looks the same as it usually does around this time of day, so as of this point I don't think his diet is subsiding. If I see that he hasn't eaten as much as he usually does by the time I give him 2 tablespoons of food at night like I always do, I will make it my mission to get all of those things tomorrow. I definitely will keep an eye on his food intake and make sure he's eating regularly.

 

[Laurie]

Are you not free feeding him? You should be filling up a bowl for him with pellets and not only giving him 2 tablespoons. Chins should get "free" feed and hay and not measured. If you have a scale it's a good idea to weigh him during this time to make sure he is not losing weight. You have to keep in mind if he stops eating then stasis can set in and with the trauma of his illness you'll want to keep an eye on this and possibly even bloat. Since you are giving him oral baytril half way through his time to the next dose make sure you are giving him the probiotics to keep him eating and his stomach flora healthy

 

[zombiezeatbrain]

Are you not free feeding him? You should be filling up a bowl for him with pellets and not only giving him 2 tablespoons. Chins should get "free" feed and hay and not measured. If you have a scale it's a good idea to weigh him during this time to make sure he is not losing weight. You have to keep in mind if he stops eating then stasis can set in and with the trauma of his illness you'll want to keep an eye on this and possibly even bloat. Since you are giving him oral baytril half way through his time to the next dose make sure you are giving him the probiotics to keep him eating and his stomach flora healthy

The reason I give him 2 tablespoons every night is because the feeding instructions on the Oxbow deluxe bag told me to do so. I didn't know that was wrong :/. I used to just fill his bowl up and when it got low I would fill it up again, but when he turned 1 year old I did as the instructions told me and began feeding him 2 tablespoons daily. There is always at least 1/2 to one full tablespoon left every time I go to fill it up again. And as far as the hay goes, I always give him a very liberal handful once daily. I will start just filling the bowl up for him to free feed though then? I don't have a scale but I'm monitoring what he eats very closely. Is there any place I can find acidophilus other than the vet? And do you know how much it costs typically?

 

[zombiezeatbrain]

Also, can anybody give me any advice in regards to what an easy way to orally give him the medication would be? These last two times I've given it to him it's taken three people including me to get him to actually take it. Are there any tricks at all?

 

[Laurie]

Probiotics can be found at most drug stores and at Walmart. You'll need to "burrito" him into a towel to keep him from getting away when you give him the meds. Did you get critical care from the vet? Sometimes you can mix it up with the critical care and feed it to him like that. I know not everyone agrees but when my girl Abby had a URI I mixed her baytril in with banana baby food at the suggestion of the vet and fed it to her that way.

 

[zombiezeatbrain]

Probiotics can be found at most drug stores and at Walmart. You'll need to "burrito" him into a towel to keep him from getting away when you give him the meds. Did you get critical care from the vet? Sometimes you can mix it up with the critical care and feed it to him like that. I know not everyone agrees but when my girl Abby had a URI I mixed her baytril in with banana baby food at the suggestion of the vet and fed it to her that way.

Good idea with the towel! Thanks! And I think I'll go to rite aid to check and see if they have any there. I didn't get any critical care from the vet though :/

 

[ticklechin]

If you don't want to end up with stasis and/or bloat you need to feed this chin as least 60ml of CC a day and weigh the chin daily to determine if you are feeding it enough-some take 120ml to maintain weight.

 

[caiti]

Good idea with the towel! Thanks! And I think I'll go to rite aid to check and see if they have any there. I didn't get any critical care from the vet though :/

The towel thing helps--especially when you start to hand feed as the stuff gets everywhere and having a chin not covered in food mush helps!

My chin did not like CC, even the flavored kind. I bought a coffee grinder from the grocery store and ground her regular pellets and mixed some of her water in it til it was syringeable consistency (I got free oral syringes at my vets, but I remember people saying they are also at petco or petsmart or some big pet store like that--you can look online to see). Chloe liked her pellet mush a lot, so if you get CC and are having lots of trouble or don't want to wait to buy it and have a grinder you can try that.

 

[zombiezeatbrain]

The towel thing helps--especially when you start to hand feed as the stuff gets everywhere and having a chin not covered in food mush helps!

My chin did not like CC, even the flavored kind. I bought a coffee grinder from the grocery store and ground her regular pellets and mixed some of her water in it til it was syringeable consistency (I got free oral syringes at my vets, but I remember people saying they are also at petco or petsmart or some big pet store like that--you can look online to see). Chloe liked her pellet mush a lot, so if you get CC and are having lots of trouble or don't want to wait to buy it and have a grinder you can try that.

Okay thank you very much. That's a great idea. I appreciate it.