To Necropsy or not to necropsy, that is the question!

[tcraighenry]

I've seen a lot on here about necropsies on chinchillas after they pass away unexpectedly.

We didn't have one on Christopher when he passed, though I suspect I know what happened. They didn't come from the best place when we got them. They had a cage with no ledges, the bedding smelled like bark dust (it wasn't, it just had that kind of smell) and had been in a barn with a heater.

We made the awful mistake of having him neutered too soon after we got him and he didn't make it. Our vet offered but it was going to cost another $200 after we were already out of pocket for $400.

I read a lot about having this done on the forums and I can see the logic. But in my experience pets pass away, it's just kind of what happens. Not to say you don't do everything you can but they do die.

So I'm torn, I think it's a good idea but at the same time, I wonder if it would actually make a difference. Any experience with this good or bad? What was the outcome if you had one? Did it make a difference to your other chins?

 

[EMSChins]

It is different if the chin had surgery and died as a result or if the cause is definitely known. Also if you only have one chin and don't need to worry about a contagious illness running rampant through your herd (or amongst other pet chinchillas). I think the debate typically comes in when you are talking about a chinchilla dying of unknown causes and you have other chins to be concerned about or if you are a breeder and you need that information to better care for your herd or cull your lines.

 

[tcraighenry]

(For the record, it may have eased my mind a little. I'm now totally freaked out about every little thing Vincenza does and anything that may effect her.)

 

[AZChins]

I have them done when a chin passes away unexpectedly, but I have a lot of other chins. We need to know if there is something contagious so we can take action and treat the other chinchillas. It's just something that people with multiple chins should do. If someone has just one, it isn't really all that important except it's definitely good to know what killed the chin.

Most of time for me the best outcome is peace of mind! It's good to know that a chin didn't die of something contagious that could kill my other chinchillas.

 

[tcraighenry]

@AZChins Yeah, I can see the peace of mind aspect. I'm way too neurotic over Vincenza. But I guess it gets me to read a lot!

 

[Sycamore Chins]

There are no cons to a necropsy, only pros.

If something dies unexpectedly you necropsy it. That way you know if the cause was something that will immediately affect your other animals, or if there is something you should change about your husbandry, etc. Sometimes necropsies don't give you a final answer, and that is unfortunate. But for the times that it does give you an answer, it is an invaluable thing to do.
It can set aside or confirm whether the animal died from a natural cause or something that could have been prevented.

In my opinion, as a student and future veterinarian, necropsies (or just donating the body) are an invaluable source for education. It gives the animal another chance to give even more - to medicine and to the knowledge of its species. I've necropsied some of my own animals just to become more familiar with their anatomy, and the pressure needed to cut through certain layers, and figure out what was wrong.
Most vet schools don't cover exotics very thoroughly, so here is your chance to expand a vets knowledge! Give them something to look at, let them think or go through the motions of a procedure they've never attempted so that in the future it can benefit other animals. Vets will treat your animal with the utmost respect, and can suture them back up if you want a body to physically bury, or they can cremate them so you can have the ashes. In the end you have the same animal back, and it can help more animals.

I wish everyone with exotic animals would let vets necropsy them or donate them to schools. We could expand our knowledge so much with animals who have already lived out their lives.

Okay, off my soap box.

 

[tcraighenry]

Oh and one other missing part of the puzzle. Vincenza's mother died and I never thought to ask of what. :/

 

[tcraighenry]

There are no cons to a necropsy, only pros.

I wish everyone with exotic animals would let vets necropsy them or donate them to schools. We could expand our knowledge so much with animals who have already lived out their lives.

Okay, off my soap box.

In all honesty, I would have done it had it not been for the cost.

 

[AZChins]

I agree with you completely, Alicyn!! It's so good for a vet to be able to get to know the anatomy of a chin. Even if a vet has experience with other exotics, chinchillas are different than rabbits or guinea pigs. A vet with some experience with necropsies for chins will be so much better prepared for surgeries.

 

[ticklechin]

I have had 5 necropsies, the cause of death was found in 3 and one there was no cause of death, she was 14. I don't necropsy malo chins since they have for the most part died of URIs or had been put down.

The 5 I had, one was herpes simplex 1, one heart attack, 1 no cause of death (she was the herpes carrier who gave it to the one who died) one stroke and one congestive heart failure. The other deaths were malo and two GI tumors in related animals.

 

[furmommy]

I've seen a lot on here about necropsies on chinchillas after they pass away unexpectedly.

We didn't have one on Christopher when he passed, though I suspect I know what happened. They didn't come from the best place when we got them. They had a cage with no ledges, the bedding smelled like bark dust (it wasn't, it just had that kind of smell) and had been in a barn with a heater.

We made the awful mistake of having him neutered too soon after we got him and he didn't make it. Our vet offered but it was going to cost another $200 after we were already out of pocket for $400.

I read a lot about having this done on the forums and I can see the logic. But in my experience pets pass away, it's just kind of what happens. Not to say you don't do everything you can but they do die.

So I'm torn, I think it's a good idea but at the same time, I wonder if it would actually make a difference. Any experience with this good or bad? What was the outcome if you had one? Did it make a difference to your other chins?

I still wonder "what if".....in December I unexpectedly lost my beloved 8 year old white mosaic Powder. He was happy and fine one day and suddenly stopped eating (I immediately took him to the vet but my regular vet was out and her colleague was AWFUL and did not give me antibiotics for him (his temp was 104). She did some x-rays and an exam and just said syringe feed Critical Care and give Cisipride. Well he declined so fast over the next 48 hours I didn't get a chance to get him into the good exotic vet 3 1/2 hours from where I live. He died in my arms and I cried, caressed him and played his favorite harp music. I had his private cremation a few days later......never got the necropsy even though I wondered what happened. The different vet I spoke to thought it was something in his delicate digestive tract. The x-rays taken hadn't shown anything. I will now never know. I just decided not to let the clinic that botched his diagnosis and care to charge me more money to cut into my treasured little boy. The vet who messed up never called or apologized. I will never, ever trust them again! All my previous losses I knew exactly what it was (malocclusion, cancer, etc.) This was my first loss that was so sudden I couldn't do anything other than offer love and support. I miss him so much!

 

[Sycamore Chins]

In all honesty, I would have done it had it not been for the cost.

You can think of it as an investment in someone's education, an investment in the veterinary medicine, an investment in any of your future chinchilla's lives.

Also, if you can say your goodbyes and part with their body, knowing they will be treated respectfully, it doesn't cost any money to donate them to a vet school. And often they will do a basic necropsy (especially if you donate it to the pathology class) and give you the results.

 

[tcraighenry]

You can think of it as an investment in someone's education, an investment in the veterinary medicine, an investment in any of your future chinchilla's lives.

Also, if you can say your goodbyes and part with their body, knowing they will be treated respectfully, it doesn't cost any money to donate them to a vet school. And often they will do a basic necropsy (especially if you donate it to the pathology class) and give you the results.

Hopefully I won't need to but the vet school thing is a good idea. I wonder if it would be an idea to have a list in various places?

I agree it would be an investment but after spending more than $1000 getting the little guys up and running another $200 seemed over the top. I suspect that's what prohibits a lot of people from doing the same thing.

 

[tcraighenry]

I still wonder "what if".....in December I unexpectedly lost my beloved 8 year old white mosaic Powder. He was happy and fine one day and suddenly stopped eating (I immediately took him to the vet but my regular vet was out and her colleague was AWFUL and did not give me antibiotics for him (his temp was 104). She did some x-rays and an exam and just said syringe feed Critical Care and give Cisipride. Well he declined so fast over the next 48 hours I didn't get a chance to get him into the good exotic vet 3 1/2 hours from where I live. He died in my arms and I cried, caressed him and played his favorite harp music. I had his private cremation a few days later......never got the necropsy even though I wondered what happened. The different vet I spoke to thought it was something in his delicate digestive tract. The x-rays taken hadn't shown anything. I will now never know. I just decided not to let the clinic that botched his diagnosis and care to charge me more money to cut into my treasured little boy. The vet who messed up never called or apologized. I will never, ever trust them again! All my previous losses I knew exactly what it was (malocclusion, cancer, etc.) This was my first loss that was so sudden I couldn't do anything other than offer love and support. I miss him so much!

This is a side note but I'm so sorry

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

As a pet owner, with only 2 chins at the time, I wanted to know why Baby had died so suddenly and unexpectedly, in case Mr. Whiskers was at risk for something.

I got real peace of mind after learning that Baby had an abscess on his pancreas that had ruptured, causing his death.

Dr. Fitzgerald was very comforting and reassuring. I will do another necropsy if any of my boys dies now, again, just for my peace of mind.

I like the idea of donating to a vet school...there's a really famous one not far from me -- the Bel-Rea Institute, actually for Vet Techs, but I bet they could do a necropsy with one of the vet instructors.

 

[Brittany]

I had a necropsy done with my one mystery death. Our first chins were a pair. They fought the day we brought them home, we lost chin 1 (jackson) with in 24 hours due to shock from the wounds. We mysteriously lost chin 2 (chance) soon after. They found internal bleeding and bruising in his chest cavity. We knew he hadn't been stepped on or held too tightly, so it had to be trauma from some sort of fall. This made us seriously rethink our chin proofing and cage set up. Talk about feeling like a terrible person. If my boyfriend and I had only known better, or done better research ahead of time, we could still have our boys today. :-(

For the 3 that I knew the cause of death I still offered the body to the vet in case they wanted to learn more about chin anatomy. Twice they took the body, once they didn't want to so I had to pay for disposal services, since I have no place to bury them.

 

[tcraighenry]

I have to admit I'd be terrified to find out if it was something I'd done.

 

[Kalandra]

Not a chin person, but I have strong feelings about necropsies.

I know that "terrified I did something wrong" feeling. The what if we find that we could have fixed it, or that I screwed up. A wise person once told me "get over it". Her explanation was that if you screwed up that badly, you need to learn what you did so that you can prevent it. Just like Brittany describes in the chin that had internal bleeding. Learn from it, and tell others so that your pet's life can better the life of many others.

I don't have necropsies done on all of my hedgehogs. We usually know what the cause of death is (cancer). However, if there is any doubt I have it done. There are three major reasons I have them done: 1. To learn exactly what happened. 2. To ensure that whatever happened isn't contagious. 3. To help my vet learn too.

With the last necropsy I had performed, we had been battling chronic inner ear infections. My hedgehog's health appeared to be improving the last couple of days of his life, and then suddenly he gave up the fight. He had been stronger, and actually had some spunk that evening as we had our cuddle time. I was getting up to put him in his cage for the evening when he suddenly started taking his last breaths. I was devastated and terrified that whatever was causing those inner ear infections was contagious. We had a gross necropsy done which showed the infection was gone, his ears were healing! Cause of death: unknown. I decided to spend the extra money to have a full necropsy with a histopath run. Cause of death: mylogenous leukemia. We were fighting a losing battle and had no idea he had cancer as he had no other symptoms of it. But I came away with a peace of mind that we really did all we could, and my other hedgehogs were safe.

I'm a huge fan of having a necropsy done when cause of death is unknown. I am fortunate as my vet does not charge me anything for a gross necropsy. I believe he feels it is worth not charging for because he also gets answers to confirm his diagnosis and to find out what happened. He does charge for the histopath if you want to have it done, as he has to send it away to the lab.

 

[poetrue]

I've had necropsies done on some of my chins, but not all. Many of the chins I've had die here I know the cause. So for any chin that ends up dieing or put to sleep from malo, injuries, birthing complications, bloat, obstructions, rectal prolapse, etc, then I won't do a necropsy. On the other hand if I have a few chins suddenly pass away and I am unsure of the cause, then i will have a necropsy done. I don't need anything spreading through my herd!

Cheryl