Wet chest?

fluffycupcake · Nov 7, 2012

My boyfriend just noticed that one of our girl's has a wet chest & mouth. She keeps pawing at her mouth, and rubbing her face on the shelves and house in her cage. We offered her a treat and she took that and ate it with no problem. But, still keeps rubbing her face on the shelves. Kind of looks like she is going to start rolling, like when they take a dust bath. She is still running around and is curious. When we mess with them in their cage and take her out she doesn't seem to be messing with her mouth. I've tried to look at her mouth/teeth but she will not hold still for me to do so. I don't want to keep messing with her to stress her out even more.

I don't know what to do for her & I'm not sure whats going on. I do have an e vet. But, I don't want to take her in if its something that doesn't require a vet visit.

Pookinaround · Nov 7, 2012

A wet chest and mouth DOES NOT sound good at all. Try feeling each side of her mouth just like you would be petting her from nose back on the sides of her mouth and see if you feel anything protruding even slightly. I'd still want her mouth checked by a vet though.

AZChins · Nov 7, 2012

She has something irritating the inside of her mouth. It could be something stuck in her mouth like a piece of hay or she could have a tooth spur that finally got to her and is causing pain and irritation.

If she is eating and drinking and seems fine otherwise, it would be best to wait until you can get her into a vet, who can handle dental problems. Now, if you see her acting like she is gagging or seems to be not herself or if she seems to be in pain, take her in to see the vet. Drooling can sometimes not just mean tooth issues or something stuck in the mouth, chins can do it because they are feeling a lot of pain.

With that being said.... I had a customer not too long ago with a chin that suddenly had wet chin and mouth and he drooled for maybe an hour. He stopped and never had it happen again. He checked out just fine, no problems with his mouth at all. What I think happened is he got a piece of hay stuck and it caused him pain for a short time and made him drool. Even if that is the case with your chin and she stops drooling soon, it would be best to make a regular appointment with the vet just to have her teeth checked on. It's always best to try to catch problems very early on so they can be remedied more easily.

fluffycupcake · Nov 7, 2012

Pookinaround said:
A wet chest and mouth DOES NOT sound good at all. Try feeling each side of her mouth just like you would be petting her from nose back on the sides of her mouth and see if you feel anything protruding even slightly. I'd still want her mouth checked by a vet though.

My boyfriend and I both checked to see if we felt anything and didn't seem to feel anything. But, she isn't one of the chins that like getting scritches, so she didn't wanna hold still. We did the best we could and got a couple of nibbles on our fingers for our efforts.

She isn't rubbing anymore. No more pawing at her mouth. And she no longer is drooling. She is eating pellets and hay just fine, chewing on the shelves, and has been drinking with no problems still.

AZChins said:
If she is eating and drinking and seems fine otherwise, it would be best to wait until you can get her into a vet, who can handle dental problems. Now, if you see her acting like she is gagging or seems to be not herself or if she seems to be in pain, take her in to see the vet. Drooling can sometimes not just mean tooth issues or something stuck in the mouth, chins can do it because they are feeling a lot of pain.

I'll have to try to find a vet to see her for dental things. I'm not for sure if our current regular vet is that knowledgeable with chinchilla dental issues.

I did search google and found this one.
Which I think is about 30 minutes from me.
http://www.localvets.com/profile/vca-highlands-animal-hospital-abingdon-virginia.html

Which there it says they offer vet dental services. So, that is another option.. which is pretty close to me.

Will they do xrays? Or do they just do an exam?

AZChins · Nov 7, 2012

I'd just have my vet do an exam and have him look in the chin's mouth, but he is very experienced with chins so he knows exactly what to look for. You may wan to get xrays done just in case or if the drooling returns.

fluffycupcake · Nov 8, 2012

AZChins said:
I'd just have my vet do an exam and have him look in the chin's mouth, but he is very experienced with chins so he knows exactly what to look for. You may wan to get xrays done just in case or if the drooling returns.

I'm actually not sure if my vet is that experienced with chins, I know they see exotics.. but, haven't had to actually deal with him with chins yet. And they do a sort of rotating type schedule, where they don't always have the main vet there. So, I will call tomorrow, to my regular vet & to a few others to see what sort of answers they give me. What sort of questions should I ask them about this certain situation?

If they do xrays, do they have to be "knocked out"? If so, would it be okay to wait until Friday to take her in? My boyfriend is off from work on Friday - Sunday. So, that way there would be someone who could watch her, that is if they do have to knock her out a bit. I just wanna make sure nothing happens to her. And Friday is the soonest that someone could be here with her ALL DAY.

Also, I know xrays tend to be expensive. Is there an estimate of that sort of cost? I'm getting ready to apply for that care credit card. I've been meaning to before, but I guess now would be a good time to go ahead and do so. Just to have it for back up, in case I don't have the extra cash on me at the time, since I'm not sure how the costs will tally up.

Is this the right one?
www.carecredit.com

I hope you all know what I'm talking about.

I also want to say a BIG thanks to you guys for being here and for being so helpful.