Wet Chinchilla but not Teeth Issues

[wetchinchilla]

Hello everyone! Got a big wall of text while I wait for results, im very anxious and need somewhere to post. I’m looking for out of the box ideas of what could be wrong because none of the vets know right now.
I brought my chinchilla in to the vet the other day for sudden excessive drooling. Her chest and mouth gross and damp and matted like many chinchillas suffering from dental issues. On top of that, she has been barbering her fur at her joints (front and back paws, hips and knees). Doing some googling and research she looks like ones posted to this forum when looking up “wet chinchilla”. I went over everything it could be — rolling in urine, cagemate peeing on her, not drinking properly, teeth issues — i even took into account a fungus or parasite and the bedding I use/my husbandry due to the barbering and her ratty condition but her cagemate is perfect. The vet x-rayed and examined her, suspecting a GI issue due to the yellow coloration of her drool. I was sure it was dental issues like many cases of drooling. But her teeth are perfect. (No abscesses, spurs, or stuff stuck, roots are perfect). The vet said that my girl was the healthiest chinchilla she has seen, and at 7.5yrs old MAYBE at the earliest stages of arthritis, couldn’t see it on the X-Ray. (I was very worried her condition was my fault — that I did something wrong or wasn’t doing enough or something, haha)
She’s still acting completely normal, eating, drinking, being sassy. I have a perpetually wet chinchilla now. We still have blood work to go over, I’m both hoping there is a problem that I can fix, because I’m sure she’s uncomfortable, and still hoping that there’s nothing really wrong with her and that she’ll be okay.
Does anyone have any ideas of what could be going on or have had a similar issue? We’re stumped and so is the vet. From brainstorming it could possibly be a liver problem, just creating excess bile. Or even a neurological one that we can’t cure only treat as she gets older.
She’s on a dose of antibiotics while we wait for blood work, we’re hoping if it’s an infection this will help her out.
I know it’s pretty early on to start freaking out before getting blood work results, haha, but I just wanna get her as comfortable as I can.

 

[ChinsForLife]

@Amethyst

 

[ChinsForLife]

That is definitely strange! Are the temp and humidity in a safe range? Temp should be under 70 degrees F. and humidity should be around 40%-60%. I've heard sometimes overheating and/or heatstroke can cause that but aside from that I'm not sure. Especially considering the fact that she is still up and active...hmm... Anyway, you sound like a great owner! Welcome to the forum! Praying for conclusive results and for a happy and healthy girl!!

 

[wetchinchilla]

That is definitely strange! Are the temp and humidity in a safe range? Temp should be under 70 degrees F. and humidity should be around 40%-60%. I've heard sometimes overheating and/or heatstroke can cause that but aside from that I'm not sure. Especially considering the fact that she is still up and active...hmm... Anyway, you sound like a great owner! Welcome to the forum! Praying for conclusive results and for a happy and healthy girl!!

Temp is always kept under 70, the warmest it gets is low to mid 60’s on the thermostat in the winter. I try to make sure it’s never too warm I got a lot of furry critters. Humidity I honestly don’t know its pretty dry I will definitely look into that. Would heatstroke effect her for this long after occurring?Thank you for the welcome and the well wishes!

 

[Amethyst]

I unfortunately really don't know either, I've never dealt with that or read of anyone else. Normal cause for drooling would be a teeth issue or pain. If the chin got heatstroke and it resulted in brain damage then yes it could effect her for awhile, possibly for the rest of her life, but if you kept the temp under 70 heatstroke is very unlikely. My only real guess (since the normal reasons seem to be rules out) is something wrong with the brain, like a tumor or infection, or something neurological causing it. Again I am just guessing here, hopefully it's something treatable though.

 

[Spoof]

If they did a full bacterial test and came back with nothing this is one of the forms the URI part of covid takes when it affects chinchillas. It'll range from a little drooling at the corners of the mouth to full blown nasty. The loss of fur on the arms is from cleaning. Please post photos so everyone can see, it helps a lot. Here is a recent case a customer dealt with - this was a tested bacterial infection and was treated with antibiotics but it did take 3 weeks and several combos of drugs to get under control.

The radiographs your vet did should show some inflammation of the lungs and trachea - it helps to post those too.

 

[Spoof]

It wouldn't allow me to attach all of the photos.

 

[wetchinchilla]

If they did a full bacterial test and came back with nothing this is one of the forms the URI part of covid takes when it affects chinchillas. It'll range from a little drooling at the corners of the mouth to full blown nasty. The loss of fur on the arms is from cleaning. Please post photos so everyone can see, it helps a lot. Here is a recent case a customer dealt with - this was a tested bacterial infection and was treated with antibiotics but it did take 3 weeks and several combos of drugs to get under control.

The radiographs your vet did should show some inflammation of the lungs and trachea - it helps to post those too.

Thank you for the pictures! She looks very similar to that. I will post pictures of her soon, and the x-rays I’ll get a copy of when we have our next visit to discuss the bloodwork. My vet did say she looked fine all her organs healthy but she did suggest sending the pics out to a specialized radiologist.
That’s crazy that it could be covid! I didn’t think it could be because of the cagemate being in full health and spirits. I have rabbits and Guinea pigs kept in the same room (different enclosures) — is there a possibility of any of them getting sick from her if she does have a URI from covid?

 

[wetchinchilla]

I unfortunately really don't know either, I've never dealt with that or read of anyone else. Normal cause for drooling would be a teeth issue or pain. If the chin got heatstroke and it resulted in brain damage then yes it could effect her for awhile, possibly for the rest of her life, but if you kept the temp under 70 heatstroke is very unlikely. My only real guess (since the normal reasons seem to be rules out) is something wrong with the brain, like a tumor or infection, or something neurological causing it. Again I am just guessing here, hopefully it's something treatable though.

We did have a few unusually warm days here — i sure hope it’s not that, but I will definitely be bringing it up to the vet during the next visit if her bloodwork comes back normal.

 

[Spoof]

Thank you for the pictures! She looks very similar to that. I will post pictures of her soon, and the x-rays I’ll get a copy of when we have our next visit to discuss the bloodwork. My vet did say she looked fine all her organs healthy but she did suggest sending the pics out to a specialized radiologist.
That’s crazy that it could be covid! I didn’t think it could be because of the cagemate being in full health and spirits. I have rabbits and Guinea pigs kept in the same room (different enclosures) — is there a possibility of any of them getting sick from her if she does have a URI from covid?

Same chance a group of humans has. In a herd of ~150 I had four die and around 30 show anything from just slight mouth wetness to this full blown gross I-think-its-teeth but radiographs only showed URI not teeth. The rest showed no signs. The worst part is nothing can treat it, you just have to give them anything you can herbally to help them along and hope they make it.

 

[EARR Rescue]

Hello everyone! Got a big wall of text while I wait for results, im very anxious and need somewhere to post. I’m looking for out of the box ideas of what could be wrong because none of the vets know right now.
I brought my chinchilla in to the vet the other day for sudden excessive drooling. Her chest and mouth gross and damp and matted like many chinchillas suffering from dental issues. On top of that, she has been barbering her fur at her joints (front and back paws, hips and knees). Doing some googling and research she looks like ones posted to this forum when looking up “wet chinchilla”. I went over everything it could be — rolling in urine, cagemate peeing on her, not drinking properly, teeth issues — i even took into account a fungus or parasite and the bedding I use/my husbandry due to the barbering and her ratty condition but her cagemate is perfect. The vet x-rayed and examined her, suspecting a GI issue due to the yellow coloration of her drool. I was sure it was dental issues like many cases of drooling. But her teeth are perfect. (No abscesses, spurs, or stuff stuck, roots are perfect). The vet said that my girl was the healthiest chinchilla she has seen, and at 7.5yrs old MAYBE at the earliest stages of arthritis, couldn’t see it on the X-Ray. (I was very worried her condition was my fault — that I did something wrong or wasn’t doing enough or something, haha)
She’s still acting completely normal, eating, drinking, being sassy. I have a perpetually wet chinchilla now. We still have blood work to go over, I’m both hoping there is a problem that I can fix, because I’m sure she’s uncomfortable, and still hoping that there’s nothing really wrong with her and that she’ll be okay.
Does anyone have any ideas of what could be going on or have had a similar issue? We’re stumped and so is the vet. From brainstorming it could possibly be a liver problem, just creating excess bile. Or even a neurological one that we can’t cure only treat as she gets older.
She’s on a dose of antibiotics while we wait for blood work, we’re hoping if it’s an infection this will help her out.
I know it’s pretty early on to start freaking out before getting blood work results, haha, but I just wanna get her as comfortable as I can.

Have her checked for heart disease. We just went through this sane thing around Christmas. Took her to the vet weekly, could not figure it out until the heart actually started to fail. Hope this is not the case, drooling was the first symptom which did not seem related to a heart issue in any way. However, if ours was caught sooner it could have been treated with medication.

 

[wetchinchilla]

Hello everyone! Got a big wall of text while I wait for results, im very anxious and need somewhere to post. I’m looking for out of the box ideas of what could be wrong because none of the vets know right now.
I brought my chinchilla in to the vet the other day for sudden excessive drooling. Her chest and mouth gross and damp and matted like many chinchillas suffering from dental issues. On top of that, she has been barbering her fur at her joints (front and back paws, hips and knees). Doing some googling and research she looks like ones posted to this forum when looking up “wet chinchilla”. I went over everything it could be — rolling in urine, cagemate peeing on her, not drinking properly, teeth issues — i even took into account a fungus or parasite and the bedding I use/my husbandry due to the barbering and her ratty condition but her cagemate is perfect. The vet x-rayed and examined her, suspecting a GI issue due to the yellow coloration of her drool. I was sure it was dental issues like many cases of drooling. But her teeth are perfect. (No abscesses, spurs, or stuff stuck, roots are perfect). The vet said that my girl was the healthiest chinchilla she has seen, and at 7.5yrs old MAYBE at the earliest stages of arthritis, couldn’t see it on the X-Ray. (I was very worried her condition was my fault — that I did something wrong or wasn’t doing enough or something, haha)
She’s still acting completely normal, eating, drinking, being sassy. I have a perpetually wet chinchilla now. We still have blood work to go over, I’m both hoping there is a problem that I can fix, because I’m sure she’s uncomfortable, and still hoping that there’s nothing really wrong with her and that she’ll be okay.
Does anyone have any ideas of what could be going on or have had a similar issue? We’re stumped and so is the vet. From brainstorming it could possibly be a liver problem, just creating excess bile. Or even a neurological one that we can’t cure only treat as she gets older.
She’s on a dose of antibiotics while we wait for blood work, we’re hoping if it’s an infection this will help her out.
I know it’s pretty early on to start freaking out before getting blood work results, haha, but I just wanna get her as comfortable as I can.

Good news! And still a mystery partially unsolved. We got her blood work back, which indicated she had a small infection, high glucose (which we are not treating due to small animals generally having that problem from stress at the vet) and slight increase in liver values. Nothing too concerning or serious.
We have had her on an anti-inflammatory since the initial vet visit which has helped her, she enjoys taking it every morning. She also received an antibiotic, a probiotic, and and milk thistle (for her liver). These medications are a struggle every morning, lol!
Now we still don’t know what the real cause of the drooling was. She looks loads better though — She was drooling a few days after starting the anti-inflammatory, but it was significantly less than before. By the time she was on the antibiotic for a few days she has stopped drooling (at least a visible amount that makes her crusty - she’s still a smidge wet around the mouth). My vet talked to many other vets, one actually suggested it may be salivary gland inflammation.
Kind of related to her condition, but my vet said there’s apparently been studies about chinchillas and their habitat, and that a little UV light every morning and evening helps with their bones and just generally their condition. Like one used for reptiles an hour in the morning and an hour at night. To help a little with the potential arthritis that’s starting in my older ladies. They still bounce around like they used to when they were little! So once my girl gets a clear bill of health I’ll be trying that out.
Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of her at her worst I felt horrible seeing her like that. But she looks way better now! I’ll try to get a copy of the X-rays when I go in next. Thank you guys for your insight!

 

[ChinsForLife]

Good news! And still a mystery partially unsolved. We got her blood work back, which indicated she had a small infection, high glucose (which we are not treating due to small animals generally having that problem from stress at the vet) and slight increase in liver values. Nothing too concerning or serious.
We have had her on an anti-inflammatory since the initial vet visit which has helped her, she enjoys taking it every morning. She also received an antibiotic, a probiotic, and and milk thistle (for her liver). These medications are a struggle every morning, lol!
Now we still don’t know what the real cause of the drooling was. She looks loads better though — She was drooling a few days after starting the anti-inflammatory, but it was significantly less than before. By the time she was on the antibiotic for a few days she has stopped drooling (at least a visible amount that makes her crusty - she’s still a smidge wet around the mouth). My vet talked to many other vets, one actually suggested it may be salivary gland inflammation.
Kind of related to her condition, but my vet said there’s apparently been studies about chinchillas and their habitat, and that a little UV light every morning and evening helps with their bones and just generally their condition. Like one used for reptiles an hour in the morning and an hour at night. To help a little with the potential arthritis that’s starting in my older ladies. They still bounce around like they used to when they were little! So once my girl gets a clear bill of health I’ll be trying that out.
Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of her at her worst I felt horrible seeing her like that. But she looks way better now! I’ll try to get a copy of the X-rays when I go in next. Thank you guys for your insight!

I'm so glad she is doing well! Praying for a fast recovery.