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[ADGphoto]

My Louie is about 4 to 5 years old.  I adopted him & his cagemate January 31, 2014.  She was very ill and we had to have her put to sleep 2 days later.  We are 1st time chinchilla owners.

Since then, Louie has been sneezing, coughing, rubbing his nose & has a level 3 heart murmur.  He was also under weight.  He was put on Baytril, baby gas drops, Benebac and Critical Care.  Now the Vet had us stop the Baytril and start heart meds. Today was his 2nd dose.  The new med is basically a water pill. The vet believes this sneezing & coughing is from the murmur when fluid is backing up around the heart and may be putting pressure on the organs or fluid in the lungs.  The Vet & his wife were Chinchilla breeders and currently own 5 chinchillas, so I'm keeping faith that he is correct.  I've only had him over a month and I am in love with him!

He has gained weight, eats his Oxbow Chinchilla food, timothy hay & Critical Care, drinks water, chews on his toys & loves a dust bath.  BUT he tires easily, does not use his wheel (never has) and is continuing to make heaving breathing sounds, sneezing, etc.  My young teenage girls say "he sounds like Chewbacca from Star Wars" and squeaks as if in pain.  He does not like us holding him, but when he is out for playtime, he will run all over us.  The sneezing / squeaking does not appear to be physically induced.  He will do it when he's sleeping in his hutch in the a.m. or p.m.  He will sneeze occasionally when he is sniffing around the room.  He will only play for about 10 minutes then hops back into his cage to lay down. 

My worries:  His cagemate was making similar sounds, but also not eating.  Is he suffering after loosing his cagemate?  We have 2 guinea pigs in the same area of the house as him.  Is our house to warm?  It's runs between 69 to 72 degrees in his cage (I have a thermometer inside).  He came with the heart murmur but the sneezing, etc., came later.  Do chinchillas have allergies?   

I am so afraid of loosing him. 

[GrayRodent]

I'm glad he is still eating and otherwise acting healthy. Because he has completed his course of antibiotics he should be clear of respiratory illness. If you're still in doubt you can ask about doing a respiratory culture to double check. The symptoms you describe do seem to be consistent with congestive heart failure, which to my knowledge, is a terminal condition, and in this case, is due to a faulty heart valve. If he responds well to the water pill that is another indicator of that.

72 degrees is a good temperature. Chinchillas can get allergies but it is very rare and weakness and weight gain are not symptoms. On top of that it is possible he is reacting the loss of his cage mate as well. Just make sure he gets ample attention and he should get over it. I don't know what the vocalizations mean but chinchillas are able to make a wide range of sounds and calls and they will call repeatedly to their missing cage mate for a time.

Heart murmurs in chinchillas are usually caused by heart valve defects that are a result from improper breeding practices. A reputable breeder will take chinchillas with heart murmurs out of their lines for breeding as a rule.

[mb30]

Theres another forum called chins and hedgies and there are a few people on there
with a lot of experience with chins with heart murmurs. That may provide more information for you as well

[ADGphoto]

What should we do?  Last night (Mar 13, 2014), Louie ate his Critical Care then proceeded to sneeze & cough for about 3 hours (or more).  I would consider it respiratory distress.  He was laying down the entire time.  We did not think he would make it though the night.  At 4 am this morning I hear him moving around.  I go to see him and he's acting like nothing is wrong.  He pooped, ate at his hay and pellets and wants a treat.  Should we continue his new medicine (Furosemide 25mg generic for Lasix)?  I left a message for the vet.  I hope he calls this morning. 

My daughters are on board for euthanasia if he is suffering.  This is so hard.

[GrayRodent]

What did the vet say? This is a very unusual situation. I would say as long as he is eating on his own that the problem is likely not as bad as it looks.

[Jasonred79]

What should we do?  Last night (Mar 13, 2014), Louie ate his Critical Care then proceeded to sneeze & cough for about 3 hours (or more).  I would consider it respiratory distress.  He was laying down the entire time.  We did not think he would make it though the night.  At 4 am this morning I hear him moving around.  I go to see him and he's acting like nothing is wrong.  He pooped, ate at his hay and pellets and wants a treat.  Should we continue his new medicine (Furosemide 25mg generic for Lasix)?  I left a message for the vet.  I hope he calls this morning. 

My daughters are on board for euthanasia if he is suffering.  This is so hard.

... What's the chances he's allergic to something in the Critical Care? ... anyone here know?

... Well, it shouldn't be too hard to test out... just check the timing for his attacks carefully, and change up the time you give him his CC... if you give CC at 1pm and he gets attack for 3 hours on monday, then tuesday you give CC at 5pm and he gets attack until 8pm, then it might not just be coincidence...

[ADGphoto]

The Vet finally called late in the day.  He does not believe its an allergy nor a respiratory infection (because discharge is not colored).  He still believes it's his heart.  He said to continue the Lasix and watch him. 

My thoughts:  This started after his cage mate died.  My husband thinks we may have missed seeing his illness because the other chin was so ill.    I'm not sure.  Both were seen by the emergency vet.  Either way, we will continue to love him. 

I'm thinking its the fleece.  Maybe he's allergic to it.  I removed all the floor liners a while ago and he seemed better.  Then we put in one of those cans the size of a coffee can with fleece lining.  Louie spent 1 day sleeping in it and I swear it triggered this last episode.  So as of yesterday, all fleece is out. 

This morning (15 Mar 2014), he is standing at his door looking for his breakfast.  He played with his chew toys (from TJs), pooped and ate his hay & pellets during the night.  He ate about 8 ml of his Critical Care, took his Lasix & his baby gas drops, then off to sleep he went.  I was out most of the day, so now I will keep watch.  If I remove the Critical Care, what would I use in it's place?

I have been on blood pressure meds myself (for hearing loss) and I know the feeling of it.  You don't feel right the 1st few days.  So instead of giving Louie 0.04 ml every 12 hours, I am trying it every 18 hours.   Fortunately, I will be home this weekend.   

Another ?:  I'm worried Louie could fall in his cage.  He is in a Critter Nation 64" high cage with shelves we made.  I would like to put in the top level tray for safety.  Would moving his floor plan around cause him stress?  Not a lot of relocating items, except for the opening where he can go between the floors. 

Thank you for all your help!  This means a lot to me!

[GrayRodent]

What is the reason behind feeding him critical care? I thought he was eating on his own and off of antibiotics? Does the heart meds cause stomach irritation? Is he underweight?

I seriously doubt it's an allergy to CC because it's pretty much the same thing that is in their pelleted diet but with more carbs. Because it is wet there should be no dust to inhale either. If there's a connection to something in the fleece that would be very interesting. I expect you'll be seeing some symptoms after meal times because it adds extra load on the circulatory system.

If he is unable to jump in his cage and navigate safely putting in the divider might be a good idea. If he is jumping to the top shelves regularly then it may cause stress because he will feel more confined. Moving things around in the cage is more likely to cause confusion than stress. My chinchilla will expect his shelves to be in the same place and it is hilarious when I remove them to clean them because he tries to jump on them when there is nothing there. Nonetheless you'll have to be the judge of that because all animals are different.

[Jasonred79]

Allergies usually show up pretty quick, so if he was fine this time, then it's almost certain it wasn't CC allergy ... well, sometimes, when you are grasping at straws, I follow sherlock holmes advice to eliminate everything wrong until you arrive at the right answer, however improbable.

If he's doing good today, that's really good... super excellent. I'll dare to be optimistic that the next few days will also be problem free, and that will stretch out for the next weeks, months, and eventually he'll not have any further reoccurences and we'll all call it an unimportant unsolved mystery.

... oh, also... when you said he ate his hay and pills, do you mean he nibbled at it, ate half of it, or finished it? Also, maybe monitor his poop? As in how much he produces? Maybe bring a small poop sample for vet to look at?
... then again, as I said, if all is good, maybe it'll turn out to be unneccessary, and that's the end of your problems. I hope so!

Keep us updated!