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1

Health / chinchilla grieving - help

« on: March 19, 2016, 10:44:49 AM »

Hello,

Not a happy post im afraid but really need some advice.

Ive had to have one of my chinchillas but to sleep today and she was very strongly bonded with her sister who we still have. Our vet advised that it may be a good idea to let our existing chinchilla see her sister before we bury her so she understands she is gone forever and not lost.

I dont know if this would cause more stress to our existing chinchilla who at the moment is blissfully unaware or if by not showing her she might pine.

Anyone have any experience in the situation?

2

Health / Re: dental abscess

« on: September 04, 2014, 05:25:26 AM »

thought Id post an update...

First vet:- said hed filled her teeth on the bottom which was causing the problem, removed a loose tooth, drained abscess but said he wouldnt be able to cut abscess out without removing half her jaw. Said theres nothing else he could do, forgot to give us antibiotics and send us on our way.

Visited another vet that was recommended as being an exotic specialist:- they said theyre confused by her previous vet records because she has all her teeth, her teeth needed filling because they were overgrown on the top which has caused the problem, and they said the abscess isnt in her jaw at all its in the muscle in her cheek.

Shes had it removed, and an antibiotic pill put in her cheek. Vet said theyre optimistic, but she will need her teeth looked at at regular intervals to see how theyre wearing.

3

Health / Re: dental abscess

« on: August 15, 2014, 02:26:40 PM »

Thank you so much for your reply, this is a very helpful site. I have scales to weigh her. I have seen her eating today, Im continuing to treat by just cleaning and giving antibiotics. I dont have much hope but am trying to do whatever I can.

4

Health / dental abscess

« on: August 15, 2014, 08:38:23 AM »

Around a week ago my chin developed a lump on the side of her mouth. I took her to the vets and they said its probably an abcess, gave a few days of antibiotics and said bring her back in 3 days and we will give her anesthetic and xray, have a proper look.
I dropped her off in the morning, then got a phone call later just saying shes ready to pick up. Walked into the reception and was asked to pay first, then noticed on the receipt it mentioned shed had it drained so I was happy thinking theyd fixed her up. I then spoke to the vet who said hed drained it and left the cut open, he said he found a loose tooth and removed it. He didnt want to cut the abscess out because he said its too big of an operation and would have to remove half the jaw. That all adds up and makes sense to me. He gave me some antibiotics and pain killers then said abcess may come back. How likely? "Quite likely". Well what sort of percentage do they come back? "Nearly every time, actually I can only think of once when it didnt". Oh so where do we go from there if it comes back? "Well if it does then theres nothing else we can really do".
So from this am I right in thinking it was ridiculous to operate on her then tell me theres hardly any chance of success? Shouldnt he have spoke to me before hand and informed me of what it could be and asked if id want him to go ahead and put her through the operation?
Now I have her home Im cleaning the wound with salty water 4 times a day, giving antibiotics twice a day.
Id just like to know if anyone has advice or experience to share with me? I feel like the vets basicly wrote off her chances, but cant understant why he thought it was okay to operate without asking me if thats what he really thought

5

Health / Re: Seizures

« on: August 08, 2013, 09:26:31 AM »

Seizures can be caused my several things. You might consider having some blood work done to see if you can find a nutritional or diabetic cause. Some types of seizures may be treatable but not all. You may have concluded that epileptic chinchillas can live a normal lifespan.

I think Ill contact the previous owner and check with him again first to see if he actually taken her to the vet or just arrived to the conclusion based on what he had read. If shes already had blood analysis done previously I dont want to stress her out with another vet oppointment unless theres chance of a different outcome.
Im hoping for a long happy life for her, even if its not as long as the average chin. Shes done 4-5 years so far so if it was really bad surely she wouldnt have lasted this long? I dont have any experience with seizures and chins, I know they are easily stressed and it may effect them much worse than say a human or a dog which has fits. I had a dog that suffered from seizures his throughout his life, prob every 4 months or so but apart from the fits he lived a happy average lifespan. Vets were pretty useless, every time I took him theyd just say he was epileptic and tests were inconclusive. Not helpful at all just stressed him

6

General Chat / Re: A very misunderstood and neglected species of pet

« on: August 08, 2013, 06:32:33 AM »

Its crazy, how many people having never owned a chinchilla and knowing nothing about them decide to purchase a male and female from the same litter and breed them? How are they ever going to be healthy little animals when thats common practice? Then other people purchasing from different places and shoving them in the same cage with no contingency plan as to if they dont get on, no second cage ready or proper slow introduction to each other. Its also shocking how many videos there are on you tube of owners letting them run free in their house only to then wonder "hang on how do I get them back in their cage" chasing them around grabbing at them laughing and thinking its funny... just shocking, so many people shouldnt be blessed with the gift of being able to own a pet!
Before we re-homed these two chins my girlfriend was actually cautious for the very reason you pointed out. She knew someone that had a chin who was very aggressive. When I asked here about the history of the chin and the scenario it turned out they had a single chinchilla in a small cage and it was never ever handled or let out for play, it it a suprise that it ended up being aggressive? It turns out we have been very lucky to have such tame and friendly chins which must be pretty rare in rescue/re-homing situations as they are probably more prone to have been neglected. My girlfriend absolutely adores them.
It seems like maybe the chin community should adapt the popular dog phrase "NO SUCH THING AS A BAD CHIN, ONLY BAD OWNERS"

7

General Chat / A very misunderstood and neglected species of pet

« on: August 08, 2013, 05:10:45 AM »

This site has been really informative, I wish all owners would research and use a bit of common sense before buying chins. It looks to me like there are so many owners who buy chins without any understanding of the type of animal they are or their special requirements to take care of them. No idea on the type of cage they should have or even the food they should eat. They seem second only to the poor hamster for neglectful stupid owners! Its nice to find somewhere like this with a community of actual responsible animal lovers

8

Europe / New Owner in the West Midlands

« on: August 08, 2013, 04:56:11 AM »

I re-homed a couple of chins in the west midlands 

9

Health / Seizures

« on: August 08, 2013, 04:52:35 AM »

Hi, relatively new owner in the UK. We re-homed two females 4-5 years old from a lad who was going to university, he seems to have really looked after them and he was very sad to let them go. One of the girls has history with seizures (nose twitches really fast and then her movements go really slow, sluggish to walk for a minute or two then snaps straight out of it and back to normal) he says shes had them the whole time hes owned her. If he keeps her playtime down to 15-20 mins he said she rarely has any problems. Ive read all the info I can find on this site and others regarding seizures and it just sounds like geneticly inherited epilepsy? She seems very happy and is lovely and friendly. Im hoping if Im strict with her playtime it wont interfere with her health and she will have a long happy life

10

Q & A / Re: Dust bath for two Chinchillas at the same time?

« on: August 08, 2013, 04:11:17 AM »

Glad to be of service. Another thing to mention is that it is not healthy for chinchilla's skin to dust more often that every other day.

yes theyre having them every 2-3 days at the moment. They dont seem to spend long in there though, they love it for a minute or two then seem to have had enough. I read somewhere else on the site that bath should be upto 15mins?! Seems very excessive, or is this maybe if they were getting them once a week instead of several shorter baths?

11

Guestbook / Re-homed a couple of chins in the UK

« on: August 07, 2013, 03:45:10 AM »

Hi, relatively new owner in the UK. I had a couple of chins when I was a young lad, Im now 32. We bought our own house recently and thought It would be nice to give an animal a new home from a recue centre. We were originaly thinking about getting another dog, but we think our bulldog is happier being the only dog in the house (likes to be spoilt). We thought about degus because my gf has had gerbils, but saw an advert for some chinchillas and decided to get them.
We got two females 4-5 years old from a lad who was going to university, he seems to have really looked after them and he was very sad to let them go. One of the girls has history with seizures (nose twitches really fast and then her movements go really slow, sluggish to walk for a minute or two then snaps straight out of it and back to normal) he says shes had them the whole time hes owned her. If he keeps her playtime down to 15-20 mins he said she rarely has any problems.
They are really nice and friendly, after only a few days they seem like theyve been here forever. Running all over us and exploring their new room. We hope to give them a long happy life at their new home, and have joined the site for hints and advise.
,

12

Q & A / Re: Dust bath for two Chinchillas at the same time?

« on: August 07, 2013, 02:29:43 AM »

Thanks for the confirmation, I thought it would be a shame to separate them for dust baths seeing as they enjoy having them together

13

Q & A / Dust bath for two Chinchillas at the same time?

« on: August 06, 2013, 08:04:45 AM »

Hi, Im using very fine proper Chinchilla dust and its a decent size metal bath that they can both fit in. I see majority of videos with pairs of chinchillas taking a bath at the same time but I worry that they seem to kick dust in each others eyes. Would it be better to give them separate baths or is the dust too fine to bother their eyes?