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Messages - psycho_ash

Pages: [1] 2
1
Health / Re: Chin with a broken pelvis
« on: March 02, 2010, 06:54:51 PM »
I am sorry to hear about your baby :'(. I got my white mosaic female from Angie. She is great so I am sure you are in good hands. She will tell you what is best because she really does love chins.

That's what I've heard... I've never met her, as she is a three hour drive away, but if I continue to have bad luck I may end up just making the trip anyway.

In happier news, I rubbed dust on Tia's fur for her and gave her the Metacam (gave it about two hours ago?) and she is feeling much better. Gives me a glimmer of hope, heh.

2
Health / Re: Chin with a broken pelvis
« on: March 02, 2010, 05:29:01 PM »
Awww Ashton, what a sin. I am amazed she's doing as well as she is.

I had a chin that tried to fly and though the xrays didn't show any breaks he was paralyzed from the waist down. We tried steroid shots but after a week the vet felt I should let him go. He would never be able to use his hind quarter again.

I guess they could operate and pin it all back, or is it too late now for that?

Had one break a leg and spent 5 weeks in a cast. But that is one dickens of a break she has there.
Is she still a happy chinchilla?

I am sorry about the loss of your fly boy... that had to have sucked more than this, because at least I haven't lost her (yet - a few have said that Tia should be euthanized because her break is so bad).

A vet in McKees Rocks, PA (her name is Angie) who specializes in chinchillas (she breeds them and keeps them, too!) looked over her xrays and said that she will probably heal if kept confined, and that it won't be perfect, but it will work. She said that she saw some callous on the bones, meaning that they are beginning to heal. She also advised Metacam, twice a day.

Angie also said that it is possible to plate a chin's pelvis, but she is not aware of a plate small or light enough for that. A chin's pelvis cannot be pinned. And, to be painfully honest, there is no way in this world that I could afford that operation even if it were an option.

The doc I took Tia to (Dr. Hall at Smoketown Animal Hospital) is worthless and I'm about ready to have his head. He looked her over, x-rayed her, and gave me NO information on what to do. He told me to just "make sure she doesn't jump too much or over-exert herself, but there's really nothing you can do". Worst of all, he didn't give any pain medication. Nothing.

Tia had a terrible day today. I think it's because of the rain, but she was huddled and scrunched up in the back of her carrier crying every time I touched her. Her fur is so greasy because I don't want to let her dust and roll around and possibly make it worse. She's eating and pooping and all that, but she is just miserable. Because of her obvious pain, I called Smoketown over and over today trying to get her a scrip for Metacam. I called at 10am, and requested that they fax the prescription to a vet (Carlisle Small Animal Clinic) closer to my house (Smoketown is a good hour and a half away). Between the CSAC and Smoketown, I called them probably 10 times today. Finally at 4:45pm, I got a call from CSAC saying Tia's scrip was ready.

Thank GOD, I thought, and went to pick it up.

When I saw how many doses Dr. Hall wrote for, I had to restrain myself from calling him right then and there and asking what the heck his problem is. The scrip was for. Five. Days. Does he think her pelvis is going to magically heal up in five days? That her pain will just go away in a POOF of fairy dust?

I am so mad at him right now I could scream.

At least Tia took her first dose easily. And she's eating. And pooping. And still likes her rosehips. Still eating TONS of hay (she isn't a big fan of pellets, I've learned - she prefers all hay, all the time apparently... maybe because her previous owners only gave her gross cubes).

Sorry about the long message and the unrestrained passions. I get upset easily about the well being of my babies.

Thanks though Debbie, it really means a lot to me. 

3
Health / Chin with a broken pelvis
« on: March 01, 2010, 11:07:33 AM »
I've posted this on a couple chin forums, but I'm trying to get as much information on this as I can. I just want my chin to be okay.

I picked up my chin (3 year old standard female named Tia) on February 18th from a retired couple who didn't have time for her anymore and didn't really pay any attention to her nor know anything about chins. After letting Tia adjust for about a week, I started getting her out and letting her hop around for playtime.

Instantly, I noticed that she really favored her left hind leg. She didn't use it to hop, she couldn't hold something with both paws because she couldn't rest her weight on her hind legs, she was slow in jumping... obviously a vet visit was in order.

Turns out my little Tia has a broken pelvis! Here are the X-rays... This forum made the pictures very small, so I linked them instead. I'm sorry about the huge images! Descriptions of each X-ray are beneath the image.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/abunai_usagi/pelvisview.jpg
Here's her pelvis x-ray... the fracture is encircled in lime green.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/abunai_usagi/rightlegview.jpg
Her (completely okay) right leg - I'm including it for comparison.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v320/abunai_usagi/leftlegview.jpg
Her left leg - you can see the fracture in the bottom left, also encircled with green.

Needless to say, when the vet showed me these I just wanted to puke. 

Per advice from some hardcore chin breeders/enthusiasts/experts on different forums, Tia is now confined in a small cat carrier and will be for the next six weeks. Also, today I am starting her on a homeopathic regimen consisting of calcarea phosphorica 30c and symphytum 30c. I was advised to dissolve one pellet of each in 1mL of water and administer it to her via syringe.

Hopefully this will knit up... That fracture looks really severe (to me). What do you guys think? Has anyone had experience with a broken pelvis? Any luck with homeopathic remedies in chins? Any input would be appreciated!   

4
Q & A / Re: Learning to read her, but still murky...
« on: March 01, 2010, 11:02:45 AM »
It's getting better, she eats more pellets every day... she really seems to be into the hay though. She *loves* hay... I feed her an alfafa/timothy mix and she just eats it all up.

5
Q & A / Re: Is Tia a boy?
« on: February 24, 2010, 08:09:20 PM »
I looked again and I think Tia is a she - the cone is very large, but there's no gap between it and her anus.

6
Q & A / Is Tia a boy?
« on: February 24, 2010, 07:28:45 AM »
The other day, I was talking to Tia with the door open, just feeding her hay from my hands and such. She leaned up on her hind legs to groom her belly quick, and in that flash of time I saw something that looked awfully like boy parts.

Yesterday, I decided to inspect for myself. I got Tia out - she did very well, although she was hard to catch - sat her on my bed, and lifted her onto her hind legs so that I could see her belly. I only was able to look for about maybe five or ten seconds (she was having none of this!), but I made a diagram of what I saw.



I know what the anus looks like, but there was also that long thing... I know female chinchillas have a urethral cone, but isn't that really long for a urethral cone? It extended to around half an inch (1.3 cm)... so...

Is Tia actually a Mr. T?

7
Q & A / Re: Plastic stuff...
« on: February 23, 2010, 08:27:29 AM »
everyone pretty much covered the basics but yes if she is chewing the wheel you should remove it right away because it can damage her digestive tract. ive heard lots of good things about the chin spin! also, i have a homemade wheel that is sold on ebay and the woman who makes them is actually on this forum, bloominhedgehogs :) its a tad cheaper than the chin spin, about 16' so won't damage her spine at all and completely silent! my boys love it. http://cgi.ebay.com/Chinchilla-Exercise-Wheel-16inch-Heavy-Duty-100-Steel_W0QQitemZ190375098844QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c533d79dc#ht_1097wt_1167

there is a whole thread about it in the topic "crazy loud wheel" in general topics. just another suggestion! good luck  :::grins::

Wow, thanks! I will definitely look into that.

8
Guestbook / Re: Good day, new chin owner here!
« on: February 22, 2010, 08:33:11 PM »
Thank you for your advice and kind words!!!

9
Q & A / Learning to read her, but still murky...
« on: February 21, 2010, 04:52:51 PM »
Hi again! I'm sorry I'm asking so many questions, I've been doing a lot of reading on past posts here, but I can't alway find the information I need.

Tia is a three year old female - I adopted her from a couple who didn't have time for her anymore. Her house is on my dresser, which is about four and a half feet tall. Her cage is at least three feet tall, so I have to use a stool to get up to her. I think she likes being up high though, it lets her see everything. She's taken to sitting on a ledge I put in the top front right corner.

Anyway, here are my concerns. She hasn't really been eating. She came with a gravity bin filled with maybe two pounds of food, so I couldn't tell if she was eating. Last night I removed it and replaced it with a crock with a tablespoon of pellets in it. When I left at noon this morning, it didn't look like she had eaten any.

I like to play a game with her where I give her a rolled oat flake (they're treats for her, as well as craisin bits) and then let her sniff my hand. She let me pet her nose and scritch behind her ear when she could have easily hopped away, and she was grinding her teeth while I did so. I was talking to her while doing that, and then I let her alone. I played  that game a few more times that night, and the last time she kind of pulled her head away and hopped off.

I've had her since Thursday and she still won't dust. When I put her bathhouse in, she gets excited and she sniffs it and explores it, but then just ignores it.

I've also observed her licking the air after I give her an oat flake, and sometimes it looks like she's pulling fur out of her belly.

Is this normal? What should I do?

**UPDATE**

She is doing fine, I was just being paranoid! She dusted last night and she's really warming up now.

10
Q & A / Re: hes vibrating?
« on: February 21, 2010, 07:58:36 AM »
well it wasnt really a loud sound it was just the best analogy i could think of, but now he's started to grind his teeth and im not really sure what that means, because it is a sound and it seems kinda akward.

Yeah, Tia grinds her teeth when I pet her... I don't know what it means. She's still getting used to me. I've read that grinding their teeth can mean feeling content or angry... so... I don't know.  :-\

11
Q & A / Re: Plastic stuff...
« on: February 21, 2010, 07:56:56 AM »
Psycho_Ash -- I have the metal flying saucer and my Apollo loves it and its really fun to watch him run on it. However, some chinchillas have trouble catching on to it. It definitely takes some practice and bravery on their part. What kind of wheel does he have now? If she's an older chin and is used to a traditional wheel, you may want to consider getting the 15" chin spin from quality cages (assuming they ship to europe...). It is $45. Are there any chew marks on Tia's current wheel? If there are, you will definitely want to consider changing... and don't worry, I have limited experience with chins, but so far they have never complained about their old stuff being replaced with new better stuff :)

Oh, that looks excellent!! I'm actually not from Europe, I live in central PA, I just always put monetary amounts in dollars and euros because I know people from Europe are on this forum, too. There are indeed chew marks on her old wheel, so as soon as I get the money I am replacing it. I don't want her to go without a wheel though.

And yeah, I'd have to agree, she hasn't seemed too worried about me replacing her stuff. Actually, I think she likes it. She gets all excited and has to go check it out. It's very cute!  ::silly::

12
General Chat / Re: Beagle Paws Pet Expo, I took a chin.
« on: February 20, 2010, 07:40:18 PM »
So it's okay to put chins on a leash? I was wondering about this...

13
Q & A / Re: Plastic stuff...
« on: February 20, 2010, 07:37:24 PM »
Well, sorta answered my own question... I found the metal Flying Saucer... they are $75... (55 euros) very expensive, but are they worth it? If they are, I will not hesitate to get one for my Tia, I hate her having anything plastic!

14
Q & A / Plastic stuff...
« on: February 20, 2010, 07:30:13 PM »
Hello!

I know plastic is bad for chins, and I am working on removing all of the plastic bits from Tia's cage. Here is my concern, though... her wheel is made of plastic. I really don't want to get rid of it, because I was told she loves it (I've only had a few days, but her former owner told me that she runs in it every night)... so what should I do?

Thanks!

15
Guestbook / Re: Good day, new chin owner here!
« on: February 20, 2010, 11:45:36 AM »
Yes you have definitely done your research and thats awesome! you'll be a great mommy  :::grins:: as for the dust bath, since they were giving them to her she probably is just not used to doing it in the new environment and i'm sure once she gets adjusted in a day or two she'll be happy to roll around!

When it comes time to clean her cage... I don't want to stress her out by grabbing her and taking her out of the cage, so can I just clean it while she's in there? Maybe use a small dust pan and such to sweep up the bedding? I've been picking up her poops that she leaves on the cardboard-covered balconies (they're nice, fim poops and they are frequent) to keep it nice. She will only pee in his potty house, I've noticed - there is no wetness anywhere else. I read that this is pretty common, that they designated a potty corner.

What I do since I have a big dog crate for my boys is when they have their free playtime my boyfriend watches them and I actually sit inside the cage and have a little dust pan, like you were referring to, and use that to clean their levels (they have safe wood as ledges). I do notice sometimes that they will come back to their cage and come climb on me and be very confused as to what I'm doing! I worry this may stress them out a bit so I wouldn't clean while she's in there just because she may see you as intruding. The best thing would probably be to get a small cat carrier or something similar and put that near her in her cage and let her climb in and close that, let her hang out in there while you clean so you don't need to grab her but don't need to clean her in her home either! Other people will have more ideas I'm sure, just some suggestions :) Otherwise, get some pictures us and show us your beautiful little girl! Congrats on your new baby! I'm sorry to hear about your little rat, I'm sure he had a great life with you though ::)

Thank you, I will definitely try that! She can't seem to resist craisins, so I'll put a nice big piece of one in there and let it lure her...!

And, just a little thing... I'm a daddy, not a mommy. :)

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