Author: JoAnn
of Luv'n Chins
A Pair of Special Kits
April 1, 2003, 3:00 PM, Dot had delivered two kits within the hour, both male. The black velvet weighed a healthy 48 grams, but the standard gray only 38 grams. Trooper, the black velvet, was snuggled to his momma nursing, but the standard gray, Joker, only lay close to his mother for warmth, not even trying to nurse. I named him Joker, because he was born on April Fool's Day and was hoping the joke would be on me, because he looked as if he may not make it. His body was twisted, both hind legs twisted to one side and he could not stand, he would just fall over when you set him on his feet. By 5:00 PM, his mother had rejected him. This is normal for a mother chin when (1) she does not have enough milk for all, she will reject the weakest to insure the strongest one will survive, OR (2) she senses he is going to die anyway, for whatever the reason may be. Mother nature gives this instinct to most four-legged mothers.
It was time for the 'new born kit' to come out ... I did not know for sure which of the two reasons Dot had rejected him. The first 24 hours is critical, keeping him warm and getting him nutrition. I was careful to put only a drop at a time on his lips or just inside his mouth, making sure that the formula would not get into his lungs or back flow into his sinuses and add to his problems. He would take only 1 or 2 drops of formula every 30 minutes for the first 8 hours, fussing at me with each drop ... but that's ok ... his lungs need the stimulation. Then he began to take 3 or 4 drops every 30 to 45 minutes. In between feedings he would snuggle inside my shirt to keep warm as he listened to my heart beat. If I heard even the least little chirp out of him or felt his nose rubbing against me, he would get fed ... whether it was time or not. :)
By Wednesday, the 2nd, he was taking 6 to 8 drops every hour and holding his weight. That afternoon, at 24 hours old, he stood for the first time. Around 6 PM he took his first steps, normally done within the first 15 minutes of life after birth of a chinchilla kit. They were not normal steps, he could only walk in circles counter clock-wise. Maybe Dot is correct, maybe something is bad wrong with him, but I can't give up, not as long as he is willing to fight. It had been 27 hours and by now I was tired and had to get some rest, so I tried putting him in with another family of chins, since his mother would still not take him.
As with human children, chinchilla kits, do not yet know 'the rules of mother nature' ... 2 1/2 week old Patches accepted him and tried to keep him warm. Patches' parents, Jo-Jo and Puff, would not accept the kit, it was to weak, they know his chances to live are not good. It must be an odor in their breath that tells them, because Jo-Jo cleaned him, started to tuck him under her, but sniffed his breath and walked away. But Patches huddled over him to keep him warm. He would offer him the striength of the love of a sibling even though they were not brothers. Love is something I think we can feel, even at birth, and it can bring us through when nothing else can. About an hour later Puff finally accepted Joker and helped to keep him warm. When he got a little stronger, Jo-Jo, Patches' mom, would clean Joker, stimulate him and try to keep him warm, also. Joker was still not strong enough to nurse, even though Jo-Jo had tucked him neatly under her, trying to get him to nurse. Why he would not nurse, I did not know, it was if he did not know how to do it. Never had I seen this in a kit before. I hoped for the best as I took my first real rest, midnight Wednesday night ... I slept for 4 hours.
Thursday morning 4 a.m., when I woke, I found Joker had lost two grams and was now down to 36 grams. The little stinker pee-peed on the scales, but I appreciated it, because it was not on me. He was now taking 1/2 to 3/4 of an eye dropper of formula every two hours, but was getting weaker. His brother Trooper was now weighing 56 grams and doing good. Again, only Patches, the white mosaic kit, would accept and keep his foster brother warm. After 4 hours and some coaxing, Jo-Jo and Puff would begin to help keep him warm again, but Joker was still not nursing. I knew if he dropped to 32 grams, he probably would not make it, so I tried adding 3 pellets of Mazuri and 1 calf manna pellet to the 2 ounces of formula I had mixed up. He was so cute as he smacked his lips and tried to chew the liquid mush, a sign that he thought it tastes good to him. :) He can walk around the bottom of the cage a little now and in a straight line instead of circles. He even tried once to jump, only to catch his foot on a piece of the pine bedding trip, and fall, but he is trying. Unfortunately, later that day I would weigh him, only to find that he had lost 2 more grams and was now down to 34 grams, getting much to close to that 32 gram line of danger. I started 1/2 dropper of Pedilyte every 2 hours alternating with 1/2 to 3/4 eye dropper of formula every two hours, so he could be being fed every hour on the hour.
Friday, 3 a.m., his weight is back up to 35 grams, but he is still weak and not nursing yet. Jo-Jo, Puff and little Patches keep him warm, I feed him and we all loved him. As the day goes on he dropped back to 34 grams, but still fights to keep going. About 3 PM I took an hour's nap, this is day 4 and it's beginning to show on me. He's still taking his formula and even a little Nutri-Cal. He walks around the bottom of the cage, with the unsteady legs of a new born.
Dr. Vanessa and I talked, I could tell it was hard for her to tell me what I already knew; Joker probably had something wrong with him even before he was born and should he survive, what ever may be wrong with him now, may show up later on and cause problems for him. You see, what I did not tell you in the beginning, was that I thought Dot was only going to have one kit, because I had only felt one kit moving. This in itself was a warning ahead of time ... one I chose not to listen to. Usually, if they live through the first 72 hours and you can get them to nurse a foster chin mom, they will make it. I had been through this before. Most of the time, they will make it and only once had one of the little ones have a problem show up later on. So I had to keep trying.
About 8 PM when Jo-Jo and Puff rejected him again, I tried putting him with Tammy and Timmy ... They tried to clean him, stimulate him, and keep him warm. It seemed like they were all willing to go against mother nature and try to help this little Joker with his chance to live. But ... he was much weaker now and down to 33 grams. 11 PM, he began to walk in circles again, counter clock wise, as before. I knew the end would probably be soon. So I took him and tucked him next to my heart again. I could not leave him in with one of the chin families and have it traumatize them, they had tried so hard to help.
Saturday morning, the 5th, about 3 a.m. he would no longer eat and was down to 31 grams. As I sat in the computer chair with my feet up in another chair, I noticed that his mom, Dot, Jo-Jo, Puff, Patches, Tammy, Timmy and Tony were all at the front of their cages watching every move I made and listening to every sound Joker made, not playing as they normally would at this hour, as all the other chins were doing. They had been doing this ever since I took him out that last time, they knew his time was near. At 5 a.m. he nuzzled, as if looking for food. He took a full dropper of formula ... maybe he would make it after all. 6 a.m. another 1/2 dropper full, made a little squeak before closing his eyes. 6:21 a.m. another squeak and a gasp. Our little Joker was gone. He was a great little fighter, but was just not meant to be. His short time on this earth was not in vain. He brought together three families of chins to share his love. They all watched me as I gently wrapped him up in a soft white cloth. I heard a sound, I had not heard a chin make before ... it came from one of the adult chins and suddenly all the chins (all 91) were quiet, no longer hopping and playing in their cages. It was if some one hit a 'mute' button. Could they all know what had just happened? I do not know, but for half an hour all was quiet. Was it that it was the time for them to stop playing and sleep? I looked at the clock, it was 7 a.m., they are usually still playful at this time of day, but not today.
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