Author: John Myers
of Majestic Chinchillas
Mummified Fetus Post Mortem
Please be advised. This page contains very graphic content, pictures of a mummified
chinchilla fetus. Those with weak stomachs may wish to only read the report at the top
and skip viewing the pictures.
On April 2, 2003, Isabel expelled a mummfied fetus. The history on this case is as follows:
In April 2002, I suspected Isabel to be pregnant. I had been trying to introduce her to my
hetero beige male and had left them together one night for a couple of hours unattended,
but this was not intentional. I decided not to pursue putting them together because the beige
was a little rough. Isabel's weight started around 602 gr about the time she would have become
pregnant had steadily increased and she had reached her top weight of 720 gr on April 6. On
April 15, her weight had dropped to 700 gr and after that steadily decreased.
Isabel had opened by the first of May and by mid May 2002, I had concluded that she was
not pregnant, or that if she had been, she had miscarried. Isabel was seen by my IL vet,
Dr. O'Brien on May 13. Dr. O'Brien palpated Isabel but could feel no fetus. A vaginal swab
was done and the results showed a slight bacterial infection so Isabel was put on Sulfatrim
to clear up the infection. By the end of May, Isabel was still open, so a vaginal swab was
done for culture to try and determine if there was still an infection, the culture was
negative. By the end of May, Isabel was back to 657 gr and by mid June, Isabel had closed
up and seemed fine.
In August, she was placed with Rajah, a Pink White v.c. They introduced
well, but Isabel seemed uninterested in letting him breed her. They remained together until
Dec 6, 2002, when I took Rajah to an MCBA show in MI. It was through this show that I found
out that Rajah had lost considerable weight, so, I separated Rajah and Isabel about December
20, 2002, to allow him time to recoup and gain his weight back.
From December 2002 to January 2003, I began to notice a steady increase in Isabel's weight
again, so I again considered that she was pregnant, though I was not sure of a due date. On
March 6, while taking another chin to our new vet here in Iowa, I took Isabel along for Dr. Wayne
to check over real quick. Dr. Wayne palpated her and could only find a mass in the abdomen.
This was a devastating blow, but an xray a few days later revealed a fetus in the left uterine
horn, but it was not alive and there were no gas pockets around the fetus to indicate
absorption taking place.
At this point, I decided to not pursue surgery for this case, and was going to leave it to
Mother Nature to resolve on Isabel's next litter. Mother Nature though decided it was time to
resolve the matter sooner, so Isabel expelled the fetus on April 2, 2003.
Report on the fetal remains.
* The fetus was 4 inches in length, from head to hind legs (but not including the hind legs).
* The weight of the remains were 28 gr.
* All vital organs and most tissue had be reabsorbed.
* The skull, spine, tail, upper part of the chest cavity, front and hind legs were intact.
* The paws of the front legs were missing.
* According to the xray, the spinal column was not attached to the skull.
* Teeth were fully developed and intact.
* Tail fully intact.
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