Author Jo Ann
of Luv 'N Chins II
Sly's Broken Arm
As many of you know, at the bottom of each page on my site, I have "E-Mail me with your questions about chinchillas". I get many simple questions and some hard ones. The reason for my offer to try to help others with questions is two-fold. (1) To try to help chinchillas and (2) to help me learn more about chinchilla problems, so that I can help even more chinchillas. The research I have to do to help one person, many times, helps others at a later date.
A few weeks ago I received a phone call and an e-mail from Jessie in Maryland. "My chillie broke her arm! What can I do for her?" I could hear desperation in her voice and visualize the tears that must have been in her eyes. Her little chinchilla, Sly, had caught her foot in the wire grid on the shelf as she tried to get down the ramp while Jessie was cleaning her cage ... she was hanging by the broken arm. Jessie quickly helped her release her arm and held her close as she cried out in pain. Jessie and I have stayed in phone contact on an almost daily basis.
Jessie took her to an animal hospital where they x-rayed the arm and saw that it was a clean break through both bones in the right fore-arm. The on-call-vet set and cast it ... but in a cast that was 3" long! Much too long for such a little arm. Before Jessie left, the cast fell off! Jessie was even more up-set. A tech on duty recast the arm with a proper sized cast and Jessie took her home. The only medication Sly was given was the gas they put her to sleep with so that they could set and cast the broken bone.
 
Sly had to be placed in a cage free of any thing she could catch her paw on. Normally a plastic cage is not recommended, but, by watching her closely and cleaning the cage daily to prevent any fumes causing lung problems, a plastic dome cage was used. As you can see in the picture below, she was not especially fond of being in such a small space ... but, for her safety, it was a necessity!
Poor Sly, she did not want to eat ... if I were in the pain she was in, neither would I! Jessie and I talked about Critical Care for added nutrition, Nutri-Cal, yogurt and Pydilite for Sly. She did not have any, so I told her to crush Alfalfa hay and Mazuri Chinchilla Pellets with a heavy rolling pin, into an almost power texture, then mix it with a dollop of Nutri-Cal forming little balls for Sly to eat. Sly loved it! Apple-flavored pydilite, made by Gerber under a different name, was to make sure she did not get dehydrated. This was a real treat for Sly! Yogurt was to give her extra calcium and to give her the live culture bacteria needed to keep her system going. Sly would not take the yogurt, so we used a cuttlebone for calcium and acidophilus sprinkled in and over the food for the live culture bacteria needed for her digestive system.
All set? Nope! Now Sly was chewing at her cast! Jessie tried "Fooey" and "Bitter Apples" to no avail! Shall we try the yogurt we know she does not like? Success ... but only for a couple of days ... then she adjusted to the taste of the yogurt also. A cone-collar was tried ... she just stuck her heat through the hole made for eating and went for her cast! ;( Finally, the vet had to give her the same spray they use at the office to keep Sly from chewing at her cast.
To make things worse, the cast began to loosen due to the swelling going out of her arm. The rubbing of the cast had also caused a 'boo-boo' on her arm. I told Jessie to use a small amount of Neosporin on the sore 3 or 4 times a day. This helped it heal.
When it rains, it pours! Sly got the cast off! Back to the vets she went! This time, to an exotic pet vet. She had to be worked in between patients, due to the fact the vet was very busy, but this was an emergency! Sly got her 3rd cast ... a pretty pink one because she was such a sweet little girl! But this vet put her under with an injection to keep her comfortable while she put the new cast on. The intravenous sleeping medication kept Sly groggy much longer, as you can see in this picture.
TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT ISSUE!
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