Bad News
So I think more than anything right now, I want to make a note for myself. The last few days I have learned so much about chinchillas which would have been helpful to me before but obviously I’m learning the hard way. After Brodys arrival it seemed like Chase became depressed after the newness of a friend wore off. I just thought maybe if I give him more attention this would cheer him up and let him know that Brody in no way was replacing him. Then we I was monitoring both of them running lose together I noticed how Brody started to hump Chase and Chase began to cry. Immediately I corrected Brody and separated them, unfortunately I put Brody back into the same cage with Chase that night. At work I called home to check on them and my mom said Brody was acting up again SO once again we separated them and stuck Brody in Chase’s old cage. Later I came home clean both cages, changed the bedding and gave them both fresh food and water and gave Brody a wooden house, a hammock, and a wheel in his cage. My main concern was Chase at this point. Now he really wasnt doing well.
Chinchillas are constantly going to the bathroom. If you let them run out you will see crap every where. Which its expected, its not hard to clean up, I mean they do need their freedom too. So I don’t mind. After cleaning out his cage, I noticed no crap anywhere. He wasnt eating, he wasnt drinking all he wanted to do was lay around looking like he was in between life and death and breathing so heavy and rapidly. Which if any of those symptoms occur YOU MUST TAKE YOUR CHIN TO A VET RIGHT AWAY!!!
So my mom took him locally yesterday while I was at work. I met up with her on my lunch break but I couldnt stay long. The vet thinks that Chase probably hasnt gone to the bathroom in about a week. He says he has a case of upper respiratory infection. Then he asked if another animal has been living in the same cage as Chase recently. You have no idea at how much I am blaming myself and even taking it out on Brody by ignoring him and avoiding him, which isnt good either. If anything its not Brodys fault, when I asked the Pet shop owner if 2 males would get along good all I got was a “Yea they should.” Not once was I told to quarantine Brody from Chase and don’t put them in the same cage together. I dunno is that common sense? Should I have known that? I never had a problem before, I was just trying to get Chase a play mate if I would have know that it could cost him his life I wouldve never taken the chance. But Chase had to stay with them for 2 hours while they gave him shots for pneumonia and some liquid fluid since he was so dehydrated.
***See one thing that I have learned from internet reading is that a chinchilla in order to survive must eat every few hours, they don’t eat their digestive system shuts down and they starve to death. They will die in days.
***Another crucial thing thats very heart breaking, is a chinchilla system is nothing like a human, dog or cats....if its sick it has no gag reflex to throw anything up which is very serious since theyre so small any illness or whatever inside of them can not be thrown up will stay inside and become worst.
The small animal/exotic vet along with a chinchilla specialist and a phone call place to another chin specialist decided not to go thru with an enema, in fear that Chase was so blocked up adding any more pressure would explode his insides and kill him instantly. They said they never seen a chinchilla so beautiful in all their years of working with them. They even asked if they could take pictures cause he was so unique. They were even surprised that I got him at the local pet shop in town. Which leads me to believe that he is really a Brevendata Chinchilla and was mistakenly brought to the pet shop to be sold. Chase weighed in at 1 pound 1 ounce, which I guess is rare but they said hes been well fed and his health other wise was up to par. Which is good in this case, especially since what he has is going to make him lose weight rapidly and every ounce is crucial.
The only thing that led me to another vet was the special diet formula that the local vet said to get for Chase since I would need to hand feed him. He gave my mom a website which carries many healthy products for small animals. WWW.OXBOWHAY.COM I was told to get the Critical Care Diet Formula. Unfortunately they don’t sell the product online. So I had to make phone calls everywhere and since its an independent company no pet stores will carry it. The only way I found that out was thru a very blessed phone call that I had made to a local PetSmart where it just so happened that it was a miracle where the right girl answered the phone knew exactly what I was talking about and happened to know where to get it since she had to get this product herself before. Winter Park Animal Hospital. She even gave me the phone number for there.
I had only originally planned on going down in the morning to get the formula. Thank God my mother told me to make an appointment for Chase. We ended up bringing both Brody and Chase down, they said Brody appears fine BUT he could still be carrying a virus and not shown and signs. And they also mentioned how all along Chase could have had something as well and not have shown any signs cause apparently a chinchillas defense mechanism in the wild is to hide their illness since they are highly preyed on. So they wont show any signs for weeks or even months!
It was obvious that Chase needed some medical attention again today. The doctor came in looked at him. He weighed one pound today. So he lost an ounce. Her assistant drew up an estimate and gave me the option of taking care of him at home or leaving him there, with a minimum and maximum balance based on how much he would need stuff. I wanted to take him home. How can I leave my baby 40-50 minutes away from me and take the chance of having him die some place else. Cause the last thing I wanted was to leave him some place and get a phone call with any words indicating, “I’m sorry we regret to inform you......” The bill was looking like about 800.00 to 900.00 .....This is my baby, whatever it takes to keep him alive and get better. I don’t even remember at this point why the assistant left the room again or what she was getting cause this was all to much for me to handle, but when she came back in she took one look at Chase laying down on his side in his carrying cage and breathing heavy and freaked. It almost looked like she was going to cry. I was already in tears throughout the whole time off and on, trying to keep it together to understand the doctor. So the lady threw down Chase’s chart on the table grabbed his cage and ran to the backroom with him. I guess she showed the doctor, and immediately he was put in an oxygen tank. I no longer had a choice. I had to leave Chase there for the weekend. I had to sign papers, I was given a payment plan since my bill is now 2000.00, they are supposed to call me daily. I can call and check on him. Which I am going to do very shortly here. I had to even initial stating that they have my permission if at any time during the treatment it becomes to much for him and he should go into cardiac arrest they can stick tubes down his throat to get him breathing again. They said they would call me first. But its unbelievable at how much stuff were talking here. I mean he is so damn tiny. I cant believe all these procedures they have going on.
The Dr explained that a chinchilla is more like a horse then anything. Which I know, the size of the two animals together...? But a chinchillas insides are just like a horses insides, and if you know how a horse’s insides work then you’d understand how a chinchillas would. I don’t, but my mom does cause she owned horses. Even how any article or book I read before about giving a chin raisins or alf alfa hay never mentioned how anything bad could happen to them. It just always stated don’t give them more than 2-4 a day. It doesnt say that to many raisins will cause constipation and that can lead to their death! Or that alf alfa hay has to much calcium for them to handle its best to feed them timothy hay. You know at this point the money means nothing to me, all I care about is getting Chase back home and getting him better and seeing him live his life span of 15-20 years. I mean hes not even a year old and the poor thing is going thru so much!!!
Chase’s symptoms include the following:
*He didnt want to come out of his cage to run free or play. (Very unusual for Chins)
*He didnt mind being held (Chins should always try to squirm out of your hands)
*Stopped eating and drinking
*Constipation
*Sneezing
*Sleeping more than usual and in an unusual way with his head down hanging off things as if he was dead.
*runny and puffy eyes
*runny nose
*Week and no energy
If anything like that occurs it means a chinchilla needs to seek a vets care right away. And the veterinarians at the animal hospital cleared it up that a chin cant catch a cold from a human, so whatever it is whether I bought a sick chinchilla to begin with or Brody is a carrier and Brody being in his cage all of a sudden with all the germs from the pet shop all at once and not being quarantined are the only 2 possibilities for what Chase has. I’ve never noticed anything in Chase before Brody but he all of a sudden changed and real quick as soon as Brody got here. It didnt even dawn on me as to why Brody separated himself from the other 3 chins he was in the cage with. Or the fact that he was sleeping on his side and THATS NOT NORMAL. But they said he could just have different behaviors since each chinchilla has its own personality. Theyre also very sensitive so you can imagine when I had to hand feed Chase some Ensure until I could go to the vet to get the critical care powder how he could sense how much it bothered me and once they see you making a face or any sign that something like that bothers you they use it against you. Theyre very smart creatures. So bottom line is, whatever the cause which I hope its not Brody, but like I said this hasnt happened before and all of a sudden now it did, I would just hate to think of anymore money that I would have to put out if Brody is sick too. But money aside this is my heart so whatever it takes for me to get my old Chase back. Right now its prayers and faith on my end.
Chinchillas are constantly going to the bathroom. If you let them run out you will see crap every where. Which its expected, its not hard to clean up, I mean they do need their freedom too. So I don’t mind. After cleaning out his cage, I noticed no crap anywhere. He wasnt eating, he wasnt drinking all he wanted to do was lay around looking like he was in between life and death and breathing so heavy and rapidly. Which if any of those symptoms occur YOU MUST TAKE YOUR CHIN TO A VET RIGHT AWAY!!!
So my mom took him locally yesterday while I was at work. I met up with her on my lunch break but I couldnt stay long. The vet thinks that Chase probably hasnt gone to the bathroom in about a week. He says he has a case of upper respiratory infection. Then he asked if another animal has been living in the same cage as Chase recently. You have no idea at how much I am blaming myself and even taking it out on Brody by ignoring him and avoiding him, which isnt good either. If anything its not Brodys fault, when I asked the Pet shop owner if 2 males would get along good all I got was a “Yea they should.” Not once was I told to quarantine Brody from Chase and don’t put them in the same cage together. I dunno is that common sense? Should I have known that? I never had a problem before, I was just trying to get Chase a play mate if I would have know that it could cost him his life I wouldve never taken the chance. But Chase had to stay with them for 2 hours while they gave him shots for pneumonia and some liquid fluid since he was so dehydrated.
***See one thing that I have learned from internet reading is that a chinchilla in order to survive must eat every few hours, they don’t eat their digestive system shuts down and they starve to death. They will die in days.
***Another crucial thing thats very heart breaking, is a chinchilla system is nothing like a human, dog or cats....if its sick it has no gag reflex to throw anything up which is very serious since theyre so small any illness or whatever inside of them can not be thrown up will stay inside and become worst.
The small animal/exotic vet along with a chinchilla specialist and a phone call place to another chin specialist decided not to go thru with an enema, in fear that Chase was so blocked up adding any more pressure would explode his insides and kill him instantly. They said they never seen a chinchilla so beautiful in all their years of working with them. They even asked if they could take pictures cause he was so unique. They were even surprised that I got him at the local pet shop in town. Which leads me to believe that he is really a Brevendata Chinchilla and was mistakenly brought to the pet shop to be sold. Chase weighed in at 1 pound 1 ounce, which I guess is rare but they said hes been well fed and his health other wise was up to par. Which is good in this case, especially since what he has is going to make him lose weight rapidly and every ounce is crucial.
The only thing that led me to another vet was the special diet formula that the local vet said to get for Chase since I would need to hand feed him. He gave my mom a website which carries many healthy products for small animals. WWW.OXBOWHAY.COM I was told to get the Critical Care Diet Formula. Unfortunately they don’t sell the product online. So I had to make phone calls everywhere and since its an independent company no pet stores will carry it. The only way I found that out was thru a very blessed phone call that I had made to a local PetSmart where it just so happened that it was a miracle where the right girl answered the phone knew exactly what I was talking about and happened to know where to get it since she had to get this product herself before. Winter Park Animal Hospital. She even gave me the phone number for there.
I had only originally planned on going down in the morning to get the formula. Thank God my mother told me to make an appointment for Chase. We ended up bringing both Brody and Chase down, they said Brody appears fine BUT he could still be carrying a virus and not shown and signs. And they also mentioned how all along Chase could have had something as well and not have shown any signs cause apparently a chinchillas defense mechanism in the wild is to hide their illness since they are highly preyed on. So they wont show any signs for weeks or even months!
It was obvious that Chase needed some medical attention again today. The doctor came in looked at him. He weighed one pound today. So he lost an ounce. Her assistant drew up an estimate and gave me the option of taking care of him at home or leaving him there, with a minimum and maximum balance based on how much he would need stuff. I wanted to take him home. How can I leave my baby 40-50 minutes away from me and take the chance of having him die some place else. Cause the last thing I wanted was to leave him some place and get a phone call with any words indicating, “I’m sorry we regret to inform you......” The bill was looking like about 800.00 to 900.00 .....This is my baby, whatever it takes to keep him alive and get better. I don’t even remember at this point why the assistant left the room again or what she was getting cause this was all to much for me to handle, but when she came back in she took one look at Chase laying down on his side in his carrying cage and breathing heavy and freaked. It almost looked like she was going to cry. I was already in tears throughout the whole time off and on, trying to keep it together to understand the doctor. So the lady threw down Chase’s chart on the table grabbed his cage and ran to the backroom with him. I guess she showed the doctor, and immediately he was put in an oxygen tank. I no longer had a choice. I had to leave Chase there for the weekend. I had to sign papers, I was given a payment plan since my bill is now 2000.00, they are supposed to call me daily. I can call and check on him. Which I am going to do very shortly here. I had to even initial stating that they have my permission if at any time during the treatment it becomes to much for him and he should go into cardiac arrest they can stick tubes down his throat to get him breathing again. They said they would call me first. But its unbelievable at how much stuff were talking here. I mean he is so damn tiny. I cant believe all these procedures they have going on.
The Dr explained that a chinchilla is more like a horse then anything. Which I know, the size of the two animals together...? But a chinchillas insides are just like a horses insides, and if you know how a horse’s insides work then you’d understand how a chinchillas would. I don’t, but my mom does cause she owned horses. Even how any article or book I read before about giving a chin raisins or alf alfa hay never mentioned how anything bad could happen to them. It just always stated don’t give them more than 2-4 a day. It doesnt say that to many raisins will cause constipation and that can lead to their death! Or that alf alfa hay has to much calcium for them to handle its best to feed them timothy hay. You know at this point the money means nothing to me, all I care about is getting Chase back home and getting him better and seeing him live his life span of 15-20 years. I mean hes not even a year old and the poor thing is going thru so much!!!
Chase’s symptoms include the following:
*He didnt want to come out of his cage to run free or play. (Very unusual for Chins)
*He didnt mind being held (Chins should always try to squirm out of your hands)
*Stopped eating and drinking
*Constipation
*Sneezing
*Sleeping more than usual and in an unusual way with his head down hanging off things as if he was dead.
*runny and puffy eyes
*runny nose
*Week and no energy
If anything like that occurs it means a chinchilla needs to seek a vets care right away. And the veterinarians at the animal hospital cleared it up that a chin cant catch a cold from a human, so whatever it is whether I bought a sick chinchilla to begin with or Brody is a carrier and Brody being in his cage all of a sudden with all the germs from the pet shop all at once and not being quarantined are the only 2 possibilities for what Chase has. I’ve never noticed anything in Chase before Brody but he all of a sudden changed and real quick as soon as Brody got here. It didnt even dawn on me as to why Brody separated himself from the other 3 chins he was in the cage with. Or the fact that he was sleeping on his side and THATS NOT NORMAL. But they said he could just have different behaviors since each chinchilla has its own personality. Theyre also very sensitive so you can imagine when I had to hand feed Chase some Ensure until I could go to the vet to get the critical care powder how he could sense how much it bothered me and once they see you making a face or any sign that something like that bothers you they use it against you. Theyre very smart creatures. So bottom line is, whatever the cause which I hope its not Brody, but like I said this hasnt happened before and all of a sudden now it did, I would just hate to think of anymore money that I would have to put out if Brody is sick too. But money aside this is my heart so whatever it takes for me to get my old Chase back. Right now its prayers and faith on my end.