Long Night Ahead of Me

[goReptiles]

So I found my mosaic chinchilla breathing very very shallow today. My older standar male was cuddle up to him, attempting to keep him warm as his body temperatures were low. I was able to get him to the vet, who wasn't 100% sure what was wrong with him. He gave Chiko (the chinchilla) a shot with B12 and Dex(something or another). The B12 is to make him feel better, and the Dex is to break up bad cells and bring in more good ones by helping with circulation.

He was fine last night. No signs that I could see...

And, now I'm very, very worried about him. He's very lethargic. Won't eat his favorite treats. He's only 2. Born April 26, 2005. So, it's not old age... I've been giving him diluted apple juice for extra sugars and a pick-me-up basically. He has a 20 hour heat pack wrapped in a pillow case with him. I just removed his house so that I can see him better, as I had him placed in his house. It was getting warm in there, and chinchillas don't do well with excessive heat. He needs a little but not a lot.

He's not doing well... I've had him since he was 6 weeks old. He's my baby... I plan on waking up every two hours or so to give him some apple juice and try to feed him a sunflower seed (just the inside). He's not eating or drinking as he has no energy whatsoever. I've moved the food bowl right next to him, and he could care less. I'm so scared, and on top of that it's a holiday weekend, and the vet won't be opened Monday. And, maybe not Saturday; I'm not sure I just know Monday.

The shot was supposed to help... I may be taking him back tomorrow...

The puppy still hasn't gone for her 12 week shots, as it's different vets, and I don't drive, which makes it harder...

Baby picture

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

oh Im sorry, good luck with him, can you give him pedialyte to help with electrolites?

I hope he gets better for you!

 

[techgirl]

The apple juice is most likely going to give him diarrhea. If you can get your hands on Oxbow Critical Care diet for Herbivores(they make an omniveore diet too), give it to him. Your vet should have it. You mix it with warm water and can syringe feed it to him. It's a complete diet. For now, use Pedialyte but not too much, because it too can trigger diarrhea in excess. If there is no improvement, then do x-rays and bloodwork. He may need to be hospitalized and get IV fluids. The only downside is that in order to give them fluids like that, it involves putting a large needle into their hip bone. Their veins are way too small for normal IV catheters. This can be expensive. There is always a risk of him dying from the stress of everything being done to him. I use to work with chinchillas before my allergies and asthma got so bad that I no longer can work with them. It could be a brewing URI, impactions, cancer. Has his teeth been checked to make sure they are not occluding? Good luck and I hope he recovers.

 

[goReptiles]

The vet actually said the diluted apple juice was fine bc it would help boost sugars.

But... he didn't make it through the night. he died between 645ish and 730ish this morning.

I'm having him autopsied today. We rushed him in, so it would be as soon as possible. The vet will do a basic autopsy to check for tumors, internal bleeding, hemorages, etc. If he can't find anything, I told him it was find to send a tissue sample to Tifton to do more research. It'll cost an additional $75, but I want to make sure that my other chinchilla will be fine. He said sometimes they want the entire body, and I may not get it back. I told him I'd rather have him back even if it's ashes. He's going to call with whatever he finds out, and if he has to call Tifton, he'll call me after he talks with them and before he does anything.

Unfortunately, he won't be able to do the autopsy until later today. I was hoping for earlier, but at least it's same day. Chong's autopsy several months ago was done the next day, as he passed on a Sunday. Not much was discovered with his autopsy, and his tissues were already decomposed greatly.

If all is well with the results from the vet and Tifton, in the sense of whatever it was isn't contagious. I'm looking at finding another male chinchilla to adopt. Just to give my other one (Cheech) a friend as they are very social and need the attention.

I just feel terrible that he'll be alone till I find anything out, but I'm not risking bringing another lil guy in until I have results...

My dad said to just buy another one, but I'd rather just adopt one that Cheech's age give or take... I dunno. Any thoughts about that one?

 

[dragonflyreptiles]

I am so sorry for your loss!

 

[goReptiles]

thanks...

I'm still waiting on the vet to do the autopsy. I'm a little preturbed by that... I realize he's busy, but he's been sitting there decomposing all day! And, it sounded like he was going to leave him in the cooler with ice until he got to it. Not to happy with that... :-/

He has an hour or so to do it before they close... I asked for a call as soon as he's done. I don't want to wait till tomorrow to find out...

When he calls I'm going to see if he can draw blood on the other one, just to see if there's ANYTHING there... I'm so worried. And Cheech is depressed; I see it in his eyes and posture. He's upset... He's alone, and has lost two friends this year, both he's been with for over two years... I need to know the results quickly before he gets too depressed. I would like to add a friend as soon as I can.

I've heard chinchillas become so depressed after the loss of a friend, that they too pass... I can't take another one...

 

[Mel&Keith]

Oh Whitney, I'm so sorry for your loss. We had a pair of Chinchillas a long time ago and lost the female to a prolapse. The male did fine after she passed but they had only been together a fairly short time. I hope the vet can give you a definitive answer to ease your mind.

 

[techgirl]

Whitney, I am so sorry for your loss. I would be upset that the autopsy wasn't done soon after you bringing him to the vet. At my place we normally don't do autopsies. We can do a basic, looking at the organs and sending biopsies off. For a more complete autopsy, we would recommend UPenn. Hopefully they will have an answer for you. Again I am so sorry for you and the loss of your little one.

 

[goReptiles]

Thanks guys... I will say it's now nearly 5:30 my time. Chiko was at the vet at 8:30... As far as I know, he's still un-autopsied... (I'm sure there's a word... but you get the idea)... It really hurts that he's still in the bag on a towel on ice... I didn't even wanna put him in the bag, but my dad checked him with the stethoscope, and heard nothing. I still didn't want to do it. I'll definately call as soon as I wake up in the morning. This is rather ridiculous!

Just curious (maybe you know jessica) on average how long does it take for an autopsy. He's just doing basics (tumor, bleeding, etc). I'm thinking maybe he waited until they closed at 5pm, to do it.

 

[techgirl]

A basic autopsy doesn't take long to do. Usually an hour to two depending on what's found. But to do bloodwork, that's tricky when they have passed. The sooner the blood is drawn after they have died, the easier. If he's been gone for hours, it's not possible because of coagulation. You can sometimes get blood from the heart, but time still affects certain enzymatic values. Biopsies can take 3-5 days for results to get back. Bloodwork can take several days to get back depending on what tests are done.

 

[goReptiles]

I was thinking about getting bloodwork done on the chinchilla that is still alive... It'd be nice to have it all done to the one who passed. I still haven't heard from the vet, and it's nearly 7 my time.. I'm definately calling as soon as I get up! This is rather ridiculous. I'm very upset. Even more if he didn't do it, and it was all a waste! I was hoping because I got him in shortly after he died, there would be very little problems about decomposition and whatnot. But, it's nearly 12 hours later and I've heard nothing. Even at a quarter till 4 when he still hadn't been touched! I was hoping that he could help prevent anything from happening to Cheech. I'm just hoping it was done after they closed, and he didn't call.

 

[goReptiles]

I called the vet at 10:00am this morning... I was put on hold, and when the rep came back, she said he'd call me back he was with a client. I fell back asleep as went to bed VERY late and was going on 3 hours of previous sleep, but anyway. I woke back up at 1pm, terrified I had missed the call.... I checked my phone, and had ONE text from my boyfriend, saying he was going to work and he'd call later... I can't even go up there now becasue they're close! My mom was like, you don't even know if he's done the autopsy. If he's still in the cooler, which would now be water. If he's in the freezer. Nothing... He BETTER not be in the same cooler with the same leftover ice that I took him in with YESTERDAY at 8:30AM! I'm a customer too. I'm a very upset customer with a dead animal waiting to hear results of an autopsy that BETTER have been done already! I'm a very upset customer with another chinchilla and rats at home that may or may not be able to catch something they may or may not have been infected with. I'm a very upset customer that cam before all that other customers of yesterday and today. And, YET because my pet is dead, everyone else comes before me.... I would be willing to be a million dollars, that if Chiko had been a dog that was having surgery, or even a cat, I would have gotten my call right after surgery to be updated about the procdure. And, that's not right... I'm a paying customer just like everyone else! My chinchilla BETTER be in the freezer!! Especially because I have no one to contact until Tuesday due to the holiday!!! I'm livid!

 

[CSgecko]

Im reely srry that things have been goin bad for u. It pisses me off 2 wen someone preety much ignores you even tho u wer ther first im so srry and i wish you the best.:cry:

 

[CSgecko]

Im reely srry that things have been goin bad for u. It pisses me off 2 wen someone preety much ignores you even tho u wer ther first im so srry and i wish you the best.:cry:

 

[goReptiles]

So I finally heard from the vet today around 2pm. he had JUST finished the autopsy... said he couldn't see much wrong- perfect skin color, perfect fatty tissues, etc... just a little fluid in the lungs and a little congestion. said that one organ was enlarged, but he didn't know if that was a trait of the species like in rabbits a certain organ is enlarged (he said it, but i forget). he was sending off tissue samples on tuesday, since they're closed monday. when we got off the phone i remembered that the vet that did the other autopsy earlier this year, also, said that there was an enlarged organ. i'm calling on tuesday to see if he noted which organ it was so that when i pick up the body, i can tell him. they either had the same thing, or it IS a trait of the species... who knows... maybe time till tell... i'm anxiously waiting to hear the results, and they're not even sent off yet... err...

i just neet to call around now, and find who in town will do a cremation on a chinchilla... i meant to call the humane society today, but not enough time since i woke up late and moved furniture and all in my room... (reptiles and small/furry things are moving out of my room)