Hi,

I'm in a nasty situation with my chinchillas at the moment. I currently have a breeding pair and their baby boy, who is now 10 weeks. The mother has been diagnosed with very serious tooth problems, which the vet says were probably caused by malnutrition when she was younger, and we have only had her about a year, so we have no way of knowing whether we could have prevented it. It's got to the point now where the specialist recommends not drawing it out any longer for her, as she's losing weight rapidly and is in obvious discomfort, so that decision has already been made. However, our male is very very attached to her, as is (obviously) the baby. Is there any way of making things like this easier for them?

Thank you,

Becca

Whilst animals do pine, they dont feel grief in the same way as people do. You need to make sure both are eating and drinking as normal, and keepan eye on their general behaviour. I dont know a huge amount about chins, so dont know if its ok to keep two males together.

I do know its very irresponsible to breed from an animal whos history you dont know. Her dental problems may have been caused by malnutrition, but they may have also been caused by poor breeding. If you dont know an animals genetic history, is should never be used in any responisble breeding programme.

Is it also not possible to just have the teeth removed? I know many rabbits who have had this done, and their quality of life is just fine.

I am sorry to hear that your chin has the developed malocclusion, sadly it is rife in the chin world . I am taking it that she has had X Rays taken in the past and her teeth burred

There are so many discussions about whether it is down to genetic or environmental factors. Personally I believe both have a part to play but it is wise not to breed from any chins that you do not know at least a 2/3 genetic history of as there can be genetic faults there that you are not aware of

It would be sensible not to breed from the dad or any offspring as you do not know if they may develop teeth problems

As far as the chins left are concerned I do believe they feel grief and a sense of loss of their partner , but little one can now stay with dad and they should be able to live together happily

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Chinchilla rescue and rehoming http://www.chinsrus.co.uk

firstly, that baby should have already been removed from the parents. And teeth problems are caused by many reasons and from all the stories i've heard, it's usually inherrited from the parents.
Has your vet prescribed any pain relief?
Is your chin still eating? It might be worth crushing the food down and mixing with water so that it forms a sort of paste, then syringe feed it.

Has you vet done any xrays?

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I've had x-rays done on both parents, and the dad is fine. We only still have the baby because we learned of mum's malocclusion, otherwise he would have been sold. We're not planning to breed from dad again, especially as that would involve introducing another female which could cause aggression between the two males. When we first adopted the mother, we were given a lot of information which has since turned out to be false, re. history, breeding and other things, so if the situation had been different we wouldn't have bred from her. The vet hasn't prescribed any pain relief, as he said that if she showed no signs of improvement after the dental work he did, we would be just putting off the inevitable. I will be keeping a very close eye on the baby and getting regular checks to make sure the same doesn't happen to him. Beside that, is there anything else I can do to make their lives easier? Will they adjust to being without her, or will they need another companion? My only previous experience of this is when the dad's brother died, before we got our female. He was an absolute nightmare, as he had never been alone before. I assume it will be easier for our two as they're not alone, but I'm very worried.

Thank you,

Becca

If your chin had dental work, your vets should have prescribed pain relief afterwards.

As long as your chin is eating, everything should be ok

What i meant by my comment about the baby, is that he should not still be living in the same cage as the parents at 10 weeks of age

There are a couple of chin forums that have really knowledgeable people. And a few people on there have experience with chins suffering from teeth problems.

ChinsRus - Chinchilla rescue and forum
Chinchillas Unlimited (Powered by Invision Power Board)

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She's actually still losing weight, and from the x-rays there's nothing more that can be done. The chinchilla specialist I spoke to said that while some people advise removing the babies at 8 weeks, it's actually better to leave them with the parents until 14 weeks, as long as the males don't show any sexual behaviour, as removing them too early can mean failure to develop social skills. I was going to err on the side of caution and remove him at 8 weeks, but as the situation with the malocclusion has developed, we knew it was only a matter of weeks until euthanasia was the only real option, so that's why he's still living with his parents.

To be honest if she has had a dental and not been prescribed any pain relief I would be concerned about your vets experience of chins and teeth problems.

Is she eating alone ? or are you syringe feeding? Is she happy in herself or is she showing signs of pain and lethargy ? In your position I would be chatting to my vet about how far the root elongation has progressed and her quality of life

In my opinion if she has no quality of life and is suffering ( as it sounds as though she is by your post) then sadly I think you need to make the decision to allow her to go with dignity. In my opinion it's all about quality of life and knowing when to treat and when to stop

The 2 boys should be fine together as long as there are no females in the same room.

In all honesty I have never heard such a load of old rubbish, most breeders remove kits at 8 weeks and they develop into healthy happy chins. I have also removed lots of kits ( I dont breed , these are kits that have been born to females that have arrived at our rescue already pregnant) at 8 weeks and never had any problems at all

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Chinchilla rescue and rehoming http://www.chinsrus.co.uk

We had already made the decision re. putting her down - I thought I'd made that clear, without being too graphic about it. We have an appointment later this week for a last check-up and to do whatever needs to be done. The advice I was looking for was about what to do with our remaining two, as I'm clued-up enough to know that there's really nothing more than pain relief that can be done for our girl.

Thanks,

Becca

Hi I am so sorry to hear the very hard decision you have to make I feel for you.
As the dad has the son still with him it will not be so much of a shock to lose his partner so I would not worry too much on that side.
If your female is still losing weight despite treatment then you are doing the kindest thing for her.
Sadly I feel some people string it out for the wrong reasons and leave an animal too long before making the right decision and then regret it.
My thoughts are with you xx

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