Chinchilla diseases: symptoms and treatment

There is no living creature in the world that is not susceptible to any disease. Chinchillas are no exception here. In most cases, chinchilla diseases are not contagious, since these animals live in isolation. But there are also diseases that even a chinchilla living in an apartment, not roaming, can become infected with. The main signs of disease in an animal are changes in behavior. A sick animal tries to hide from prying eyes, becomes lethargic, and refuses to eat.

Most of the diseases in chinchillas are associated with improper feeding and maintenance. Chinchillas also have hereditary diseases and diseases that arise due to stress.

On a note! Chinchillas are quite nervous animals.

Owners need to know chinchilla diseases and their symptoms in order to be able to navigate in time and provide first aid to the animals.

Chinchilla has diarrhea

The medical name "enteritis" is one of the diseases caused by poor diet. Chinchillas often “ask” for something tasty from fresh fruits or vegetables.But if you give animals a treat, stomach upset will inevitably occur.

Symptoms of the disease will be:

softening of droppings;
fur stained with feces;
the appearance of an odor from feces.

Every chinchilla owner has encountered this disease. Therefore, the “what to do if a chinchilla has diarrhea” technique has long been worked out. First of all, the animal is put on a strict diet of hay and water. In this case, no grain or other food is given.

Since severe dehydration occurs with diarrhea, it is necessary to ensure that the chinchilla drinks. If the animal is very ill, you will have to force-feed it from a syringe. Instead of water, you can give a decoction of oak bark. It is not recommended to use pharmaceutical drugs without the supervision of a veterinarian due to the animal’s weight being too low.

If the veterinarian prescribed antibiotics, suspecting an infectious disease: salmonellosis, then after a course of treatment the chinchilla needs to restore the gastrointestinal flora. To do this, you will have to use the droppings of a healthy chinchilla, fill it with water, and, after infusing for 30-60 minutes, “give” the infusion to the sick animal. Bacteria released from the gastrointestinal tract along with droppings will quickly restore the intestinal flora of a sick chinchilla.

Constipation

The disease is the opposite of diarrhea and often occurs in chinchillas due to eating dry food with a lack of water. Because of this, it is necessary to ensure that water is always freely available to animals.

Since a chinchilla cannot singe, over time the animal’s belly swells. Through the abdominal wall you can feel the intestines with hard feces. When constipation occurs, pain occurs, and the animal begins to take care, becoming lethargic and inactive. Chinchillas refuse food.

In this case, you can no longer manage with a simple diet. What to do if your chinchilla is constipated:

several times a day, forcefully feed the animal 1-2 ml of liquid petroleum jelly;
Vaseline oil enemas;
make the animal move.

Vaseline oil is not absorbed by living organisms, passing through the entire intestine and covering the walls of the gastrointestinal tract with oil. This oil will not cause any harm. Movement improves gastrointestinal motility.

In advanced cases, chinchillas are given injections of Cerucal 0.3 ml twice a day.

On a note! It is very rare, but there are cases of constipation due to swallowed wool.

Typically, chinchillas do not swallow fur because they do not lick themselves like cats. But if the animals are poorly maintained, dead wool can get into the feed and be eaten. The second option for fur getting into the chinchilla’s gastrointestinal tract is a fight with another animal. If the intestines are really blocked by a hairball, you can use Malt paste. But to do this, you must first make sure that the disease arose due to fur and there are no other reasons.

Flatulence

This disease is a direct consequence of feeding succulent food to chinchillas by loving owners. Especially feeds with a high sugar content. In the animal's intestines, these feeds begin to ferment, releasing gas. Chinchillas are not adapted to excreting gases through the anus, which is why flatulence or bloating develops. Symptoms of this disease in chinchillas:

firm round belly;
pain when touching the abdomen;
lethargy, the animal prefers to lie down;
refusal of food;
hard breath.

The latter may be a sign of another disease. You cannot cure bloating on your own. Treatment should begin as quickly as possible and only under the guidance of a veterinarian.

Poisoning

The disease occurs when feeding spoiled food. Symptoms of poisoning in chinchillas are very similar to signs of a foreign body getting stuck in the throat.

Poisoning:

urge to vomit;
lethargy;
possible bloating or diarrhea;
vomit;
Foam and mucus flow from the animal’s mouth and nose.

When a piece of wood or other object that the animal used to entertain itself gets stuck in a chinchilla’s throat, the symptoms are very similar:

gagging or vomiting;
salivation;
sneezing;
mucus and foam from the mouth and nose.

It is very difficult to independently determine the cause of a chinchilla’s disease, so if such symptoms appear, the animal must be taken to a veterinarian as quickly as possible.

Rectal prolapse

The disease is often a consequence of constipation and the animal’s attempts to cough or very intense diarrhea. This picture looks creepy: 1-2 cm of bloody rectum spills out from the chinchilla’s anus. If measures are not taken immediately, the intestine dries out in the air and the disease ends in tissue necrosis.

The intestine must be immediately lubricated with antibiotic ointment to prevent drying out and infection by pathogenic microorganisms. After which the animal is taken to the veterinary clinic. It is better if the chinchilla’s intestine is corrected by an experienced doctor.

Uterine prolapse

Most often occurs after whelping. You cannot do anything on your own with this disease. The female is taken to the veterinary clinic, constantly moisturizing the prolapsed uterus with chlorhexidine, saline solution, furatsilin solution or another disinfectant, but not scalding liquid.

Important! Hydrogen peroxide should not be used.

Mastitis

If there are microcracks on the nipples of a whelping chinchilla, staphylococcal bacteria, the causative agents of mastitis, can penetrate through them. Mastitis usually occurs after whelping, although the disease can develop without whelping. Symptoms of mastitis:

redness of the breast;
elevated temperature;
pain while feeding babies.

The disease is treated with frequent massages of the mammary gland, since it is unlikely that it will be possible to squeeze antibiotic ointment into the nipple. Size too small. If possible, you can try to milk the diseased gland.

Important! You cannot take away the cubs from a female, the situation will only get worse.

General injections of antibiotics of the penicillin group can help, but the antibiotic will get to the puppies with the mother's milk. Therefore, here every animal owner makes his own choice.

Hair ring

A specific disease of males. A ring of fur sometimes forms on the penis, squeezing the penis. It is not difficult to determine the presence of such a ring:

lethargy;
refusal of food;
lack of urination;
upon examination, the penis is visible sticking out;
the tip of the penis turned blue.

The ring must be removed as soon as possible. If the fur is “fresh”, the penis is lubricated with Vaseline or oil and the ring is carefully removed. If the fur has already dried to the penis, you will have to carefully cut the ring with nail scissors.

Hooks on teeth

These formations usually occur due to a malocclusion, when the teeth meet at the wrong angle. The disease is usually genetic.

Important! Chinchillas with malocclusion should not be allowed to be bred.

The second case of the occurrence of hooks is a lack of solid food in animals. Chinchillas' teeth grow constantly.This is a common feature of all actively gnawing animals. If the animal does not have the opportunity to grind down its incisors, the teeth grow and begin to injure the tongue.

If there is not enough solid food to chew or due to an incorrect bite, the back teeth can also grind down incorrectly, forming sharp edges that hurt the animal’s cheeks and palate.

Signs of hooks on a chinchilla's teeth:

refusal of food;
exhaustion of the animal in the absence of symptoms of other diseases;
salivation.

A chinchilla breeder will not be able to cope with this problem on his own, since the hooks on the teeth must be removed surgically.

Stomatitis

The disease is a consequence of a weakened immune system and the development of pathogenic microorganisms against this background. Symptoms of the disease:

wet fur near the animal’s mouth due to increased salivation;
unpleasant odor from the mouth;
refusal of food.

The disease is treated by rinsing the mouth with antibacterial drugs several times a day.

Conjunctivitis

Poor maintenance can cause animals' eyes to become clogged with dust or irritated by mold spores. Conjunctivitis can be either mechanical or infectious. With mechanical damage, a speck of dust gets into the eye and the animal’s tears begin to flow.

Interesting! Tears are a protective mechanism against mechanical irritants of the eyes.

What to do if your chinchilla's eyes are watery:

check for debris under the eyelids;
rinse eyes with saline solution;
apply antibiotic drops.

If there are no specks, but your eyes continue to water, this is most likely the beginning of an infectious disease. In this case, it is better to go to the veterinarian to find out the reasons, while the inflammation is still weak and the eye has not festered.

A more severe form of conjunctivitis is purulent.

Very often this is a sign of a general infectious disease resulting from hypothermia and weakened immunity. Local diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms include inflammation of the lacrimal canal. This disease is usually closely related to the malposition of molars. If an animal constantly develops hooks on its back teeth, you must be prepared that sooner or later the tear duct will also be blocked.

On a note! When the tear duct becomes inflamed, not only the eye festers; purulent discharge also appears from the animal’s nose.

What to do if a chinchilla’s eye festers:

Before examining the veterinarian, carefully wipe the animal’s eyes with a decoction of calendula, chamomile or other suitable infusion;
go to the veterinary clinic to determine the cause of the disease;
follow your doctor's recommendations.

Self-medication here can only do harm, since in case of a general illness it is not the symptoms that need to be treated, but the cause. And if the tear duct is clogged, it will be difficult for the chinchilla breeder to clear it due to the small size of the animal. In addition, tooth extraction may be required.

Ear infection

This disease is also a consequence of unsanitary conditions. If it is heavily soiled, the outer ear may become inflamed. This worries the animal. The chinchilla tilts its head with its affected ear down, shakes its head, and tries to scratch its ear. In advanced cases, the disease develops into purulent inflammation and otitis media. In this case, you cannot do without antibiotics.

How to treat a runny nose in a chinchilla

If we exclude the above cases of mucus from the nose, a runny nose in a chinchilla may occur as a result of hypothermia. In this case, the body’s defense systems weaken and the animal gets sick with what is commonly called a cold.In fact, this is the activation of certain pathogenic microorganisms when favorable conditions occur.

Symptoms of the disease will be:

sneezing;
body temperature is above 38°C, while the normal physiological temperature in chinchillas is 36.1-37.8°C;
runny nose;
general depression of the animal.

Often the very first sign of the disease is sneezing. But sneezing can be a simple reaction to dust or some irritating odor. If the animal sneezed a couple of times and stopped there, you don’t have to worry.

But if the animal sneezes a lot, it is necessary to take action. What to do if your chinchilla sneezes:

to measure the temperature;
clean the cage thoroughly;
If the animal's temperature is elevated, contact your veterinarian to prescribe a course of treatment.

Given the general fragility of these animals, the first thing to do if your chinchilla gets sick is to contact a veterinarian. Provided that you can find a specialist in these rodents. Otherwise you will have to act at your own peril and risk.

A runny nose can also be caused by an allergic reaction to any irritant. Allergens are difficult to identify even in humans, so in the case of a chinchilla, the easiest way is to completely change the bedding and food and thoroughly wash the cage. But most often the problem is mold fungi found in low-quality hay.

Seizures in a chinchilla, what to do

A fairly common disease in chinchillas, with various causes. Due to the fact that seizures can occur for various reasons, their treatment and prevention are also carried out using different methods.

Signs of seizures:

sometimes seizures begin suddenly, but there are cases when the animal shows increased activity before the attack;
directly during an attack, the chinchilla falls to the floor, shakes, and its head may throw back.

Seizures can hardly be confused with any other disease.

Causes of seizures and ways to stop them:

hypovitaminosis: lack of B vitamins. Introduce a small piece of very dry dates or raisins into the diet (1-2 berries per day);
hypocalcemia. Take a course of calcium gluconate and add yogurt to your diet;
hypoglycemia. Increase the calorie content of feed or start feeding young animals;
stress. Eliminate irritating factors and administer sedatives;
epilepsy. The use of special medications prescribed by a doctor;
spinal injury. It cannot be eliminated, it can only be prevented. If you don't drag the animal by the tail too harshly.

When caught by the tail, you can damage the animal's spine and thus provoke seizures.

First aid for seizures:

warm up and calm the animal;
inspect the chinchilla for any external damage;
give an injection of dexamethasone in a dose of 0.1 ml;
give the chinchilla 1 pc. raisins or a piece of date when the animal comes to its senses;
take the animal to a veterinary hospital for examination.

But the measures only help if the chinchilla’s disease is not congenital and the spine is not damaged.

Chinchilla has fleas, what to do

One of the advantages of chinchillas over other pets is that these rodents do not have ectoparasites. Chinchilla fur is so thick that fleas or ticks cannot get close to the animal's body. The animal stops attempts of insects to crawl onto the fur with sand baths.

Interesting! A chinchilla has 60-70 hairs from each hair follicle.

If a chinchilla itches, then the reason is not fleas, but pododermatitis or allergies. The fleas jumping around the apartment did not come from an animal, but from the entrance, basement or through a window. It is necessary to disinfest the apartment, and ideally also the entrance, basements and neighboring apartments.

Even if the chinchilla was taken from very poor conditions and the animal lost a significant part of its fur, so that fleas were able to settle on the rodent, it’s okay. It is enough to treat the chinchilla with the same drugs that are used to kill fleas on other pets.

Pododermatitis

When the skin on the soles of the paws is damaged, pathogenic bacteria can enter the wounds and cause inflammation. Signs of pododermatitis:

severe itching;
the animal bites its paws;
anxiety;
possible refusal of food;
in the later stages, ulcers, calluses and corns appear.

Pododermatitis is relatively easy to treat, but treatment must be approached carefully. The wounds are washed with chlorhexidine 3-4 times a day and lubricated with antibiotic ointment.

Important! The animal must not be allowed to itch.

Why does a chinchilla shed, what to do?

And again a myth. Normally, chinchillas do not shed. But they can lose hair as a result of:

stress;
hypovitaminosis;
allergies;
lack of nutrients when feeding young animals;
fungal diseases.

If it suddenly seems that your pet chinchilla is shedding, the animal should be urgently taken to a veterinary hospital for a diagnosis. Fungal diseases are dangerous because they affect people.

Since all skin diseases are very similar in appearance, only a veterinarian can tell you specifically what to do if a chinchilla’s hair falls out.In this case, you should not engage in self-diagnosis and treatment.

To prevent fungal diseases, you can add 1 tsp to bathing sand. Fungistopa. The drug is harmless to chinchillas, but suppresses the development of fungi.

Salmonellosis

An infectious and dangerous form of enteritis even for humans. Infection occurs through food and water contaminated with feces of sick animals. The main symptom of this disease is diarrhea. It usually occurs in two forms: acute and chronic.

The development of the acute form occurs very quickly, with profuse diarrhea. As a result of exhaustion and dehydration, the animal dies. Young animals can die even without visible signs of illness.

In the chronic form, diarrhea is replaced by normal feces. But the animal gradually becomes exhausted and dies. In both forms, the disease very rarely ends in recovery, so prevention is much more important.

Suspicious animals are separated from the main herd in quarantine. Apparently healthy chinchillas are tested for resistance. But for a pet, the chance of becoming infected with salmonellosis is quite small. This danger awaits animals on chinchilla farms.

Rabies

Many people have heard that the main carriers of such a dangerous disease as rabies are wild foxes and squirrels. Accordingly, people have a natural question: “Do chinchillas have rabies?” Maybe they should get annual vaccinations?

Theoretically, all mammals are susceptible to rabies. In practice, the virus is transmitted strictly from saliva into the blood of the next victim. Rabies is not carried on shoes, clothing or paws. They cannot be contracted through the urine or feces of a sick animal. A bite is required.

Chinchillas don’t go for walks; they simply have nowhere to meet a rabid animal. Even if a chinchilla manages to find problems for itself, the size of this animal is similar to that of a rat. And the rat is a natural food for the main predators that carry the virus. In other words, the chinchilla will not survive the encounter with a rabid animal in any case and will die before it gets sick.

Therefore, we can say with confidence that chinchillas do not get rabies. Unless you infect them on purpose.

Conclusion

These are almost all the main diseases that a chinchilla owner may encounter. In addition to possible fractures and electric shocks after chewing wires. If possible, it is better not to treat chinchillas yourself, but to entrust the animal to specialists.

What do chinchillas get sick with?