mercredi 18 octobre 2017

Chinchilla coughing/sneezing or hiccupping or gagging?

Hi everyone,

So I'm just looking for a bit of advice on my 5 year old male chinchilla. For the past 2 days he's been occassionally having what I thought were "coughing fits" that last for about 4/5s, it's kind of hard to tell what the sounds are but he sort of repeatedly makes little squeaks/sneezing sounds. His whole body goes kind of stiff and straight like he's coughing, or choking, or gagging - it's hard to tell. It happens maybe once or twice an hour. He isn't drooling and his eyes/nose are clean. He's not wheezing or struggling to breathe other than when he has the little coughing spasms. Other than that he seems fine, he's eating and drinking, I think he's pooping (though he has a cagemate so hard to tell exactly). He seems to be maybe a little less energetic than normal but he's pretty much his usual self. I looked online and the closest example of the sound I found is this one (about 10s in.. Poor little chinchilla): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhRn...ature=youtu.be

I took him to the vet today and he checked his lungs and head, and thought his breathing sounded fine. He also thought he seemed healthy and energetic and his weight was about normal though it's been a while since he was weighed. The only thing was that he was extremely stressed out (he doesn't really like being handled, he tolerates me for a little while, so let alone by strangers) so the vet didn't want to stress him out any more by trying to take his temperature etc. So his advice was that he thought maybe he just had an irritated throat, and if it was just a mild respiratory infection, then he wouldn't want to use antibiotics unnecessarily. His advice was to see how he is over next couple days and see if he gets over it, and if he gets any worse to phone and they'll prescribe antibiotics.

I'm keeping an eye on him and he's still eating/drinking. And if he gets any worse I'll contact the vet immediately. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice & second opinions. I'm also now wondering is there a chance it could be a dental issue? He's not drooling or anything but I have noticed a couple times he does the coughing thing when he's eating (but maybe that's because his throat is sore). I've also noticed he does seem to be being more careful/delicate when chewing his wood toys. Should I call the vet & take him back for an x-ray?

If it is a mild respiratory infection, does it warrant antibiotics anyway or is it ok to see if he gets over it on his own?

Any thoughts much appreciated!


Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire