A chinchilla pyometra question (not rabbits)

[CalicoPrairie]

Has anyone had any experience with pyometra in chinchillas? I am not sure if this is what I'm dealing with, just to preface.

I have a chin that had some discharge last weekend that looked like blood, and I have since gotten her into the vet for a checkup, and mentioned the "blood". By the time I had gotten her to the vet, the red discharge had cleared up and she passed her exam just fine, the vet didn't see anything wrong with her. She is acting normally, eating and drinking just fine, no more discharge, save for a couple of tiny dried dots of red discharge this morning, nothing crazy.

I've read that their urine can turn dark like that due to lowered water intake, so when the red discharge/urine? disappeared, I figured it was that since her water dispenser was lower than usual on the side of her cage, and as I mentioned before, it corrected itself. However, someone on another board mentioned that this is an emergency and that I shouldn't blow it off. I get that, but in researching pyo, this girl has none of the accompanying symptoms that comes with pyo, and I'm reluctant to take another hour drive to find out that she is fine and nothing is wrong. If I did take her to the vet and they did find pyo, there isn't a cure for it, except perhaps a hysterectomy, which doesn't give 100% chance of recovery.

Does anyone know anything about this? Suggestions?

 

[akane]

It seems fairly uncommon in chinchillas, especially if they aren't breeding. Chinchillas do bad on antibiotics and worse with surgery. There is a high risk of complications leading to death. If she's acting normal and the discharge is gone I would just keep checking her. If she keeps having discharge even if it comes and goes or she starts acting off it might be best to try antibiotics at that point. They absolutely need a probiotic and lots of good hay to keep their digestive tract healthy while on antibiotics. Digestive problems are very common with antibiotics and they easily stop eating or drinking enough.

 

[CalicoPrairie]

It seems fairly uncommon in chinchillas, especially if they aren't breeding. Chinchillas do bad on antibiotics and worse with surgery. There is a high risk of complications leading to death. If she's acting normal and the discharge is gone I would just keep checking her. If she keeps having discharge even if it comes and goes or she starts acting off it might be best to try antibiotics at that point. They absolutely need a probiotic and lots of good hay to keep their digestive tract healthy while on antibiotics. Digestive problems are very common with antibiotics and they easily stop eating or drinking enough.

Ok yeah, this is my gut feeling as well how to go about it, but I had someone tell me that I need to give this attention. I do feel like I have been and am, but I wasn't sure whether my gut feeling on it was reasonable or not.

I have a probiotic on order for my chins to give them just for good measure, and they get plenty of timothy hay (all they can eat and waste, ha ha) every day. I'll keep an eye on her daily and get her back to the vet if anything out of the ordinary crops up.

Thanks Akane!