Other rodents Flashcards
What must chinchillas have?
Dust baths
Common problems in chinchillas (9)
- ‘slobbers’ (malocclusion)
- gastric dilation/GDV/colic
- fur slip
- fur ring
- listeriosis
- giardia
- sudden death of fat chinchillas
- barbering
- seizures
‘Slobbers’/malocclusion in chinchillas
Weight loss, wet chin/forelimbs
Irregularities palpable along dental arcades
Normal that the basal plates change with age with pocket ends, abnormal if these become irregular and elongated
Examination needs to be conscious then under GA for full assessment (+/- radiography)
treatment often unsatisfactory, long term support, antibiotics/analgesics, vitamin C, calcium/D3 supplementation
Gastric dilation/GDV/colic in chinchillas
Often follows dietary change, but may be due to parasites, FBs, stress etc.
In guinea pigs it may be due to the weight of cystic ovaries
An emergency - more guarded prognosis than in rabbits
Fur slip in chinchillas
fur loss through careless handling
Fur ring in chinchillas
ring of fur caught around penis
need to extrude penis fully from prepuce to remove
if caught early it will recover
Listeriosis in chinchillas
Haemorrhagic enteritis, rectal prolapse, death
Zoonotic
Wild rodent contamination of food
Fluid replacement therapy, gut support, antibiotics
Giardia in chinchillas
Important if owner immunosuppressed
Diarrhoea is the main clinical sign
May get rectal prolapse
Treat same as in dogs
Sudden death of fat, ‘healthy’ chinchillas
Liver disease, hepatic lipidosis
High fat diet
Talk about diet if obese on clinical exam
Barbering in chinchillas
Lack of fibre in diet
Seizures in chinchillas
Often young animals
Calcium deficient diet
Common problems in degus (5)
- Diabetes mellitus
- Tail slip
- Dental disease
- Wounds
- Pododermatitis
Diabetes mellitus in degus
Genetic predisposition
Too much sugar in diet
Treat with dietary correction
Tail slip in degus
Poor handling or injury
Need treating fairly quickly, should be self limiting in terms of haemorrhage etc.
Dental disease in degus
If any resp disease keep this in mind
Predisposition for upper molars to grow up into nasal passages
Radiograph
Not much you can do about it
Wounds in degus
Fairly common
Fights, bite each other
BUT must still be kept in a colony
May need pain relief and/or topical treatment
Try not to split colony up
Pododermatitis in degus
More common than in guinea pigs
Inappropriate husbandry
Should not be kept in mesh cages
Correct husbandry, pain relief, antibiotics
Difference between myomorphs and other rodents
Molars are not continuously growing in myomorphs, just the incisors
Common problems seen in all myomorphs
- overgrown incisors (can also get rotten teeth if diet too sugary)
- lymphocytic choriomeningitis (not common in pets, but potentially zoonotic)
Common problems in hamsters (8)
- impacted pouches
- everted pouches
- skin conditions
- proliferative ileitis (‘wet tail’)
- pyometra
- ‘hibernation’
- hamster polyomavirus
- urolithiasis
Impacted pouches in hamsters
Often with inappropriate bedding materials
Often with inappropriate food items
May ferment and become infected
Treat by everting them, flush and clean, and put them back in
If infected give antibiotics/anti-fungals as needed
Everted pouches
Trauma, infection, tumours
Emergency as it may bite it off if it is hanging out, may lead to hole into cheek or haemorrhage
Can be removed, tie off and cauterise, put stump back in
Warn owners it cant store food
Skin conditions in hamsters
Idiopathic alopecia
- glandular areas on flanks
- glands are overproducing rather than an actual disease
Asymmetric flank alopecia
- mites, ivermectin spot on or SA advocate
- allergy, bedding related or disinfectant
Symmetric flank alopecia
- ovarian disease, spay
- hyperadrenocortical disease, supralorin implant
Proliferative ileitis (‘wet tail’) in hamsters
post weaning stress induced scour
poor prognosis
needs intense antibiotics - doxycycline
food support and subcut fluids, keep warm
