[missdaisy]

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[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']So really I wanted to know what people thoughts were on my situation. I got two 2month old chins for Christmas just gone, after having them for a week I noticed one looked a bit, well, worn/scruffy and thin. I took them to their free health check and the vet informed me that his lower jaw felt deformed basically. I took him in the next day for them to look further and it turned out he had a tooth that had grown into his cheek and a laceration on his tongue. They filed the tooth down and asked me to go back in three days (Friday this week) he was eating bits so I thought he was on the road to recovery but this morning he was very limp and looked very unwell so I took him back to the vet, the vet said that basically it’s all or nothing and that we could try to get him to turn a corner but we could end up back at the vets every couple of months or we could put him to sleep. I choose to have him put to sleep it has broken my heart and I keep thinking what if I had tried but on the other hand with him being so young and already having a severe tooth problem would I be causing him stress and pain just to keep him alive, if he was in the wild he would be dead by now... just absolutely gutted[/FONT]

 

[jesscarroll16]

I'm so sorry! That is devastating! Did you get him from a breeder or a pet store? But, I know that you made the right decision, even if it was hard.

 

[missdaisy]

Got him from a big chain pet store that you would think would do a proper cheek on their exotic pets, guess not. The manager blamed it on us saying if we had bought him in sooner and they could have taken his teeth out. Now I'm a bit green when it comes to chinchillas but would that not have been disastrous and cruel? After looking back on yesterday's events I also remeber the vet telling me that his teeth or roots had grown through his lower jaw.

 

[jesscarroll16]

It would have been horrible to rip out his teeth! They are chewers, and this sounds a lot like malocclusion. you did what was best and I hope you remember that. Hopefully, you can someday get another one someday and love him just the same.

 

[tinypixiexoxo]

that is terribly sad. big chain pet stores do not care for the rodents/birds/reptiles they sell.

 

[Bina]

I've had dozens of chillas over the years and malocclusion is very hard to deal with. My oldest chilla is 17 years old and no dental issues ever, where as we had a 7 year old with terrible troubles who eventually had to be put to sleep.
Chillas, in general, don't like stress and some of them don't do well with alot of dental work.
They love chewing apple branches, but their molars can still develop problems over the years.
You really were kind and did the right thing with vet visits, most people don't even do that.
Best wishes for the future.