Chinchilla died last night :(

eeyore2502

My little baby Stitch was dead last night when I checked on him before I went to bed.

Can't believe he was only 2.5 years old, hadn't noticed anything different with him, been his usual self the last few days, drinking, eating and jumping about.

A little puzzled

lucycat

Really sorry to hear about your loss OP, hope you are holding up xxxx

Graces7

So sorry, harder when so unexpected.

eeyore2502

Thanks guys, had a few tears last night and dreading telling the kids after school today

Just talking about it to my hubby and he just raised a valid point, since we got him he hasn't grown any bigger makes me wonder was he only a baby when we got him as he had some marks on his ears from living with another chinchilla maybe he was someone elses unwanted pet.

Hubby has said no more animals having a bit of a bad year, we had to get our 16 year old springer put down in April this year and then stitch last night.

anniehoo

So sorry to hear that eeyore,its the worst feeling ever losing them.

UCD carry out free post mortems if its something you'd consider.Not pleasant to think about i know but may give you an answer as to what happened.Results will go back to your vet then.PM me if you need more info

eeyore2502

Thank you, wouldn't mind knowing what happened but at the same time don't really want to think of my little stitch being taken apart

Cherry Blossom

Am I right in thinking u got this fella from a pet shop? Generally chinchillas dont stop growing until they are over a year old and its not unreasonable to expect them to live well over 10 years, pet shop chillas tend to be massively inbred. This and incorrect diet seem to be the 2 main causes of premature death in chillas, but you can't expect them to do well either if kept on their own.

Graces7

OP; my heart is with you for the children.

Agree that a pm might settle you; and the little one cannot feel it now.

eeyore2502

Yes we did get him from a petshop but other then him and his cage mate there wasn't any others in the petshop and it was also the first time I had seen them in this shop.

I am starting to believe that he was possibly older then we where led to believe.

And yes we did have him by himself but he was out and handled quite a bit.

chris139ryan

sorry to hear about your loss