Aisha and Eloise came to me on June 22nd 2003 as part of a major rescue operation involving over 70 chins (all of which now have loving new homes all over the UK).

As with many rescues, they were a bit of an unknown quantity (we don't even know their ages for sure, but they're unlikely to be older than five). When I finally picked them up, I discovered that Aisha had a cataract (though she clearly copes well with it). I was also warned that either of them could be pregnant, and that Aisha almost certainly was, as they had, prior to re-homing, shared a cage with a male.  On closer inspection, Aisha did indeed have a very big, firm belly, as did Eloise, only to a lesser extent.

They both settled in very quickly, and are indeed lovely animals.  Eloise is a little fur-chewed in places, but as I see no signs of either of them being a "fur-chewer", I assume the male was the culprit, and that her fur will now improve.

Two weeks on, and after much observation (and a gentle feel of tums), I began to doubt the presence of babies at all.  Despite being so very round, I could not feel any movement or tiny limbs inside Aisha.  I decided to weigh them again, and they had both lost a little weight. I found this very puzzling indeed - I knew that females can lose a little weight when birth is imminent, but surely I would be able to feel something at that stage?

I asked around, and found that several of the other "rescuers" had observed the same thing with their newly-adopted chins.  Could it have been caused by their previous diet?  But then, two weeks on, would we not have seen some improvement, now that they were all on a possibly much-improved diet?  "Bloat", a condition which occasionally arises in chins, was discussed, but none of the other symptoms of bloat were apparent. It puzzled me for days until, one night, when discussing it with a fellow re-homer, I recalled being told some time before that these chins were allowed to run freely in the previous owner's garden from time to time.  Could it have been caused by something they'd eaten in the garden?  Further investigation uncovered the fact that the owner's dogs and cats ALSO exercised in the same garden, and this led to the suspicion of worms!

A visit to the vet confirmed that yes, worms were almost certainly the cause of the bloaty tums, and all the other re-homers who visited their vets were told the same!  True, chins only very rarely suffer from worms, but only because in normal circumstances they are not EXPOSED to them!  A simple five-day course of treatment was prescribed, and all re-homers were advised to treat every chin from this particular rescue operation.  Hopefully, the mystery has now been solved in time to prevent any serious illness.

2 Important Lessons:

1)   When you take on a rescue chin, you may be taking on more than you bargained for!  They can surprise you with hitherto undiscovered ailments, or even babies!  The less you know about their past, the less well-equipped you may be to deal with contingencies. Before taking on a rescue, find out everything you can about their previous history.

2)   Never take a chance if you observe strange symptoms.  Seek advice as soon as you suspect a problem.  Even though my new girls seemed fine in every other respect, the worms could have become a very serious problem, even fatal, if untreated for very long, and chins can go downhill very suddenly indeed.  Had I not weighed, or felt their tums on a regular basis, I may have gone on to assume they were pregnant, with disastrous health implications for these lovely girls.

Of course, I still cannot rule out early pregnancy, and will have to count out 111 days from the day they were separated from the male, in order to completely rule out the possibility!

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(Last Modified 29/11/2006 )