Have you ever wondered whether chinchillas get hiccups, and whether they’re a sign of something more serious? There are some important health issues associated with hiccups that every chin owner should be aware of – read on, and I’ll explain more.
Chinchillas, like many other animals, get hiccups. Hiccups are repetitive, uncontrollable spasms of the diaphragm, which are caused by both physical, and emotional stresses. If they last longer than 48 hours, or are interfering with eating or breathing, then seek veterinary attention.
Chinchillas are very vocal creatures, making a wide variety of noises, one of which is hiccuping. If you’re anything like me, one hiccup is generally funny, twice is hilarious, but anything beyond that is just plain annoying (and often uncomfortable). Chinchillas are no different – just listen to the clip below where the male sounds very cross with having the hiccups – he makes an irritated ‘bark’ every time he hiccups.
What Are Hiccups?
Singultus is the medical term for hiccups, but what exactly are hiccups?
A hiccup is a sharp contraction (or spasm) of the diaphragm.
The diaphragm is a muscle that lies just below our lungs, separating the chest from the abdomen, helping us to breathe. Normally, when you breathe in (inhale), the diaphragm becomes taut, which increases the space in your chest and allows the lungs to take air in; this then relaxes and becomes dome-shaped when you breathe out (exhale).
In general terms, when the diaphragm contracts, our lungs take in oxygen, and when the diaphragm relaxes, our lungs release carbon dioxide.
The movement of the diaphragm is directed by the brain, which sends signals to the phrenic nerve to control the diaphragm.
With hiccups, the diaphragm contracts rapidly, causing air to rush into your lungs. This rush of air causes the larynx and vocal cords to close suddenly, making the distinctive ‘hic’ sound.
Hiccups generally start, and end suddenly, with no way to anticipate them. However, there’s usually a slight tightening of the chest or throat just prior to each spasm, and the subsequent hiccup sound.
What Causes Hiccups?
We know the brain send the signals to the diaphragm to contract in order to cause hiccups, but why the brain sends the command to cause hiccups is still a mystery.
What we do know is that hiccups occur for a number of reasons – some are physical, and some are emotional.
Physical – basically, if something irritates the diaphragm, it can spasm. So eating or drinking too much/too quickly, swallowing too fast, swallowing too large a piece of food, talking whilst swallowing (so you inhale at the same time and take air into your stomach), eating food that is too hot or cold, or too spicy, or just eating certain foods, are all physical triggers that can cause the diaphragm to spasm.
Emotional – that all makes sense, but why do emotional triggers also make the diaphragm spasm? This is because the actual irritation happens in the nerves that connect the diaphragm to the brain, rather than in the diaphragm itself – none of the physical ‘irritants’ actually come into contact with the diaphragm, they just ‘trigger’ it.
So, any heightened emotion could trigger hiccups – we just don’t know exactly why they occur. Some common emotional causes are: stress, feeling nervous, excited, aroused, or even angry.
Some people (or animals) get hiccups more often than others, and are just more sensitive to either physical or emotional stimuli.
How Long Do Hiccups Last?
Hiccups are usually temporary, with each episode generally lasting only a few minutes. However, some people can have hiccups that go on for hours. Hiccups that last longer than a few minutes are generally due to injury or aggravation of the nerves, rather than the diaphragm.
A number of things can irritate these nerves, such as a foreign object (like a hair) touching the eardrum, a sore throat, goitre, neck cysts or tumours, or gastroesophageal (acid) reflux.
Some hiccups can last longer than 48 hours, and are then called persistent hiccups. Long term hiccups are uncomfortable, and can be detrimental to health as they affect sleeping and eating patterns. If left untreated, they can lead to sleeplessness and exhaustion, malnutrition, weight loss, and dehydration.
When Do Chinchillas Get Hiccups?
Chinchillas get hiccups for the same reasons we do – physical and emotional. So, chins can get hiccups after eating or drinking, after sex, when stressed, or when excited or scared.
Hiccups have also been linked to sudden changes in temperature, which is never ideal for chinchillas, so this should be avoided where possible.
Although amusing to observe in humans, chinchillas often look distressed or angry with hiccups, and will make noises to convey how they’re feeling as they hiccup. Listen to the two chins hiccuping below – one sounds (and looked) very sorry for herself, whilst the other one just looked confused and wanted reassurance from his cage-mates.
The main time you’ll hear hiccups is after a male chinchilla has had sex, whether that be with a female, his stuffy toy, or himself, and it generally sounds like the chinchilla below – extremely grumpy, with a noise like a bark afterwards.
So this brings us to the next question, how do I know if my chinchilla has hiccups?
How Do I Recognise Hiccups In A Chinchilla?
Hiccups can sometimes sound like alarm barks, but they are much further apart – here are two audio files back to back for you to hear the difference next to each other. The first one is the hiccup, and the second is the alarm bark.
Generally, hiccups will also be accompanied by the chinchilla looking like it’s taking a deep breath – their chest and sides will heave. This is much less pronounced with barking.
If you think it’s an alarm bark, then try to find out the source of their distress and remove it, if possible – it may be another chinchilla, something in the environment, or even you!
Can Hiccups Be Serious?
Hiccups can be serious, if they persist for longer than 48 hours. Persistent hiccups should be investigated as they can be signs of something more serious, such as central nervous system (CNS) disorders like meningitis or encephalitis, or metabolic disorders like diabetes or kidney failure.
The diaphragm can also become irritated due to pneumonia, chest or stomach surgery. Rarely, hiccups develop when a brain tumour or stroke interferes with the breathing centre in the brain [1]
If there is a neurological reason, such as Parkinson’s disease, then there will generally be other physical symptoms or signs present, in addition to the hiccups (such as headache, weakness, numbness, and loss of balance).
Some drugs, like alcohol, tobacco, steroids, barbiturates, tranquillisers, certain anaesthetics, and chemotherapy can also cause long-term hiccups.
How Do We Make Hiccups Stop?
Thankfully, most episodes of hiccups go away after just a few minutes. If they persist, there are a few anecdotally recommended treatments you could try, but unfortunately, most of these are closer to folklore than having been scientifically proven.
These include ice down the neck, hanging upside down, having someone scare you, drinking from the wrong side of the glass, patting your head whilst rubbing your tummy, etc.
Remedies that might actually work are breathing into a paper bag, or holding your breath – both increase the carbon dioxide in your lungs, and *may* cause the diaphragm to relax – no guarantees though.
As you can see, most of these, in addition to being ineffective, are completely unsuitable for use with chinchillas.
What does work however, is both rubbing the back of the neck, and gentle circular massage of the tummy. Whether this works by relaxing the vagus nerve, or by just calming the chinchilla, is up for debate, but it does seem to work.
The key thing with hiccups is to remain calm, and avoid intense emotional or physical reactions. Where this isn’t possible, i.e. when chinchillas are mating, then the best you can do is to keep yourself calm, whilst attempting to calm down the chinchilla.
If they are distressed, try to find the source of the distress (perhaps another chin, or an external source), and remove it. If they continue to be distressed and hiccuping, then contact your vet.
Are hiccups something we need to worry about as chinchilla owners?
Sometimes, yes, they can be. Hiccups in chinchillas could be a sign of pneumonia, stroke, diabetes, kidney failure, swallowing difficulties, neurological disease (usually accompanied by weakness, or loss of balance), head trauma, brain injury, meningitis, or any other brain disease.
There’s no need to panic, however, if you see your chinchilla hiccuping – just monitor them carefully to see if they last longer than a few minutes, or cause them any problems.
It’s worth noting that steroids can also cause long-term hiccups, and these may have been prescribed by your vet for another problem.
Bottom line, if hiccups last longer than 48 hours, or look to be interfering with their eating, breathing, or sleeping, or appear to be causing them distress, then you should contact your vet as soon as possible.
Sources