Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Health => Topic started by: gasaraki03 on February 13, 2014, 12:33:09 AM
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Since my chinchilla is now all better from recovery from bladder stone i know i need to change his diet to hope it doesn't happen again. Once he gets it once its more likely to happen again.
As of now they just get unlimited Timothy hay and Oxbow pellets. Also about half a raisin a day usually.
There are 2 chinchillas both a year and a half.
Read online can try american health pellets.
http://www.americanpetdiner.com/product/timmy-guinea-pig-and-chinchilla-pellets/
Since its just timothy hay can help with that. Think i should go ahead and try this new food?
Or suggest anything else.
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I'm thinking it couldn't hurt. Has the vet recommended anything?
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No they didn't suggest anything
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I did some poking around on the internet. I don't have any formal veterinary training so take my advice for what it is.
It seems that rodents can be sensitive to certain additives that you're going to find in pelleted diets but usually there are underlying causes for bladder stones and the biggest one is infection of parasites or bacteria. Sometimes it's kidney problems.
What did surprise me is that it appears there is no connection between blood calcium levels and bladder stones in rodents.
Having your vet investigate possible causes might be a good place to start if you can afford it but unfortunately it might be a genetic problem that you really can't do anything about.
As far as diet I would try just a hay only diet and mix about 50% timothy and 50% alfalfa hay. You'll probably find there will be some weight loss if you do this at first but I wouldn't be too concerned unless it's goes down more than 10%. That way if you have problems with this in the future you can rule out diet as a potential cause. The bad thing about going with loose hay only is you loose that safety net of extra weight if something does go wrong.
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Reminds me i did have to urine tested and it was negative for bacteria, casts, mucous and yeast. Not sure if that's exactly what you meant for for biggest cause of it if so isn't that.
I will try giving more hay and if all goes well just all hay. Or at least less pellets.
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That's good that you got those tests and ruled that out since those were the most common causes. I hope all goes well.
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While it's not generally a concern hay loses several important nutrients when it's over 4 months from baling even when stored well. Pellets or feed supplements make up for this fact. If you cut them out vitamin/mineral deficiencies could occur after a few years. Small animals with similar digestive tracts and dietary needs are often raised on hay and loose horse mineral supplements, coat supplements, or other more natural sources of salt and minerals like himalayan salt licks. It seems chins do have health problems easier on excess salt than most animals though so the mineral sources that include salt may not be suitable. A good idea for chins is a grain, herb, and edible flower supplement. You can find many on this site along with papaya that specifically says it's good for those with stones http://www.rondaschins.com/MakeYourOwnSupplement.shtml Another idea I've seen explored on the international sites is running veggies through a dehydrator before feeding to chins to cut down on digestive upset while supplying more vitamins and minerals. If you do that check the oxalic acid content either through the national nutrient database or the guinea pig fruit/veggie tables on the guinealynx.info site. Oxalic acid interferes with calcium absorption leading to more showing up in the urinary tract and increasing the odds of stones.
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Be very careful not to overdo it with supplements. Do not use salt licks with chinchillas I hear they are dangerous to them. Mixing diets for chinchillas is a technically demanding skill. You have to have the calcium to phosphorus ratio correct taking the hay into account or you will kill your pet so be careful. Also oxalic acid if too high a concentration can crystalize and cause bowel obstruction and mechanical irritation in small animals.