Author Joyce Lyth
Chinchillas by the Bay
The Color of Chinchilla Urine
What exactly is "normal" and when might there be a problem?
This may sound like a strange topic, but how many of us really know what color our chin's urine is? What exactly is a "normal" healthy color and when do we know if there may be a problem? Most of us only deal with chinchilla urine when cleaning cage trays and emptying the soiled litter.
Then some of us like myself are lucky enough to have a chin or two that back up into a corner on the very highest level of their cage and pee directly out onto the floor! So, I do find myself becoming a urine color expert! For our chins that have this talent we place large puppy training pads under the legs of their cages. This successfully absorbs the urine and makes for an easy clean up.
Last week on the way to the vet, one of our chins "Oki" urinated in his carrier on some white paper towels I had placed under him. The color was a very light yellow, what I would call normal. This particular chin is also a very good drinker so I would not have expected his urine to look any different than it did!
Recently our white mosaic "Simon" was ill with giardia. He just so happens to be one of the chins with the spraying talent mentioned above. I noticed his urine on the floor pads was a very dark almost red/brown color. This was not what it normally looked like and I knew something was wrong. I have been hearing so much about chin UTI's and stones that we needed to have this checked out right away to rule out infection and/or blood in his urine.
Simon
Since he had just seen Simon in the office, my vet agreed it would be OK for me to bring in a fresh urine sample for testing (that is if I could get one). Then if Simon needed to be seen I would bring him back in.
Urine needs to be collected immediately after a chin eliminates from a very clean spot. If you cannot get the sample to the vet right away, it must be kept in the refrigerator and only for a short time. Ask your vet about this.
Simon's urine was easy to collect, here is how it was accomplished! First of all he has a Martin's cage and the first level is wire bottom with a pull out drop tray beneath. I washed the tray very well then dried it, no litter was put back in. I shaped and created a few shallow pans out of foil and placed them in the tray and around the cage where Simon' urine usually collects. Within a few hours I had my sample! I drew it up into new small syringe and took it right to my vet.
The test came back and everything was normal except the specific gravity, it was high. Meaning, Simon was not drinking enough and was a little dehydrated from that plus his diarrhea.
Now we needed to get Simon to drink! I talked with my vet and some very chin knowledgeable people for good advice. We put an additional water bottle on his cage filled with clear Pedialyte! He actually really liked the room temperature clear Pedialyte but did not like the fruit flavored kinds. He was finally drinking more. By the next day his urine was much more normal looking! The next day even better. So for now he is getting his 2 water bottles every day. In Simon's case we were lucky, I was able to collect urine from home and he only needed fluids to re-hydrate himself. If you ever notice your chin's urine a definite red bloody color, get a sample and take it along with your chin to the vet immediately! Do not waist time if you can't get a sample quickly! Your chin needs to be seen and the vet will get a sample in the office. Some vets, depending on what is going on with your chin and his symptoms, may just want to get a sterile urine sample in the office.
Just a few tips. Pedialyte needs to be refrigerated after opening, and only keeps for 48 hours. I have only ever seen it in the 1 quart bottles. Gerber now makes Liquilytes in smaller 8 oz. bottles (4 per pack). A more economical way to go!
If you ever want to perform this little urine collecting trick and do not have a wire bottom cage, this is what I recommend doing. Pick up a small animal travel size cage at the pet store, the kind with a wire bottom and drop tray. The chin can stay in it until a sample is produced. I just bought one at PetSmart to have on hand because most of my chins cages do not have wire bottoms. Besides, this is what many vets will do in the office when trying to get a chin urine sample, they call it a "free catch"! And your chin has to stay there. I would rather try it at home first to avoid any unnecessary stress to my chin. The other way many vets will get a urine it called an "ultra-sound guided urine/bladder cystocentesis" where a sterile needle is inserted into the bladder to draw urine. Sometimes this is indicated when a sterile urine culture must be done to determine the exact type of bacteria.
Also another trick to keep track of your chin's urine color and output (that is if you ever need or want to) is to pick up a bag of the new "pure white" Carefresh bedding/ litter. This makes it really easy to see chin urine!
Did you also know that feeding your chinchilla alfalfa products such as alfalfa hay or alfalfa cubes can have an effect on their urine color? Yes, it can make urine a very dark orangey/brown color! Alfalfa contains porphrins that are excreted in the urine! More on this topic in the next issue of Chinchilla Community Magazine.
I would like to give a special thanks to Lani of California Chins and
Jo Ann of Luv 'N Chins for the support and help you have given me & my herd. It has been a rough few weeks. I could not have done it without you.
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