Chinchilla urine stains on belly?

[Xaurnel]

This has to have happened within the past three days since I last picked her up. Today I picked up my chinchilla Aretha and her front up to her chest was clumping together from dry urine, like she lay down in it. She's had urine stains between her legs for a while so I assume she has a bad habit of sitting where she pees. They have two litter boxes with care fresh litter (the kind I used before wising up to using fleece liners in the cage) that I see them using all the time and change approx every three days. My other chinchilla Tina doesn't have any stains. Aretha is acting completely normal and I only noticed the staining when I scooped her up in my hands. I do know that based on my last vet visit a year ago they were both showing signs of arthritis. Maybe she can't make it past the short lip of the litter tray? But she's still bouncing around shelves no problem...

What could have happened? Is there any safe way I can clean her fur? I was thinking several rounds of lightly dabbing at her belly with a barely damp cool cloth to prevent her from getting too wet while combined with unrestricted dust access for the next few days.

I'm going to prioritize calling their vet first thing in the morning.

 

[tunes]

Hard to tell why it's happening, but you can use unscented baby wipes to clean her up. Hopefully, your vet can give you some answers.

 

[Amethyst]

I kind of wonder if it's drool not pee, often when people say they think their chin has dried pee on their chest it's actually dried drool. Either way I would get a vet check to figure out what is going on.

I would not give a dust bath if the chin is wet or damp, the dust will clump to the fur which could make the situation worse by possibly trap moisture by the skin leading to a skin infection. Instead if the fur is still damp after cleaning her off, either with a lightly damp cloth or a unscented wet wipe, take a hair drier on low or ideally no heat and gently fluff her fur until dry a comb can help separate the hairs. Once she is completely dry then you can give her a dust bath.

 

[Xaurnel]

I kind of wonder if it's drool not pee, often when people say they think their chin has dried pee on their chest it's actually dried drool. Either way I would get a vet check to figure out what is going on.

I would not give a dust bath if the chin is wet or damp, the dust will clump to the fur which could make the situation worse by possibly trap moisture by the skin leading to a skin infection. Instead if the fur is still damp after cleaning her off, either with a lightly damp cloth or a unscented wet wipe, take a hair drier on low or ideally no heat and gently fluff her fur until dry a comb can help separate the hairs. Once she is completely dry then you can give her a dust bath.

If it was on her upper chest I'd think it may be drool but it's from the lower mid chest down. Her mouth is dry, teeth look fine, chin fur is dry. Her fur seems dry, just a bit crusty. The soonest I can get her into the vet is two weeks from now I'll take a lightly damp cloth to her after work tonight. I may have a fine toothed comb. Would plastic or metal be better do you think?

Thank you.

 

[Amethyst]

If it was on her upper chest I'd think it may be drool but it's from the lower mid chest down. Her mouth is dry, teeth look fine, chin fur is dry. Her fur seems dry, just a bit crusty. The soonest I can get her into the vet is two weeks from now I'll take a lightly damp cloth to her after work tonight. I may have a fine toothed comb. Would plastic or metal be better do you think?

Thank you.

I use a metal comb for my chin, I actually like the double sided since you can start with the wider tooth side and move to the fine tooth side.