Hey Claire, upon reading your article you referred to, I am trying to understand what the issue was with the elevated sugar levels in the blood? As I quoted above, it says they were all healthy and quite alive after the testing. Not quite getting the point of quoting that article? I suppose I missed something, but if you could point it out, that would be appreciated.
The article is thought-provoking. It does not address all of the questions we have but it is interesting never-the-less.
The point of quoting the article is several fold but is mainly to get members to think about the physiological effects of stress on a chinchilla and what has been the traditional way of tackling it (i.e. giving raisins full of sugar):
- Traditionally it is assumed that a stressed chinchilla needs a boost of glucose.
- Most of the research on chinchillas and blood glucose levels has been done on anaesthetised or immediately post-mortem chins.
- These chins were alive and (from the snippets on that page) had bloods done awake.
- The quoted portion makes a correlation between the stress of moving chins (i.e. taking them to a show etc) with raised blood glucose levels - which goes against the traditional theory that stress lowers blood sugar levels.
- The questions for members who give raisins for stress (which is done on the assumption that stress lowers blood sugar) is, are we actually going against the normal physiology of the chinchilla by giving them raisins?
My response to that questions is: Yes we are - a stressed chin does not need more sugar.
People should not be giving raisins to stressed chinchillas because the sugar will simply be adding to that already in the body
and is unnecessary.
It is also worth bearing in mind that high blood glucose levels can cause fitting as well as low blood glucose levels.
Okay, well how would a temporary increase of blood sugar levels adversely affect a chin in the long term? I don't see where it says anywhere of the chins dying or being ill after the test was done?
The point in commenting that the chins were alive and well was partly in response to the anti-testing mentality the author was addressing but also because (as I said above) quite a bit of the research carried out on chins is done post-mortem or the chins are euthanised afterwards.
The chins in the study were healthy, normal chins which were part of a breeding herd so the results should be more applicable to chins in pet or breeding homes.
Isn't there some sort of biological function in having an elevated blood sugar level in times of stress? There must be a reason for their bodies to do that. As we see what happens when they have lowered blood sugar levels, they have seizures.
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I do not see anywhere in the article where it states the increase of the blood sugar levels caused problems for the chins?
They can also have seizures with high blood glucose levels too. Raised blood glucose levels can cause all sorts of problems (for example what diabetes does to the body/physiology) - what we don't know for certain is how raised blood glucose affects the physiology of chins in the long term - just because we don't have those studies doesn't mean we're not doing our chins long term internal damage by giving sugary foods (even occasionally).
Even if the research was carried out and gave conclusive proof, people would still give their chins sugary treats - the research is not there yet and may never be carried out.
I am not suggesting we extrapolate from human to chins BUT we do know that our crappy modern diets are causing all sorts of issues in humans and animals - raised incidences of cancer, diabetes, obesity ..... the list goes on.
As an example - Even manufacturers are cottoning on to the fact that people are looking for more simplistic, natural foods - the swing in chin treats from sugary, seed-filled crap to natural herbs, twigs, leaves etc is being driven by consumers who are trying to 'get back to nature'.
Raisins stick to the chinchilla's teeth - it is the reason why chins grind their teeth after eating them- they are trying to get the sticky, sugary substance off their teeth. Lots of people pooh-pooh the idea of dental caries in chins but I've known of it in a rescue that was fed raisins. Most people would not notice it unless the chin required a full dental and the vet was really good at stopping caries. Doesn't mean it's not an issue - just that it may well get lumped in with the diagnosis of malocclusion.
And what does this have to do with raisins? I saw no mention of raisins in the article causing the increase of blood sugar levels in those chins?
The correlation is simply that the article shows stressed chins can already have raised blood glucose levels.
As I said above, I posted the article quote to highlight that the tradition of giving raisins (more sugar) to a stressed chin is based on a flawed theory - the theory that a stressed chin has a lowered blood glucose level.
People seem to be missing the point - no-one is arguing that chins need a completely sugar-free diet. That's just stupid (as Tab has illustrated using basic physiology) because the body needs a certain amount of sugar in order to function.
Chinchillas are notorious junk food addicts. Give them a shop bought, honey and seed filled stick and they will happily chomp their way right through it - just as a child will happily eat their way through 1Lb of sweets if given the opportunity.
Do that often enough and the risk of dental caries, diabetes (or at least glucose intolerance), obesity, heart disease etc etc are raised...... we don't give our kids 1Lb sweets so why do a similar thing (size comparative) to our chins?
The first thing many chin owners do when they sense a chin is feeling unwell is give them a raisin - on the grounds that the chin would have to be pretty sick not to eat one - but the effects on a slowed gut function (which usually accompanies any illness in a chin) can be catastrophic. Ask anyone who has dealt with bloat or stasis and they will tell you the same thing - no extra sugar.
I don't give my chins raisins and haven't for years. I also don't advocate them as a treat - there are far more healthy options out there.
Are we storing up health issues for chins by giving them extra sugary foods? Possibly.
As I keep saying: just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
