urine staining

[ambschins]

Hi there,

I have posted before regarding my female chin and her urine staining on her belly, this seems to be getting worse, and the fur is starting to clump. she really really really doesnt like me turning her over to clean this and would really appreciate it if anyone has any solutions so im not constantly annoying her trying out different things!
i have heard baby wipes help but i want to be sure this is correct before trying this on her?
any other ideas how 2 get staining out would be really appreciated!!

Also i want to check just how normal this really is.... it seems to me from reading up that female chins do get this but could it be related to a infection or anything or am i looking into this 2 far? I have shown the vet when she went for her latest check up but I really dont trust any of the vets here in jersey chanel islands as none of them have any chin experience!!!! i have searched high and low for a chin vet and had no such luk!!!

She is 11months old and this has been going on for about 4months now (wen i think she started having heat cycles), she seems perfectly fine in herself, eating well and dancing round like a nutter!!!

Any help appreciated
Thanks
Ambs

 

[ambschins]

thanks for all ur responses!!! gr8 website!.....

 

[starleomach]

sometimes there are "dirty" chinchillas does she sleep in her own urine on a shelf? How often do you clean the cage? A little discoloration is normal but if it is a lot that is something to look into. Usually if that is seen at a show "ranch management" is to blame. but if she has a UTI that could be to blame or perhaps she has a urethra issue.

thanks for all ur responses!!! gr8 website!.....

the sarcasm here is not very nice as no one answered you immediatly. If people don't know often they do not respond and no one can be sure they have a solution all we can do is make suggestions.

unscented baby wipes are fine. But honestly I would look at the type of bedding you use and how often you clean the cage firslty when trying to find a solution. Sometimes there are dirty chinchillas but most dirty chinchillas I have seen are so because of the care they recieve

 

[ambschins]

my other chin is fine, the whole cage is washed down weekly and they are cleaned out twice a week, so dowt its the care.... they have newspaper at the bottom of the cage as mine are allergic to shavings....

she wont stay still enough for me to get her wish baby wipes, is holding them by there tails really an ok way to grip them so they cant move?? i dont want them to loose trust in me

 

[starleomach]

Holding them firmly by the base of the tail is fine and I would bet the staining is from the newspaper. Have you considered fleece liners instead? You do really need to split brother and sister up or you will end up with a genetic mess for kits. she is prime breeding age and the clumps may be from mating

 

[tunes]

Ambschins - There was absolutely no need to get snarky because you didn't get an answer right away. Sometimes the threads don't pop up when you hit new posts, or, maybe the people who could answer this question with experience had lives outside of the forum and were busy with them. All you needed to do was make a comment along the lines of "Nobody has any suggestions?" Everybody does their best, but as Kristy said, maybe other people didn't know what to answer. I suppose it would have been better had someone said "Gee, I dunno. Maybe you should use bleach."

BTW, you already answered your own question. It's the newspaper. I would not consider newspaper to be an acceptable cage liner, especially if you have breeding females. If you want to clean up her belly, use the unscented baby wipes, and get her on a decent base. There are other things than pine shavings - there is Carefresh, there is Yesterday's News. Maybe when Claire comes on forum again she can tell you something else that's available in the UK, since she lives there.

And yes, we ARE a great website. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Claire D]

:wave: Hi.
Can I ask a few questions - they might help us give you more specific advice.

Is the cage you are using mesh or solid based? Is she walking/sitting on the newspaper or is there mesh between the chins & the paper?

It could well be she is a puddle sitter & sits in her urine after she pees. How big is the area that is dirty? Can you post a photo so we can get a better idea of what is going on.

 

[ambschins]

the cage is solid based as i was concerned they would get here feet caught is mesh due to them being extremely lively!!!

yes she does walk on the newspaper but she always wees in the same area, which she only ever goes in to go to the toilet, its behind a ladder and she never goes here otherwise.

she doesnt seem to sit there, when she has done it she hops off.

maybe im just being silly but she seems 2 wee very frequently..... maybe this is just due to the heat and drinking more though....

the dirty area is large, covering down 2 under her tail and rite out to the legs (from wat i can see) i will get a photo tomorrow for you, i dont want to annoy her anymore today!!

she is not paired with her brother she is with another female