What is Causing Soft Poo??

[elvisthechinchilla]

My boy has been having softer poop for a few days now. Im trying to isolate the problem but its tough, I am leaning towards the Mazzuri pet food because I have heard people say it causes softer stool. The problem started when I got him new hay. The pet store didn't have any Kaytee's timothy so I got Nature Hay. The next day he had markedly softer poo but the problem continued even after I switched back. I took out his pellets and they were getting a bit harder so i started to give him some pellets, not the normal amount but a few each day. kept getting better so we went back to the pellets. He is back at the beginning again, much softer poo; they get stuck in his fur when he runs in his wheel and squish underfoot. Please give any recommendations you may have for what pellet food to get him. he much prefers pellets to hay for some reason...

 

[Cat75]

Sounds like it could be the Mazuri food. What kind of water are you using?

 

[elvisthechinchilla]

as soon as I saw the poos I switched from brita filter to straight bottled water

 

[cindyv3737]

I would get a fecal test done on his stool. Brita does not filter out giardia. It could be the food or the water. If it were my chin, I would test stool just to be safe.

 

[Airyn]

See if you can find Oxbow Western Timothy Hay rather than the other brands you mentioned. Kaytee products are generally garbage. My chins won't touch their hay or their hay cubes. You should also pick up a Pur3 filter. It just attaches to your faucet and with 4 chins, I only have to change it every 3-4 months. Amazon usually has some good deals on them and I'm pretty sure they're the only filters on the market that filter out microbial cysts. As Cindy said, a fecal test is definitely a good idea.

 

[elvisthechinchilla]

Would you say that bottled water is better or worse than Pur3 filter? Also, fecal test done at the Vet? Do you know what those usually cost?

 

[Airyn]

If you buy bottled water that specifically says that it's filtered by reverse osmosis on the bottle, that's fine. Reverse Osmosis and Pur3 both filter out microbial cysts.

Vet costs vary by vet and location, so you won't know for sure unless you call your vet and ask.