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[susansu]

Hello there,

I have a 3 year old chinchilla girl and  was diagnosed with diabetic and phosphorus too low.

Here are the test results:
                        normalrange
GLU   12.19   mmol/L   3.3-6.1
UREA   11.1   mmol/L   6.06-16.06
CREA   59   umol/L   35.4-114.9
PHOS   0.54   mmol/L   1.29-2.58
CA   2.83   mmol/L   1.4-3.02
TP   44   g/L           38-56
ALB   26   g/L        23-41
GLOB   18   g/L           19-22
ALT   21   g/L           10-35
ALKP   51   g/L           6072
TBIL   2   umol/L   5.13-15.4
CHOL   1.78   umol/L   1.3-7.85
AMYL   880   U/L   -

She also has malocclusion problem who need dental work every 10 weeks.  My vet is suggesting a difficult treatment scheme that I need to do blood sugar with her blood daily and inject with insulin.  I couldn't imagine how can this be done (getting blood from my chin daily? injection? sounds so terrible). 

I guess diabetic is rare to Chinchilla I have no idea how it could happen to my girl.  I wish I can get some advice here.   My question is:

1.  Would there be an easier way to do the test
2.  Is there better way or alternative way to control the blood sugar, like medicine, diet?
3.  What should I do to for the phosphorus problem?  What should she eat?

Thanks a lot!
Susan

[GrayRodent]

Please describe exactly what it eats, any treats, brand of food, type of hay, etc.

[GrayRodent]

I don't know when you'll be back to check in but I'll say that I've never heard of doing a blood glucose test at home on any rodents. I know some chinchillas can be clinically diabetic but it usually doesn't manifest because the chinchilla's normal diet has very little sugar in it.
If you're feeding treats or have a poor quality diet, which is very common and many off the shelf diets labelled for chinchillas are, to put it bluntly, poisonous to them.
I don't want you to feel bad if you've been misinformed on diet though but both diabetes and phosphorus imbalance are likely caused by improper diet. Unfortunately because your chinchilla has a history of malocclusion it probably hasn't been eating right and many owners will give their pets treats and things they'll take, which only makes things worse.
I also know that most chinchillas that are having problems are given syringe fed diets. The most popular is Oxbow Critical Care which should have the correct Phosphorus to Calcium ratio. Ca looks okay.
Low ALKP is consistent with malnutrition as well. Low Phosphorus could be from vitamin D deficiency or not consuming enough food. My best guess at this point is your chinchilla is having serious digestive troubles.
How is fecal output and weight? Are you syringe feeding?

[susansu]

Food supply:  Mazuri and APD hay and Alfafa straw sometimes.  But she only eats pellets.  Her malocclusion is genetic.
Oxbow critical care: about 2 g daily
A little dried apple 2-3 times a week, 0.5cm*0.5 cm each. 
VC 1 every other day.

Her poops are okay.  Due to lack of hay and drinking little water I feed her Oxbow critical care and occasionally lactobacillin tablet.

She was cage free and looked healthy and happy when she was with me, then half year ago I had to put her to foster care.  Since then she went downhill.  My vet couldn’t tell why it happened and had no advice on food adjustment.  Anyway, I am more focusing on what to do than seeking reason why as this fact can not be changed now….  Thanks.

[GrayRodent]

Sounds like you're doing pretty much everything I would in your situation. Mazuri is an excellent chinchilla diet although in my opinion the pellets are a little on the soft side. Feeding alfalfa is the right thing to do and you may just want to switch over to it. I would stop feeding dried apple or any kind of fruit. It isn't helping the diabetes but its getting such a small amount I'm not sure if you'll a see a difference there.
If your pet's weight is stable and not underweight your diet is probably okay. If your pet is underweight I would recommend getting a second opinion from a vet on adjusting the syringe fed diet. Some of these are symptoms of malnutrition but it sounds like you're taking really good care of your pet which isn't always the case when I see these kinds of posts. I'm wondering if there's something going on with the liver. Sometimes things like that can be genetic as well.

Usually management of diabetes for chinchillas is just to not feed treats, feed proper diet, and don't let them out to play right after eating. Like I've said I've never heard of putting a chinchilla on insulin and monitoring blood glucose levels. I'm hoping others will comment soon on this.

[BLS Chins]

Cut out the apple. That alone can cause high blood sugar and make the chin appear diabetic. Did the vet run a urine sample? Chins that are stressed will have elevated blood sugar naturally due to the adrenalin. A urine should be done to confirm that the kidneys are infact passing sugars or I would assume your chin isnt diabetic. Diabetic chins often drink a ton of water, loose weight and have sticky urine.

[susansu]

Thanks GrayRodent and BLS chins for advice.  The diet was one half year ago when she was with me.  She is still in the foster care and sure no treats any more.  Okay I told them to give alfalfa and try to feed more Oxbow critical care and I am buying chin used calcium tablet.  I am not sure if there is better way to increase phosphorus without over calcium.

Yes urine test was done.  She does not have the diabetic behavior yet, she doesn't drink much water (only 10 -15ml daily), she doesn't eat enough food and she is a bit under weight, 480-492 vs normal 575 which was the reason why I requested a throughout test.

[GrayRodent]

That's a pretty big difference, 15% underweight. I have a feeling when your pet gets enough food these issues will resolve themselves.

[susansu]

That's a pretty big difference, 15% underweight. I have a feeling when your pet gets enough food these issues will resolve themselves.

Hi Gray, You are very right.  Let me update this post.  I came back home and stay to take care of my chin for about half a year.  I stop  oxbow critial care (there are fruit powder and molasses）, changed her diet to Supreme brand and started giving her veggie (20% of her diet according to my Vet).  Her blood sugar drop significantly from 12+ to 9.6 and she starts gaining weight now up-to 545g.  Since she never shows the diabetic sigh: eating a lot, drinking a lot and loss weigh,  my vet said probably it is not dabetic now.

But now I have another headache thing.  I would like to open a new thread...

[GrayRodent]

That's great. Thanks for sharing.