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[Jo Ann]

   Has your vet ever told you to put your chin on a diet?

Mine did ... this week.  This was a first for me.

I took one of my females to the vet to have her eye checked.

She weighed in at 792 grams and the vet says to get her down to 720.  (Personally, I think she looks good as she is now.)

He stated they are seeing more deaths due to a fatty liver lately.   (To me, that sounds like people are feeding nuts to their chins.)

He is the vet so, I did not disagree with him on Big Momma's weight.  I am going to change the ratio of hay from 1/2 Timothy and 1/2 Alfalfa to 3/4 Timothy and 1/4 Alfalfa.
 
She is one of my older girls and normally gets 2 treats (one rose hip and one papaya) a day ... that will be dropped to 1 treat a day, alternating between the two. 

Has anyone else out there had to put their chins on a diet?   

    Jo Ann

[Abby W.]

That is so funny you asked that!  I just had to put my boy Tristan on a diet too, a few weeks ago.  He was up to 900+ grams.  He won't breed, so I took him to the vet to make sure he was ok, and she told me he is too fat, and probably just not feeling up to breeding as a result.  We tested him for diabetes and general bloodwork, and everything is normal.  He just loves to eat!

So we put him on half ration of pellets, I feed all timothy hay anyway, so he gets the regular amount of that, and treats only twice per week.  So far he is down about 40 grams, and he is already acting like he feels a lot better.   

[Deeliteful]

WOW Abby that is a big boy 

[ABC Chinchillas]

I have never heard that my vet thinks my 900 gram girl looks great. I usually agree right now she looks way to big at 1200 but she is due to have babies soon so I won't worry. They are healthy. I do have to say before I started going to my vet he had only seen pets of lower quality than my herd so it was quite a pleasent surprise for him to see my huge blocky chinchillas

[Jenova]

Whoa, Cheech was 750 a few weeks before she gave birth and I thought she was big

[Jo Ann]

 

 

I have never heard that my vet thinks my 900 gram girl looks great. I usually agree right now she looks way to big at 1200 but she is due to have babies soon so I won't worry. They are healthy. I do have to say before I started going to my vet he had only seen pets of lower quality than my herd so it was quite a pleasent surprise for him to see my huge blocky chinchillas

Yes, we do need to keep in mind where there are few chinchillas, the vets can only judge by what they are use to seeing.  Many of my chins are heavier ... he just hasn't seen them yet.  The chin I am referring to does not have rolls of fat like some I have seen in other places.   I don't like to see rolls of fat on a chinchilla.

Chinchillas are still relatively new to the pet world and we (including the vets) are all still learning.   
Like I said earlier, I think what he is actually seeing, when it comes to a fatty liver, is owners that are feeding their chinchillas nuts. 
He ask about the brand of food and the type of hay I was feeding her, but he did NOT ask about treats, so I doubt that he has ask other owners about the treats they are feeding their chins. 

Nuts are one of chinchilla's worst enemies, they can not properly digest them, causing a fatty liver over time.

   Jo Ann

[ABC Chinchillas]

My vet is actually good about diets although I do bring my ranchers guide and my own notebooks of what I have learned over the years. Everyone should bring notebooks to shows and seminars the shindig with the vet a few years back was great. Nuts are horrible but so many people still give them as treats. Also a lot of vets have never seen really good teeth. If you think about it a vet only sees exotics when there is something wrong. Last time I had an issue and had to use an emergency vet (who knew very little) I brought a healthy chinchilla too so they could see normal.

[Jo Ann]

   Go, girl, go!

   You are so right! 


    

Last time I had an issue and had to use an emergency vet (who knew very little) I brought a healthy chinchilla too so they could see normal.

Sometimes, you just have to think outside the box.   

   Jo Ann

[Abby W.]

That's a great idea!  I will have to remember that in the future.