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[Herbert]

A little bit ago I thought that one of my chins may have a UTI he went through a round of meds and is still having some blood in his urine.  Finally got a decent size sample and brought it to my vet she tested it and didn't find any bacteria, white or red blood cells so she suggested that I bring him in for an x-ray and he may have stones and if he does he's going to need surgery.  Has anyone dealt with this before?

[GrayRodent]

I hope someone who is more experienced will comment. I think an x-ray is going to be warranted.
I'd hope the vet checked but have you ruled out a hair ring?

[Herbert]

Is a hair ring something that would be visible to the naked eye? I looked and didn't see one...so it came back he's got no stones so it's a possibility that it would be a polyp somewhere in his penis but she's not certian and there's no way of really being able to get a scope and see becaue he's so small. She also mentioned it could be from his diet..I read somewhere that brown to red colour urine could indicate diabetes, ever hear of that? I'm going to call back and ask.

[Herbert]

So I guess I misunderstood the vet, she said she can't do a scope to find out if there's a polyp because of his size but they can do an ultrasound to find out, but unfortunately she doesn't do that and it will be hard to find someone who will be comfortable doing one on a chin.  She will ask the tech who's from the vet school who comes in once every 3 or 4 weeks to see if he will be able to do one.  She ruled out diet because I forgot to mention to her that he is peeing all over the cage so it is abnormal.  She is going to give me pain meds to see if that helps with him peeing all over the cage and try and see if it's pain that is causing him to abnormally pee all over the cage. 

Has anyone on here dealt with a polyp or benign tumor in their chin before?  He only just turned 2 Jan 5.

[GrayRodent]

If there's any question of whether or not the urine has blood in it do an occult blood dip test of the urine.
If it's a hair ring causing an infection that's typically going to be visible under a magnifying glass at the base of the penis. The area should be visibly constricted and look abnormal but may be hard to spot because everything is small. I have heard that even a single hair can cause it but I would expect that if bleeding is a symptom there is going to be some swelling and sign of infection. The penis must be pulled all of the way out. If the vet didn't do that you should probably find another vet as this should be a normal part of an exam for this kind of problem.

Diabetes might not always show up on a blood test but it wouldn't hurt to ask about testing for diabetes. With that there isn't much of a treatment for it other than feeding a plain diet of hay and pellets and being careful that the animal doesn't over-exert itself during playtime (which often causes seizures in diabetic chins).

Have you had any testing done on kidney or liver function? Sounds like you had a CBC. Also I know that feeding chinchillas loose alfalfa hay can tint their urine red. You may want to verify the color is from blood and not something else with a chemical test before dumping a lot of money into other tests.

[BLS Chins]

A urine stick should have showed diabetes so if there isnt anything showing there you are fine on that aspect. What medications did you use? Did you have a urine sample run after the meds finished? Chinchillas can get bladder stones. A simple xray will show if there is or isnt stones. Its very very rare for a chin to have a tumor. I wouldnt waste my money on a ultrasound unless the xray shows nothing and the urine is still showing an infection (you may want to get a culture done so you are sure its not an antibiotic resistant strain).

[GrayRodent]

The problem is the CBC came back negative for infection. I'm not completely convinced its hematuria yet. A culture would be a good choice anyway though since not all infections are going to raise leukocytes. A urine dip stick test may have both occult blood and diabetes combined but needs to be done under certain conditions to maximize effectiveness. I strongly recommend discussing that with your vet.

[Herbert]

The vet did a spin test on the urine as she called it.  I called earlier today to ask if she checked for a hair ring while he was sedated and they never called back yet.   When I get home I will put what medications the emergency gave me a few weeks ago, the only urine sample I sent in was after the meds were finished but of course the only one I got a decent amount of was light yellow, so she wants me to wait and try and get another sample that's showing blood so she can test that sample as well.   I know he has some darker colour on a spot on his foreskin  but she said that's normal. 

She said he is negative for diabetes. , I only feed my animals hay and pellets, maybe once or twice a month I'll give a dried rose hip from the bush at the cottage from the summer.  I do not feed alfalfa hay at all, I took that out of their diet over 6 months ago.

The x-ray showed nothing.

[GrayRodent]

I feel for you. What a mess.

[Herbert]

He was given Enrofloxacin 25 MG to take .2ml twice a day for 10 days. And also Metacam 1ml twice a day for 3 days.

Yeaterday after the xrays my vet gave me some more Metacam .18ml every 24 hours and see if that will stop the peeing all over the cage or if not trying to rule out he may be peeing everywhere becaue of pain

[GrayRodent]

I recommend you monitor your pet closely for anorexia from the antibiotics. If he stops eating make sure you begin hand feeding at the direction of your veterinarian that day. I'm not sure if I mentioned that or not but some chinchillas can react very badly to antibiotics and you should monitor very closely during the treatment and at least one week after. Continue to make sure its fecal output is normal. Food intake is harder to quantify. Follow your vet's instructions for the course of meds exactly (no stopping early or because your chinchilla may have side effects) or you can end up with a worse antibiotic-resistant infection. Of course if side effects do occur contact your vet and express your concerns. Obtain instructions and supplies for hand feeding if anorexia occurs and do not wait a day or problems can snowball into something dangerous. You may just want to have supplies around just in case.

[Herbert]

He so far has not stopped eating, he still loves his food haha.  He has already gone through the 10 days of Enrofloxacin 25 MG and it never affected his eating or drinking, he is now on  Metacam .18ml every 24 hours for pain.

I got a call back today and they said they did a normal penis exam while he was sedated and found no hair ring.

[GrayRodent]

Sounds good. At least he's eating well which is interesting. Typically when chinchillas get sick the first thing they do is stop eating.

[Herbert]

He could very well be eating less, but he is still eating as I have watched him many times sit and eat pellets and grass.