Bladder stone

[pamszoo]

Pinto was diagnosed with a bladder stone today. Surgery is set for tuesday am. I have no expereince with a chin with stones. Should I send the stone out to see what it is, or just put him on a timmy pellet?
What pellets are recommeded for stones in chins? Thanks for any help

 

[AZChins]

I'm so sorry to read this! I hope that he gets through the surgery without any complications.

Definitely put him on a timothy hay based pellet. The other thing is that you probably shouldn't give him oats, shredded wheat or other grains. They can cause the blood chemistry to change and allow for calcium to be released from the bones.

 

[ticklechin]

Send it out is the best idea to find out the composition, then go from there with dietary changes if needed.

 

[Essentia]

Oh goodness! It looks so big from the x-ray! I have never dealt with a stone, so I am not sure what a "normal" size is.

As much as I HATE that you are having to deal with this, I am very thankful you adopted him as opposed to someone else. I know he is in good hands with you and I pray for a full and speedy recovery for him.

 

[pamszoo]

Thanks Crysta! I know he is supposed to be here
I was just so surprised by this! It does look big doesn't it! I am glad there is just 1 and not multiples. I did let Allie know since she has his mom and sister

 

[ticklechin]

I'm so sorry to read this! I hope that he gets through the surgery without any complications.

Definitely put him on a timothy hay based pellet. The other thing is that you probably shouldn't give him oats, shredded wheat or other grains. They can cause the blood chemistry to change and allow for calcium to be released from the bones.

Bladder or urinary stones can be made up of different things, calcium being only one item. Instantly jumping to removing calcium from his diet is not prudent since stones do have a genetic link, stones can also be formed due to low water inktake. The more water that the chin drinks, the less calcium and phosphorus there is left in the urinary tract. Limiting calcium may help but there is no guarantee they won't return with dietary changes.

 

[ticklechin]

Also, if you do go with a timmy pellet compare the calcium, the pellet that vets recommend is the oxbow guinea pig adult pellet since it has the least amount of calcium of timmy pellets avaliable.

 

[Snickers]

Sorry about your chin. I hope he makes it. I had one that had one that I believe was bigger than that. If I can find his x-ray I will post it. He ended up dying since the vet couldn't get to it because where it was.

 

[AZChins]

It's pretty standard to change the diet of a chin that has a stone. That's what most vets recommend.

More important than changing the calcium intake is to eliminate treats that can cause undesirable changes to the calcium/phosphorus balance, sugary treats and grains should be eliminated because they can cause this problem.

 

[Sycamore Chins]

Changing the diet is a knee-jerk reaction and an old habit of most vets.

As the information is accumulating, it really is recommended to have the stone analyzed. If calcium isn't a component of the stone, you may be doing harm by lowering the calcium in the diet (and not fixing the precipitating factor that is causing the stones to form). Some stones can simply be managed by altering the pH of the urine. Some stones indicate a more severe underlying disease (although uncommon).

 

[pamszoo]

How would one alter the ph in chin urine? I know for cats we use DL-meth. I want to have all my ducks in a row for his recovery

 

[Essentia]

Thanks Crysta! I know he is supposed to be here
I was just so surprised by this! It does look big doesn't it! I am glad there is just 1 and not multiples. I did let Allie know since she has his mom and sister

I appreciate that. I was going to message her to let her know until I saw your post saying you did.

 

[Brittany]

Fingers and paws crossed for your little guy. Hoping for the best!!!

 

[Sycamore Chins]

How would one alter the ph in chin urine? I know for cats we use DL-meth. I want to have all my ducks in a row for his recovery

You know, I really don't know! I did a cursory search on VIN and found potassium citrate used in guinea pigs to alkalinize the urine. I also found that in rodents, UTIs are commonly associated with stone formation, and that stone formation recurs fairly often in rodents (probably because we don't have the variety of diets for stone management that you do in dogs, for example)

Perhaps a urine culture and sensitivity should be done as well?

 

[ticklechin]

Here is the bay area a few years ago we had a rash of stones in chinchillas, 8 or 9 in a couple of months, the determination during a few of the necropsies of the ones that died-one was a CNQ forum member, was bladder infection in which the body tried to encapsulate the infection-something along that lines.

 

[ticklechin]

It's pretty standard to change the diet of a chin that has a stone. That's what most vets recommend.

More important than changing the calcium intake is to eliminate treats that can cause undesirable changes to the calcium/phosphorus balance, sugary treats and grains should be eliminated because they can cause this problem.

Its not standard anymore, at least not in the last few years. The OP does not have the whole story yet and to start a "treatment plan" I:E dietary change at this point is too premature and can cause more harm than good-witholding calcium in a animal that needs it, a whole other can of worms meaning teeth.

 

[Dragonflye]

I have a chin that had a big bladder stone removed with no complications. I had it analyzed and it was composed of calcium and I changed his diet. We have not had a bladder stone problem since and it has been 5ish years. Definitely send the stone out for analysis.

Good luck with the procedure. I bet he will feel much better without that stone rattling around in there.

 

[Snickers]

I can't down load my x-ray since it's not compatible to my computer.

 

[obcsed]

I lost a chin to stones. The underlying cause was an infection (actinomyces) that would not respond to antibiotics. I suggest you have cultures of his urine, bladder wall etc done at the time of the surgery to see if you can identify any possible infection. It didn't show up in his urine but they did find it on the bladder wall. Diet change did nothing for my guy.

 

[AZChins]

I agree, there are far more cases of chins not getting enough calcium. However, I haven't had the experience with the chins having bladder stones for reasons other than too much sugar, too much treats or too much calf manna. Those don't have much to do with too much calcium being in the body but the way that the calcium is absorbed and excreted. There are chins that just don't process the calcium and other minerals the same way. If they are thrown off balance, the calcium in even the good chinchilla pellets can cause an issue. That's why vets recommend a slightly lower amount of calcium in the diet. If it is caused by infection, the vet should be able to determine this and recommend a course of treatment.