Godofgods
Well-known member
I have a vet appointment in the morning so ill be going over all this with them as well as a few other issues with my chins.
But in the past few months iv had a good bit of medical issues with my boys. I have 3 girls and 2 males. They lived with me in NJ for a number of years. I moved over to PA after my dad died in march 2014.
My oldest male chico had developed sticky pee back in NJ. With high glucose levels they said its likely diabetes. I switched his food over to American Pet Diner Alffy and his sticky urine issue went away.
Now two or some years later, here in PA Chico had developed some blood in his urine. He was treated for a bladder infection and seemed to be better. During this time chico and his son houdini were each separated to a single level of there double FN cage. (Chico also had a urinalysis test and xrays for stones which were negative)
A little while after that incident, i noticed little bits of blood in houdini's urine. So i put both males on a antibiotic regiment at the same exact time. As soon as houdini started the meds i stopped seeing the blood. A few days after the meds were done i saw a blood pile of urine from him again tho. Then nothing. No signs again for nearly 6 weeks. Then i started seeing little bits of blood in the urine again. - At the same time Chico has started developing his sticky urine issue again. Once it begins to dry a little it gets overly sticky. You try and wipe it up with a paper towel and it will shred the towel.
Now at the vet tomorrow, i want to get a urinalysis for them both, as well as xrays for houdini to see if he has stones.
A bit of a back story there but it brings me to my water questions. It was something that the vet mentioned the last time i was there for the blood in the urine. She was asking about the calcium and the hardness in the water hear.
At the time i had no idea. But i got some water samples sent out for testing. One from the same town in NJ where i was living (city water) and one from where im at right now in PA (well water). The house in PA also has a filtration system and a UV zapper thingy for all water coming into the house. I also made sure that both samples were run through my PUR water filter as well.
I just recently got my results back. These are the results AFTER the water ran through the filter. NJ (PA)
pH --------------------------------------- 7.1 (7.8)
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm ------ 239 (334)
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm ---------- 0.40 (0.56)
Cations / Anions, me/L -------------------- 3.7 / 4.0 (4.8 / 5.0)
ppm
-------
Sodium, Na --------------------- 47 (47)
Potassium, K ------------------- 4 (1)
Calcium, Ca -------------------- 21 (39)
Magnesium, Mg ----------------- 6 (10)
Total Hardness, CaCO3 ---------- 78 (139)
Nitrate, NO3-N ------------------ < 0.1 (SAFE) [< 0.1 (SAFE)]
Sulfate, SO4-S ------------------ 5 (2)
Chloride, Cl --------------------- 45 (101)
Carbonate, CO3 ----------------- < 1.0 (< 1.0)
Bicarbonate, HCO3 -------------- 145 (119)
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 ----------- 119 (98)
Total Phosphorus, P -------------- 0.28 (0.18)
Total Iron, Fe -------------------- 0.02 (< 0.01)
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit
You can see that things like calcium and total hardness are almost double in PA then what they were on in NJ. So they might need a switch over to bottled water. Im jsut not sure which kind is safest. Iv read arguments against every kind of bottled/filtered water i have seen.
But in the past few months iv had a good bit of medical issues with my boys. I have 3 girls and 2 males. They lived with me in NJ for a number of years. I moved over to PA after my dad died in march 2014.
My oldest male chico had developed sticky pee back in NJ. With high glucose levels they said its likely diabetes. I switched his food over to American Pet Diner Alffy and his sticky urine issue went away.
Now two or some years later, here in PA Chico had developed some blood in his urine. He was treated for a bladder infection and seemed to be better. During this time chico and his son houdini were each separated to a single level of there double FN cage. (Chico also had a urinalysis test and xrays for stones which were negative)
A little while after that incident, i noticed little bits of blood in houdini's urine. So i put both males on a antibiotic regiment at the same exact time. As soon as houdini started the meds i stopped seeing the blood. A few days after the meds were done i saw a blood pile of urine from him again tho. Then nothing. No signs again for nearly 6 weeks. Then i started seeing little bits of blood in the urine again. - At the same time Chico has started developing his sticky urine issue again. Once it begins to dry a little it gets overly sticky. You try and wipe it up with a paper towel and it will shred the towel.
Now at the vet tomorrow, i want to get a urinalysis for them both, as well as xrays for houdini to see if he has stones.
A bit of a back story there but it brings me to my water questions. It was something that the vet mentioned the last time i was there for the blood in the urine. She was asking about the calcium and the hardness in the water hear.
At the time i had no idea. But i got some water samples sent out for testing. One from the same town in NJ where i was living (city water) and one from where im at right now in PA (well water). The house in PA also has a filtration system and a UV zapper thingy for all water coming into the house. I also made sure that both samples were run through my PUR water filter as well.
I just recently got my results back. These are the results AFTER the water ran through the filter. NJ (PA)
pH --------------------------------------- 7.1 (7.8)
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm ------ 239 (334)
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm ---------- 0.40 (0.56)
Cations / Anions, me/L -------------------- 3.7 / 4.0 (4.8 / 5.0)
ppm
-------
Sodium, Na --------------------- 47 (47)
Potassium, K ------------------- 4 (1)
Calcium, Ca -------------------- 21 (39)
Magnesium, Mg ----------------- 6 (10)
Total Hardness, CaCO3 ---------- 78 (139)
Nitrate, NO3-N ------------------ < 0.1 (SAFE) [< 0.1 (SAFE)]
Sulfate, SO4-S ------------------ 5 (2)
Chloride, Cl --------------------- 45 (101)
Carbonate, CO3 ----------------- < 1.0 (< 1.0)
Bicarbonate, HCO3 -------------- 145 (119)
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 ----------- 119 (98)
Total Phosphorus, P -------------- 0.28 (0.18)
Total Iron, Fe -------------------- 0.02 (< 0.01)
"<" - Not Detected / Below Detection Limit
You can see that things like calcium and total hardness are almost double in PA then what they were on in NJ. So they might need a switch over to bottled water. Im jsut not sure which kind is safest. Iv read arguments against every kind of bottled/filtered water i have seen.
