The Challenge of Getting a Urine Sample from a Chinchilla

So today I have a very naffed off Otto on my hands and I can’t say I blame him to be honest.

We all know just how little chins drink and urinate but its not until you actually need a sample of (relatively clean, non-pooped in) urine that you realise just how little our furry friends drink/pee and how difficult it is to catch “clean” chinchilla urine! 

So far Otto’s been syringe fed water (NOT impressed by that at all! :roll: ), been sat in a show cage on top of a slightly tilted tray with foil covering it, been watched like a hawk for signs of urine, did a urine sample – much excitement on my part, divvied it up between the two pots (one for microscopy and one for sending to the lab for analysis), leaped in the car to take said samples to the vets and then waited to see if the lab one was enough – nope! Needs to be at least 1ml  – then he’s been hoiked out of his cozy cage again and into the show cage, tilted on the foil covered tray……….. and syringe fed more water.

Needless to say I’m currently looking at Otto’s rear end because he’s not speaking to me.

After all of this, the lab had better come up with something.