Health
Antibiotics and Probiotics
(reproduced from a post on CU by Debbie)
We often advise the use of probiotics - especially when a chin is undergoing antibiotic treatment or has a digestive disturbance of some kind.
* By adding probiotics to the chins usual diet (or drinking water) - you are encouraging certain species of beneficial bacteria - which help to "push out" the more harmful species.
* Good bacteria (probiotics) produce enzymes which help the digestive ability of the animal (chinchillas are hind-gut fermenters - which rely on a bacterial balance in their caecum to help digest their food).
* Good bacteria also provide a barrier against invading pathogens (bad bacteria).
* Digestive upsets are very common during times of stress (i.e. weaning for instance) - and it is during these times where using probiotics may be of great benefit.
* Antibiotics kill all bacteria (good and bad) - and additional usage of probiotics will re-establish a micro-flora.
* Detrimental (bad) bacteria such as E. coli attach themselves to the intestine wall (on certain attachment sites) by the means of hair-like structures (called fimbriae). However, certain species of good bacteria block these attachment sites - so the pathogens cannot stick!!
* Bad bacteria produce enterotoxins - there is some evidence that good bacteria can neutralise these toxins (subject to further research).
* Lactobaccilli (a species of probiotic bacteria) produce lactic acid - which changes the PH of the gut to a level that is not so easily tolerated by harmful bacteria.
* Research has shown that lactobaccilli has helped to increase white blood cell counts in animals that are given probiotics. This may aid the development of the immune system.
Probably the best probiotics that you can get are droppings from a healthy chinchilla !! Chinchillas are naturally copraphagic i.e. they eat their own droppings. These will contain all the bacteria normally found in their intestine. Baby chinchillas will often eat their mother's dropping to help colonise their intestine. Adding a few dropping from a healthy chin will help a chin that is recovering after antibiotic therapy get back on it's feet.
Readily Available Probiotics.
Protexin Bio lapis (can be bought from your vet or ordered on-line, no prescription required).
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Protexin Bio lapis for Rabbits & Small Pets is a concentrated soluble powder containing Protexin (probiotic), Profeed (prebiotic), enzymes, electrolytes and vitamins to help quickly restore the gut microflora in rabbits and other small pets. Useful during periods of stress and Critical Care, such as following gut infections and disturbances, surgery and anaesthesia.
The Professional version (which is more or less the same as Bop lapsis but also contains dextrose) can be bought from the manufacturer Protexin in packs as shown below if you are prepared to spend over £80, and can guarantee using it within the expiry date. This is intended for larger pets such as dogs and cats, the Bio lapis is geared more towards smaller pets such as rabbits.
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The easiest way to buy the Bio lapis version for smaller pets is in strips of five sachets. Each sachet contains 2g of concentrate. This concentrate is either added to the chinchillas drinking water or sprinkled over their food. One sachet is one days treatment, treatment must be carried out over at least five days so make sure you have enough.
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Alternative packaging includes :
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The sachets can be bought from several sources on the Net, such as The Furry Pharm, PetDrugs Quick, and the Penstone Pet Store in order of increasing purchase price (at the time of writing).
Avipro Plus.
Avipro is a pro-biotic combination of bacteria, enzymes, electrolytes and vitamins. Easily administered in the water due to its high palatability. Useful to balance the gut flora of the newly purchased small animals that develops diarrhoea after it is taken home, or those on antibiotic treatment; also supports animals under stress.
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It is available in 100g, again from Penstone Pet Store.
Bene-Bac gel
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Bene-Bac™ Pet Gel provides chinchillas with
the needed beneficial bacteria for intestinal stabilization and proper
digestion.
It is a lactobacillus acidophilus product developed to provide the colony
forming units needed to ensure the beneficial bacteria needed for proper digestion.
Each gram provides 10 million colony forming units of viable lactic acid producing
bacteria (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus
faecium, Lactobacillus casei). It also contains dried Lactobacillus acidophilus
fermentation product, dried L. plantarum fermentation product, dried Enterococcus
faecium fermentation product, dried L. casei fermentation product, vegetable
oils, sugar, silicon dioxide, artificial color, Polysorbate 80 preserved with
tertiary butyl hydroquinone. Highly palatable, Bene-Bac™ helps chins
under adverse conditions such as traveling, breeding and even antibiotic therapy,
all instances in which the delicate balance of good bacteria can be compromised.
It comes in a 15 gram syringe. The syringe plunger is graduated in grams for
accurate controlled dosing. One major reason for using Bene-Bac™ instead
of yogurt is that the milk sugars and carbohydrates in yogurt may promote
overgrowth of the harmful type of bacteria. Bene-Bac™ has a long shelf
life at room temperature, but should not be stored next to radiators or other
heat sources.
It can be purchased in the States (so don't expect
too fast a delivery due to the distance involved) from Chinworld.com and Lone
Star Chinchillas.