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10 week old with broken leg

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sue 1974

sue 1974

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I have had a 10 week old piggie brought into the rescue. He has a fracture in his right back leg. The vets say a splint won't work as then he will have to have his leg straight all the time. They are sending the xrays off to a Rodent expert, who says depending on how it looks a pin might work.

The vet didn't thind amputation would work as they put all their weight on their back legs, he is also very little for an op.

Any advice?
 
Phone Vedra at the CCT, 07721 026401, she has experience in these matters.

Whilst I have no experience in this problem I think that an op. to pin the fracture would be a traumatic procedure that he would not survive.
An amputation could lead to mobility problems.
Depending where the fracture is, at his age a fracture should heal fairly quickly, especially if it is a "greenstick" fracture.
I would be very tempted to take a conservative approach, by restricting his movement for a few days in a narrow box and to loosely splint the leg.
I would not go down the route of an op. under a general anaesthetic.
 
Poor piggie, I'm sure you come across quite a few difficult cases in rescue but it is especially hard with one so young. Any idea how he did it, or was he a 'stray' pig?

Even until the treatment route is decided, keeping him in a very restricted space is worthwhile.

Keeping my fingers crossed that something can be done for him. x
 
I had a rescue pig with a broken rear leg a few years back now.

I had him on cage rest in a very small cage for about 3 weeks then restricted exercise still for a further month. I gave osteocare (from Boots) for 6 weeks to help with calcium levels. This was all on the advice of the CCT and he did really well on it. Splinting etc just wouldn't have worked and apart from a slightly sticky out foot it caused no lasting problems :)
 
i cant help with a fractured leg issue but my Boris did fracture his back and i was told to keep him in a small cage to reduce the chance of injurying him more xxxxx
 
Our Oscar ruptured a tendon in his right leg, the vet put it in a splint, but after three days he nibbled it off, and in so doing chew through the blood supply to his toes 8=(. He then had to have a large dressing on, to enable the wound to heal and to stop him nibbling. He dragged this behind him for the first four weeks, the next week he held it up against him, The dressing was removed a week ago and I'm pleased to say he's half using the sore foot. The worst toe fell off, the middle toe looks a bit dicey, but he's perked up remarklably.
We're very new to Piggle Keeping, but I'd suggest a splint may not be the best option from our perspective. The original injury was must less serious than what he did to himself. You'd think the "OW"! reflex would kick in! Our vet mentioned pinning too, but we didn't go down that avenue. We kept him in a restricted space for a couple of days but he was extremely miserable, especially as we were advised to separate him from his mates. He's now living inside with one of our girls, and is making steady progress, and is so much happier. Restricting his space was difficult with the massive dressing on, as he couldn't manoevure properly.
I hope our experience may help a little.
 
Well good news, spoke to Vedra last night, she said there no need for an op or anything last night, she was horrifed (like i was)they wanted to put him to sleep. I am taking him to her tonight so she can deal with him.

She said something about putting him on a vibrating table to help his muscles! It was 1230 at night so wasn't really with it.
 
How did you get on at Vedra's? If I'd known you were over this way I would have invited you over, missed this thread yesterday though.

Fingers crossed Vedra can fix this little piggie!
 
Thanks Laura, i didn't know what time i was taking him there, it turned out to be the morning. She has kept him in and says he will be fine, she will be putting him on a massage table to help circulation etc. She will put the leg back in line and then it should heal on it's own.
I don't know when he will be back with me, but don't think it will be long.

Laura i picked up the first part of my course, i spoke about the residential problem and she said not to worry she will sort something out:)):)):)):))
 
Excellent news - both on piggie and the course. I was worried about asking Vedra if there was a way around it with my agoraphobia, but she couldn't have been nicer! EVen just reading the coursework notes you'll learn so much - enjoy!
 
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