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16 week old boar with broken front leg

Lanie

Lanie

New Born Pup
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Hello everyone I am new to the forum thought I would join as I have read some really great advice regarding cages etc.

I have 2 16 week old boar guinea pigs called Nugget and Nacho my 8 year old daughter chose the names after her favourite foods lol.

So unfortunately on the 21st March 2019 I was cleaning out the boys cage and they were in their play pen having floor time I turned my back for 5 minutes whilst I was putting in their clean bedding and when I turned back round to put them back in their cage I noticed Nacho was limping and his front paw was floopy I immediately took him to the vets and after an x ray it was confirmed his front leg was broken 😢 the vet told me that it was not fully broken ie some of the bone is still attached so they have put a splint on it and he’s to rest and he has been given metacam for pain relief weve to go back on Sunday for a check up I honestly do not know how it happened but the vet did tell me that at this age they are very playful and boisterous so it could have happened whilst they were playing.

My question is has anyone else went through this with their piggie and can offer any advice or reassurance that everything will be ok as the vet did say if it doesn’t mend then they will need to amputate the leg off. I tried separating them so that Nacho gets complete rest but this did not go down well with the pair of them they have been together since they were 4 weeks old so I had to take down the barrier as the pair of them were getting extremely stressed out and I was worried they would injure themselves so far Nugget has been fantastic he is grooming Nacho and he is keeping his distance its as if he knows something is wrong with his buddy.

Nacho is eating and drinking but he is just not his normal self which I am assuming is normal considering he has a broken leg I am just so worried that the leg wont heal can a guinea pig do well with 3 legs?

Any advice or reassurance will be greatly appreciated.

I have attached a picture of my beautiful babies Nugget is the grey and white one and Nacho is brown. Does anyone know what breed they are as I am also unsure of this and I am trying to get insurance for them but they want to know the breed of them.
 

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Sorry to hear this welcome to the forum.

I am going to tag in a few medical experts on the forum to see if they have any experience of this @Jaycey @helen105281 @Abi_nurse @Adelle @Freela @furryfriends (TEAS)

The metacam acts as pain relief, what does he weigh and what is the dose given please? Is it Dog or Cat Metacam.

The fact he is eating is excellent as pain can sometimes ut them off food.

Can i ask a rough location for you? There is a thread on broken legs here Broken Leg
 
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It is dog metacam and he is on 0.15ml once daily in the morning. The vet did weigh him but she didn’t say what he weighed however I did weigh them on Sunday 17th March and Nacho was roughly 820g I am in the Glasgow area.
 
@Lanie My very first piggy broke his leg and it healed up fine so there's chance that your boy will be okay.

If he's struggling or seems to be in pain ask your vet about increasing the Metacam. One of my boys weighs 770g and he currently has 0.25ml of dog Metacam twice a day. They have high metabolisms so they can handle twice daily doses quite comfortably. It's also an anti inflammatory so it could heal with the healing process.
 
Sorry, don’t have any experience with broken legs x
 
I had an eight year old sow who broke her hind leg and it was pinned and fixated externally. It healed well and she was fine, if a little stiff afterwards. Interestingly, I wasn't given th option of amputation, just pts, but I've heard of other piggies here doing well on three legs. Hope that helps.
 
We adopted a piggy who turned out to have a badly healed fracture on her back leg just above the knee that hadnt been treated, she just has a knobbly back knee joint that wont bend and a bit of a limp and needs metacam/loxicom on days when it bothers her. Might be different with a weight-bearing front leg, but limpy pigs can be fine, as long as they have cushiony flooring. Piggy legs dont heal as well as long legs you can immobilise in a plaster cast I think, but they can heal, sometimes a bit stiff or lumpy. If it doesnt heal, or the bone is exposed through the soft tissues and there is infection risk, or piggy is in a lot of pain, amputation may be a better option... but piggies can survive broken legs, with a good quality of life, if that helps!
 
Thanks for all of your replies. Today he has mostly just stayed in his house but this evening he came out for his dinner 😀 he has been drinking and he currently has his head in the hay pile. He is walking around a wee bit and he sometimes puts weight on his front leg so I am taking this as all postives. @Posyrose the vet didn’t mention PTS at all it didn’t even get brought up she said worse case scenario amputation it just goes to show it depends on the vet think I would have been shocked if that was mentioned especially for a broken leg.
 
I don't have any personal experience with broken legs, but my best advice would be to watch the splint and make sure it stays tight and the pig doesn't chew it or otherwise compromise it. The purpose is to tightly hold the bones in place so a callus can form, which won't happen if it loosens and fails to maintain the bones in the anatomic position. Hopefully with the splint and his young age the bone will reknit well. I would just be sure to see the vet if you have any doubt that the sling is breaking down because that's going to be vital.
 
Lanie said:
Thanks for all of your replies. Today he has mostly just stayed in his house but this evening he came out for his dinner 😀 he has been drinking and he currently has his head in the hay pile. He is walking around a wee bit and he sometimes puts weight on his front leg so I am taking this as all postives. @Posyrose the vet didn’t mention PTS at all it didn’t even get brought up she said worse case scenario amputation it just goes to show it depends on the vet think I would have been shocked if that was mentioned especially for a broken leg.
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I'm so glad he's doing well....putting weight on the leg is a really good sign. The vet I went to then was a general vet and they might not have known about the success of amputation for piggies. I had expected it as the 'worst' option. The guy who did the surgery was an orthopaedic expert but Molly was a star as she was obviously the first small furry whose owner had been prepared to pay for the procedure! Her x rays were circulated to all the vets in the practice and everyone who cared for her knew who she was.
 
Thanks everyone we are back at the vets tomorrow for a check up and I will post an update if there is any progress really hoping everything is going as planned as ive barely slept since this all happened as ive been so worried about him.
 
Poor little chap. Yes they can heal. It really does depend on how exactly is is fractured, couldn't really comment without seeing the X-ray.

As for three legs, yes they can do well. I had a pig with one front leg and he did well, so this is an option if needed, but hopefully it won't come to this.

Let us know how he gets on.

x
 
We adopted a boy with an old leg fracture. We were told never to let him use a ramp. I honestly can’t remember which leg it is though, it has healed beautifully!
 
Hi everyone just thought I would give an update on Nacho so he had his check up and the vet is very happy with him and she is impressed that the splint has stayed on she said because the bone isnt fully broken it should heal just fine and pretty quickly quicker than a dog or cat he is to go back next Sunday for another check up but so far so good 😊.

I did mention that I couldn’t separate them because I tried and both of them were going crazy trying to get at one another and she said that’s fine they have clearly got a strong friendship as when Nacho was getting checked Nugget was squeaking so loud at her think he was saying oh you what are you doing to my buddy because as soon as Nacho was back in the carrier with Nugget he was silent :lol!:

I will keep posting his progress but thank you everyone for your responses.
 
Glad he's doing well!
I think the first few days are probably the most uncertain so if the vet is pleased with his progress that's great news :)
 
Aw, great news, hoping he makes a full recovery and back on all fours in no time x
 
Poor little Nacho! Glad he’s doing better today! Sending healing vibes 🐹
 
Hi Everyone

Sorry I haven’t posted any updates recently been a busy couple of weeks.

I am really happy to report that Nacho is doing great. He had the splint and bandage taken off yesterday :yahoo:.

The vet is delighted with Nacho’s progress and wants to see how he manages at home without anything on the leg.

He is doing really well he is putting weight on it and walks on it occasionally think he needs to get used to having his 4 legs again.

He is back at the vets next week for another check up fingers crossed that the vet is happy to discharge him.

Will update next week.
 
:yahoo::yahoo::yahoo: Aw, that’s great news, sounds like Nacho will be back on all fours in no time x
 
Hello Everyone

Nacho was at the vet yesterday and it’s fantastic news Nacho’s leg has fully healed and the vet said that he shouldn’t have any other problems as they took an x-ray and the bone has knitted back together perfectly. :D

Not going to lie the whole of Nacho’s treatment has cost a small fortune £690 to be exact but my boys are totally worth every penny.

Its so nice to see Nugget and Nacho playing together like they used too and I think Nugget is delighted to have his buddy back to his usual self as he hasn’t stopped pop corning :lol!:

No more vet appointments needed now myself, husband and daughter can stop worrying and enjoy our beautiful boys. :yahoo:

Thank you everyone for their reassurances and replies you are all very kind.

If anyone ever experiences this with their piggies which I hope they dont please don’t hesitate to message me and I will try and provide the same support and offer any advice and information that I can.

:D
 
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