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Broken Leg

trolldoll

trolldoll

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello, I'm new to this forum and discovered you whilst I was googling information about broken bones in guinea pigs. Our lovely Charlie has a broken back leg. He leapt out of my daughter's arms and fell about 3 foot. Realised he was lame when he stopped coming out for his food. The vet x-rayed him last night and gave us 3 options, 1 amputation (about £300), take him to the exotic animals hospital and have his leg repaired (£500++) or have him put down. He is two years old and is a huge part of our family, lives in the house, is an only-piggie, watches TV with us etc etc. The vet said we could also, 'do nothing and the leg would eventually heal but that we would be very cruel to do this as Charlie would develop a callus on the bone and would be in terrible pain.' After his first dose of Metocam, he has perked up and has started getting around his new ground-level home. He is eating, drinking, toileting and resting. He has never been very active, doesn't run when in his run etc. He does not appear to be struggling and is still busy gnawing his cardboard tube, eating etc. I would really love to hear from anyone who has been through this and can advise. We love him to bits and desperately don't want to lose him.
 
crazy vet! put him down for a simple broken leg and saying that it will be cruel let the leg have a callus! this is what happens in nature and also to a lot of humans (I also have a wrong callus to one of my fingers and it does not give me any issue although the finger is a bit bent). Of course it would be better to get a callus in the right way, for not losing the function of the leg, but your vet did wrong, sorry.
Here in my building there live a cat who had a broken leg long ago; of course he does not walk normally but he has a great life and runs after lizards. My neighbour's rabbit, too; broken leg long ago, no treatment and he is now very old.
Be careful with the vets, it is better to spend double and have a good and professional advice and treatment, than wasting money with such "doctors".
 
oh, I forgot the main thing:
welcome to this friendly forum! (I am not friendly with stupid doctors, though)
 
trolldoll said:
Hello, I'm new to this forum and discovered you whilst I was googling information about broken bones in guinea pigs. Our lovely Charlie has a broken back leg. He leapt out of my daughter's arms and fell about 3 foot. Realised he was lame when he stopped coming out for his food. The vet x-rayed him last night and gave us 3 options, 1 amputation (about £300), take him to the exotic animals hospital and have his leg repaired (£500++) or have him put down. He is two years old and is a huge part of our family, lives in the house, is an only-piggie, watches TV with us etc etc. The vet said we could also, 'do nothing and the leg would eventually heal but that we would be very cruel to do this as Charlie would develop a callus on the bone and would be in terrible pain.' After his first dose of Metocam, he has perked up and has started getting around his new ground-level home. He is eating, drinking, toileting and resting. He has never been very active, doesn't run when in his run etc. He does not appear to be struggling and is still busy gnawing his cardboard tube, eating etc. I would really love to hear from anyone who has been through this and can advise. We love him to bits and desperately don't want to lose him.
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Please get a second opinion. There is no reason to put your guinea pig to sleep.

Depending on how well the leg heals/where the break is (weight bearing/long term pain) and whether there are long term complications (arthritis), amputation is in some cases a valid alternative in order to maximise quality of life - but even 'tripod' piggies can get around just fine and still enjoy their lives to the hilt.
 
Welcome to the forum. Please get a second opinion! An experienced and piggy savvy vet will be able to help!
 
Hi! I don't have any experience of broken legs in guinea pigs and how well they heal up by themselves (or not), but I did have a piggy that had to have a back leg amputated due to an infected cut. £300 sounds about right for the op and medicines afterwards. My boar healed up really well and very quickly after the op, and he trundled round the cage quite happily for the rest of his life. He never was a fast mover, so I don't know if having only 3 legs slowed him down at all. ;)
 
Hi, so sorry to hear about your piggy's accident. A few years ago now I also had a pig who broke a back leg following a fall. I was advised by a piggy savvy vet that the best option would be to have it amputated.

Leaving a broken leg can potentially result in long term pain, arthritis and the possibility of further injury depending on how the leg heals, by this I mean if he cant use it properly or it heals at an angle it may get in the way and get knocked.

Having it repaired is something I would not consider as this would involve putting pins in which would need to be removed at a later date, so multiple operations. Also as their bones are small and light this type of surgery is often unsuccessful.

Removing a broken leg is a relatively straight forward procedure. With it gone there will be no future complications and piggies can get around very well on three legs. Also as it is a back leg this is better news than had it been a front leg, as the front legs carry most of the weight, which is in the chest and skull, where as the back legs are much more about propelling the pig forwards. My piggy, Mutley, was only 5 months old when it happened and he went on to live to be 6 years. With only 3 legs he could still bomb around as fast as any one else.

The only thing to be aware of is that with a leg missing he will not be able to groom properly, scratch his ear, etc, so he will need daily brushing and his ears cleaning every so often.

I would recommend you have the leg removed.
 
rome_italy said:
crazy vet! put him down for a simple broken leg and saying that it will be cruel let the leg have a callus! this is what happens in nature and also to a lot of humans (I also have a wrong callus to one of my fingers and it does not give me any issue although the finger is a bit bent). Of course it would be better to get a callus in the right way, for not losing the function of the leg, but your vet did wrong, sorry.
Here in my building there live a cat who had a broken leg long ago; of course he does not walk normally but he has a great life and runs after lizards. My neighbour's rabbit, too; broken leg long ago, no treatment and he is now very old.
Be careful with the vets, it is better to spend double and have a good and professional advice and treatment, than wasting money with such "doctors".
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Thank you, my thoughts exactly. I am so glad you replied.
 
I think you should discuss your options with a better vet I've know all sorts of animals with a leg removed, they are just as mobile, to an animal they probably don't notice. I agree with pound shilling & pig. You probably wouldn't get pins through the leg. It would be awful if he was in pain constantly. I think you have work out what's better for him, not what's better for you. Hugs coming your way.
 
One in York..

Battle Fts Veterinary Clinic
Mark Naguib
Buttercrambe Road
Stamford Bridge
York, YO41 1AN
01759 371066

Will ask around for a Hull based vet

Lee
 
My boar had a broken leg at some point in his history. I can't remember which one, it was pointed out when we adopted him as his leg was thicker on that side but otherwise there is no way you can tell anything happened. He certainly does plenty of zoomies!
 
Just a little update on Charlie's broken leg... after lots of thought and consideration, we decided to wait and see before we made any 'wrong decisions.' We moved his home to a pen on the floor, with all he needed within close reach. He was lame for a couple of weeks, then began to move around. After a month, he went back to his cage but with no steps/ledge, just an edible house for him to hide in. We watched him closely, managing his pain with Metacam (which he loved!) and waited. We figured that if he was in pain or struggling, we would then make the decision to amputate. However, he quickly perked up and was fairly quickly back to full mobility. So, thank you to everyone who responded to my ormessage. We have a happy guineapig who seems to use his leg just as he did before the break!
 
trolldoll said:
Just a little update on Charlie's broken leg... after lots of thought and consideration, we decided to wait and see before we made any 'wrong decisions.' We moved his home to a pen on the floor, with all he needed within close reach. He was lame for a couple of weeks, then began to move around. After a month, he went back to his cage but with no steps/ledge, just an edible house for him to hide in. We watched him closely, managing his pain with Metacam (which he loved!) and waited. We figured that if he was in pain or struggling, we would then make the decision to amputate. However, he quickly perked up and was fairly quickly back to full mobility. So, thank you to everyone who responded to my ormessage. We have a happy guineapig who seems to use his leg just as he did before the break!
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I'm glad he's feeling better I was reading through, worrying on your behalf for your poor piglet!
 
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