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My guinea has a broken back leg

H

Hoppyandhoney

Junior Guinea Pig
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I’m really struggling on what to do. My baby girl broke her leg 2 weeks ago now , she’s had numerous casts on since then to keep her leg straight. The doctors said that her leg isn’t healing as they had hoped so far, the doctor had mentioned a few times putting her down, but that could never be an option because she’s my little baby. They also talked about amputating the leg but tbf I YouTubed 3 legged guineas and they all looked so sad it broke my heart and I really don’t want that for her. Her legs swollen and last time I saw it it looked pretty bad, but she has another cast on now. I’m hoping it’s not too late to get a pin in her leg to straighten it, i give her as much love and cucumber as I can (her favourite snack) if not does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do please? Thanks

Ps my Guineas seem to hate everything I feed them. They eat loads and are getting bigger (they’re sisters and 5 months) I give them about 3 or 4 handfulls of Timothy hay a day filling up there feeder and putting some in their den, I give them a bowl of guinea food and veg, they LOVE cucumber and could eat it all day however they don’t really like kale , cabbage , collyflower , tomato, apple , carrots , banana, orange , I give them a mixture int heir bowl but they are so fussy they always just eat the cucumber and the occasional piece of the other thing, I end up going through half a cumber a day maybe more coz I don’t want them to be hungry and I know it’s their favourite snack
 
:wel:
piggies can live a long fulfilled life with three legs so please don’t feel sorry for them. YouTube is a mixture of things so I wouldn’t advise you make your decision based on what you’ve seen there. There are several members on here who have/had three legged piggies, and they were absolutely fine and still able to get around - they adapt to the change in circumstances. i wouldn’t allow your girl to be put down. Is the vet experienced with guinea pigs?

With regards their eating, were they fed a variety of veg where they were before you got them? If not then they’re likely not used to it. I would recommend you stop feeding the carrot, apple, cauliflower, cabbage etc every day. Kale is high in calcium and shouldn’t be fed more than once a week, and not in the same week as other calcium-high veg (eg spinach). Cabbage (and possibly cauliflower) and broccoli can cause gas so should be fed in small amounts. Fruits, tomatoes and carrots should be fed only once a week (one of them). They’re high in sugar. Tomatoes and citrus fruits can also cause sores due to the acidity. Pellets should be only a tablespoon per piggy per day, not an unlimited supply all day long. Their diet should be made up of at least 80% hay. Veg 10-15% and pellets 5%. So you can see how they’re not as important as the hay. So if you cut back on the veg and pellets, their hay intake should hopefully increase. Are you weighing them weekly as well? Heft is the best indicator of good size, because each piggy has its own range of ok weight, like us humans ☺️
Weight - Monitoring and Management

Try some lettuce (except iceberg) with the piggies - romaine, little gem, salad mixes with red and green leaves. Coriander (cilantro) and pepper are a good source of vitamin c, which they can’t make themselves. Green beans and celery (stalk not leaves) are also other veg you can feed daily. As a treat you can give them other herbs, or a dandelion leaf each (not daily though). Parsley is quite a popular herb amongst piggies, but is high in calcium?.. so shouldn’t be fed too regularly

As an example, if I have everything in then I feed the piggies as follows: a lettuce leaf in the morning. Then in the afternoon they’ll get a green bean, a sprig of coriander (cilantro), a slice of cucumber, celery and pepper, and their pellets. I’ve linked to the guide to feeding below. Please have a read and see how you can swap round.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
I've read of some pigs on the forum who have had amputations and have done quite well, so I wouldn't write that option off. Animals are surprisingly adaptable. Are you seeing a vet who regularly does orthopedic surgeries and who is familiar with small animals? If not, a referral might help to let you know just what is and isn't possible with a leg that size. Some breaks can be pinned, others are not well-suited to that kind of intervention (i.e. if there is no intact bone to pin to.) This is also not a surgery you want done by someone who isn't experienced with it... guinea pigs have tiny, fragile bones, and any orthopedic pinning is going to be difficult and you will want someone who can give you the best opinion of what's possible and what the reasonable outcomes are. I hope you can talk frankly to the vet, see if a referral is necessary or possible, and get a really definitive answer on what is the best option going forward.
 
I have to agree with everything @Siikibam and @Freela have said.
Having an amputation (if that is what a specialist recommends) is what I would lean towards.
Siikibam has also given you good advice regarding how to change their diet. The guides that have been linked in are very helPful
 
so today her cast came off and we called the vets , they said to keep her in a small space today but they said the likely hood is not very good for the pin, But we can still try. They said the best thing to do is amputation of the leg but I really don’t want to do it I’m so upset especially because it’s her back leg apparently she will struggle more. But today she stratched her eye with her bad foot. It still has a lump but she’s not in loads of pain. I’ve kept her with her sister as even next to eachother they wouldn’t stop crying being apart ! It’s Been 2 and a half weeks since injury but she’s not in pain so I’m going to push it back to the end of the 6 weeks and see how she’s doing then, as she is also putting some weight on the leg I’ve got quite a few opinions on amputating but I don’t think it’s right for her
 
also Thankyou for the feeding guide ! My Guinness have been trying green beans they seem to spit it all out but the bean haha
 
Piggies hide pain well so don’t assume that she’s not in pain. When is she being seen by the vet again?
 
I see several 3 legged dogs in my local area. It seems animals can thrive like this. If the vet had recommended it, then it must be better for your piggy versus being in pain for weeks from an unhealed broken leg.
 
Hey guys I just wanted to do a little update on how hoppys doing . I was hasty about the pin and amputation and all in good reason! It took about 4/5 days for me to get an appointment with the only guinea pig specialist in the area, and I felt like a horrible pet owner because she had nothing on her leg, when I got to the vets , they had showed me her previous scan and it was far worse from the others that I had seen before, like the bone was like 2 parallel lines around the break, the bones were literally over lapping inside the leg, and that is probably why she had such a massive bump, I told the vet that I have been seeing improvements and she’s so happy and was even jumping on her back legs to get to her hay feeder and I saw her scratch her face with her foot, meaning the bones aren’t floppy . When the vet took hoppy away to do her next scan however , 4-5 days of having no cast on , the bone had started to heal as we had expected from the beginning, he believed the cast was actually preventing the leg from healing and for the last few weeks she’s been a very happy piggie , she has a check up in about a week just to check on her leg, the doctors said when she’s older she may get arthritis in her leg around the area of the breaks but that’s a problem of the future ! I’m just so glad things worked out as they did as I never thought her leg being out would make it better, but that’s what she needed all along
 
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