• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

New piggy - broken leg, advice needed

S

s.buck

New Born Pup
Joined
Jul 29, 2018
Messages
28
Reaction score
21
Points
155
Location
Lincoln, UK
Hi, we posted on Sunday night saying how we had got two Guinea Pigs that day and how on getting them home we immediately suspected something wrong with one of their legs. We got him straight to the vet on Monday morning and it turns out he had a broken femur. The vet we saw was confident that because he was only 8 weeks old it would heal on its own and gave us some painkillers to give him each day. Anyway, on Wednesday we took the other one into the vets with suspected mites which he had (the place we got them from was really not nice, but thats a different matter - we are reporting them to the RSPCA). They are inseparable and get very stressed when they are apart so we took both of them to the vets on Wednesday. The second vet was not as positive about the broken leg, even though we weren't there for that. She said if its not showing signs of healing within a week he would need surgery or his leg amputating. We can't afford surgery and can barely afford amputation, but if thats what we have to do then so be it - we are not willing to have him put down if he can have a happy life on three legs. I've read that most guinea pigs are fine with three legs, does anyone have experience of this? Also, the past two nights he has seemed way happier, he's not spending all of his time in his house and is eating lots and drinking. We were told to restrict his movement, but this is quite hard as we cant separate the two and if we do he is more restless than when they are together. The other one can be slightly clumsy as he's a little bigger (two weeks older) but its not malicious in anyway, just if he gets spooked by something. We are hoping that as he's moving, eating and drinking, it's a sign that he's mending and is happy, but don't want to get our hopes up. Has anyone been in a similar situation? The other one seems very happy in his new home but definitely can't bear to be without his friend!
 
The vet who has seen the xrays will always know best, but if it helps we just adopted a piggy who must have broken her leg when she was a lot younger and it has healed badly- she cant straighten her leg or walk on it but she's not in any pain and is healthy and happy and hops on one foot. So please DO definitely get treatment but dont worry if you end up with a lopsided piggy. Amputation seems a bit extreme but the vet probably knows best. If the 2 vets you have seen disagree then you should ask for another vets opinion. But a hopalong disabled piggy can be happy as long as they arent in any pain, they just might need extra care like bum baths if they cant get to the toilet corner so well. And maybe nice soft fleecy furniture and flooring to take the weight off the remaining foot when they are resting.
 
Thanks for the reply. They have both seen the xray to some extent as I took a picture and showed it to the other vet. The bone in his leg has slipped and the first vet said that it unlikely that that it will heal straight so he will always have a lump. We don't mind if that happens or he has three legs, we just want him to be happy and not to be in pain. As I say he seems quite happy already so fingers crossed. We are still so angry that someone can care so little - we saw they way they were handled when we collected them and its remarkable that a broken legs was all that was suffered :cen:
 
Poor piggy, I hope he has a much happier future with you! Our disabled piggy Clover has just what you said, a big bony lump just above her back leg joint, but I think she is better off with that than no leg as she can hop on it a bit and use it to get up when she's lying down. But a fracture might get infected if the sharp bit of broken bone tears the muscles or skin and it must be very painful- and restricting any piggy's movement is very difficult! Talk it all through with the vets, maybe ask to meet with both of them if they disagree about the treatment, but they should be able to help poor piggy somehow especially if he's so young. Healing wheeks from all our piggies anyway especially hopalong Clover!
 
Welcome to the forum and well done for rescuing the piggies.
Sounds as if they’ve landed on their paws with you.
I would imagine you weren’t prepared for hefty vet bills quite so quickly but you could discuss staggered payments with your vet. Some are amenable to that.
Also there is the PDSA.

Hope all works out well for them.
When things settle please let us see pictures
 
He already looks so much happier than when we first got him - happily eating veggies, hay and guinea nuggets. Theres lots of wheeks coming from both piggys too! Sure, we weren't ready for vet bills but we will make sure he's sorted - we are just glad we got them out of there!
 
I had a boar who had to have one of his back legs amputated due to an infected cut. He managed perfectly well for the rest of his life on the remaining three legs. I stopped putting food on the shelf in his cage because I wasn't sure that he would be able to stretch or jump up on to the shelf, but that was the only difference. I hope though that your piggy gets better without amputation though, that would obviously be better :nod:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top