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Paralysed back legs

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DaveF68

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First time poster - was a long time GP owner, but when the kids came along we decided not to replace the oldies when they passed away, as we didn't have the time we wanted to dedicate to them. Now the kids are older, and can be responsible for pets, we are back in the GP business!

However...

One of our 2.5 year old boys came down with what appeared to be overnight paralysis of the back legs. We tried Peter Guerney's Osteocare remedy, but there was no improvement so we took him to the vet. The vet said to continue with the oeseo are for a few days, but no effect. He then, noticing a 'squeak' when you felt his spine, tried Metacalm (2 drops a day, then upped to three after another week) But no improvement.

He is eating normally, and weeing and pooing OK, but he just seems to circle around one spot. He is also getting wet, so we are having to treat a small patch of urine scald (with Bepanthen Ointment).

He doesn't seem in any pain apart from the scald patch, and has sensation in both legs. Does anyone hav any ideas? Would swimming therapy work?

He is a bit special as he is the first 'chirping' piggy we have had!
 
Hi Dave

What a worry! Hind leg paralysis is really concerning as there is not much known about this condition or its causes/treatments in piggies. Some vets treat hind leg paralysis as an automatic PTS so it's good to hear your vet is Ok with the osteocare and willing to keep going.

Given the sore spot and other symptoms I would be asking my vet now for an Xray to see what is going on with the spine and back legs.

Meta-cam as an anti-inflammatory will help if there is arthiritis/bruising but for pain relief in these situations I have found trama-dol to be a better and can be given alongside meta-cam.

However you need to find the cause of the paralysis and if the osteo-care has not had an effect (and I would caution against giving too much over too long a period as it can completely shock/irrepairably damage the gut and kidneys if given beyond PG's dosage recommendations) then I would suggest an Xray is your next step. Your boy is still quite young - it could be just bruising from falling awkwardly but it needs to be checked out.

Re the urine scald - benpathen or sudo-cream are good - and the odd bum bath. I have an arthritic elderly male who needs a bum bath every week to prevent urine scald - plus he gets his cage changed every day.

Re the swimming therapy - anything;s worth a try in this situation.

Sounds like you are doing everything you can for your little boy - hope the suggestions are helpful.

x
 
Just want to say I hope he shows some improvement and you get to the bottom of this. Healing vibes for your special boy. :laluot_29::laluot_29::laluot_29:
 
Pebble said:
Hi Dave

What a worry! Hind leg paralysis is really concerning as there is not much known about this condition or its causes/treatments in piggies. Some vets treat hind leg paralysis as an automatic PTS so it's good to hear your vet is Ok with the osteocare and willing to keep going.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions - our vet is pretty good with piggies (He admits that when his kids were younger, they had 9 of them!) and his wife (also a vet) was quite happy to do back tooth clipping without anethetic when we had our previous brood
 
Hi Dave

Forgot to say - I have had two boys with hind limb paralysis. Both as the result weird/sudden type of possible infection but not a specific URI or UTI - i.e. couldn;t be pinned down to anything in particular.

Both recovered full use of their hind limbs after 7-10 days - following agressive antibiotic therapy (septrin and baytril combined) and constant syringe feeding of 20-30ml every 3 hours plus 5ml fluids every hour. ....and some osteocare as per PG. Also as you have already said - providing protecting against urine scald aided both their recoveries.

HTH - keeping my fingers crossed for your boy, He's clearly in very capable hands.
x
 
Hi Dave just been reading your intro thread......
Sorry to hear about your little piggie :... (sorry i don't know his name...)

sending.....

HEALING WHEEEEEEEEEKY LOVES FROM THE GIRLS AND I XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
i hope everything turns out ok for your piggy. i had one of mine with who went off their back legs. the osteocare worked wonders for her and 2 years later she is still going strong. i'll keep my fingers crossed for your piggy.
 
I've had one piggy with hind leg paralysis but this was due to scurvy. He was very young though and has now fully recovered. I don't think your guinea is suffering from this but just wanted to share my experience. I know it sounds obvious but make sure they are able to drink from the water bottle/get to food. And I would also suggest swimming therapy - I was suggested this by my vet for my piggy and it was helpful. Good luck and I hope he recovers soon.
 
best of luck with your piggie, you sound as if you are doing all you can for him. Fingers crossed and squeaks from Bertie xx
 
Thanks for all the good wishes folks. The power of your thoughts seems to be working, as things are looking up. When I got home from work, I thought he looked more perky, and when I went to pick him up to take him to the vet, the little rascal actually ran away from me - the first time he's moved under his own back legs for 3 weeks. He's still a little unsteady, and doesn't move far (unless he has to) but a definite improvement.

Slightly converesly, I suspect the sores on his tummy have causd him to have to use his legs again, as this morning he seemed be sitting up to lift his tuummy off the ground. His leg joints are a bit sore (possibly through lack of use!) so the vet has upped his metacalm dose, and she also gave us some Baytrilas a preventative just in case the sores get infected (although they are looking nice and clean and less sore than yesterday). He is also grooming much more than he has been, and seems to like his vet bed more than before (I suspect one of the causes of the sores was he kept crawling off it.).

Oh, his name is Tom (One half of Tom & Jerry!). It has to be said, that although they have been together since they were babies, Jerry seems to quite like being a solo pig (albeit he still chases the cats!)!
 
wooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooo fab news x)x)x)

I'm wondering if maybe putting a sock over the wounds will also stop Tom (love the names x)) from scratching the wounds and also prevent the urine stinging it .. ?
People have done this before with large wounds......they cut a sock so it can be put over the piggie, not too tight but enough that they can't wriggle out of it, it will need to be changed and washed regularly also :)

HEALING WHEEEEEEEEEEEKS FOR TOM XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
I've had this happen to one of my older pigges ( she's 5 now ) twice over the last 18 months or so. The first occassion was the worse, with the vet unsure of what treatment to recommend and said it was unlikely she'd recover. I think someone might have mentioned earlier about osteocare but here's a link as well http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/paral.htm

I did my own research and devised a little regime which involved osteocare and a little light physiotherapy where I would kind of bicycle her back legs and also put her back end in warm water and try to encourage her to move her legs. After a few days she started improving and after a few weeks was back to normal. We couldn't believe it, she literally dragged her legs round behind her ( the only thing I can compare it to is the dog jesse from family guy, thats how she got round! )

The second time round we spotted it within a few hours of it coming on and immediately started her on osteocare which nipped it in the bud.
 
Typically with pigs, it's one thing then another!

His sores are healing well (One is almost gone, the other side has scabbed nicely) and he is moving around his run with a little wobblyness, although he has decided he prefers hay to vet bed again! Even put him outside on the grass for a little while yesterday as it was a nice warm day.

However, noticed yesterday he didn't seem interested in eating, except for his favourite celery. (He is drinking fine, indeed with relish!). A quick listen and feel indicates his teeth are grinding a bit, so it's off to the vet again to see if we can get a little dental work done! I don't think it is too bad, it might even just need a litte front tooth trimming.

Back to the joys of syringe feeding until then (I'd forgotten about that!)! He took to it quite quickly (2nd syringe) after realising I wasn't putting medicine down his throat!.

Piggies, who'd have 'them! LOL! :)
 
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I am very sorry - it is often a string of things once there is a bug in. I hope that he can get over this one, too.
 
An update.

The vet found his back teeth were a little overgrown, but nothing to worry about no hooks or anything else - she thought that perhaps the Baytril had caused a tummy upset, so took him off it (as his sores had healed and no sign of infection).

The next day he wolfed down 5 syringes of Excel mulch in one sitting! He seems to be improving, he's now eating from the bowl again (Bought some of the highly favoured lackcurrant & Oregano food!) veg is eaten and hay eating fairly constantly

He's still a bit stiff and wobbly on his back legs, but he seems happy and doesn't seem in pain (Lets you manipulate his legs without squeaking in protest) and he moves around the run.
 
Family matters and work meant I forgot to update you on how Tom was doing.

He started eating normally again (indeed eagerly) and was beginning to put weight on. The vet was ahppy with his progress over a couple of weeks, but his movement was still restricted, although he was compensating by hopping' rather like a rabbit.

Then we noticed that he wasn't putting weight on one leg properly - the vet didn't think it felt right and advised an Xray, suspecting it could be broken, or arthritis. He also advised putting him back on baytril, as he thought some infection may still be present due to swollen mammary glands. This time, the Baytril didn't put him off his food, and we had him x-rayed. This revealed that he had bad arthritis in both back knees, although any remaining infection seemed to have gone. The vet thought that the arthritis could have been caused by the paaralysis, which he thought was neurological or possibly a stroke.

The diagnosis meant that he would have to be on Metacalm for the rest of his life, but he seemed to be coping with his disability, hoping round, and aggressivly attacking his favourite cardboard tubes as nomal. We did discuss quality of life and agreed to review his situation regularly to ensure that he had some.

Last week, he even started singing again, calling to his former cage mate in the next box, something they hadn't done since they were quite young.

Unfortunately, late on Friday, he took a turn for the worst. His breathing became quite laboured, then early in the evening his paralysis seemed to return. Even then, he still had an appetite, devouring a piece of cucumber. We then faced the decision of what to do. However, nature decided for us. He lay down the corner of his run, and quietly passed away a short time later.

Naturally, we were all heartbroken, especially the kids who had never lost a pet before. He was buried in a shady spot in the garden, and a nice bush planted to mark his grave. We will have our memories, pictures and a precious piece of video of him 'chirping' - I'm so glad we had a piggy who exhibited that behaviour.

I was in two minds about publishing this, but thought it worthwhile as others may find some of it useful.
 
Oh noooooooooooooooooooooooooo whee are so sorry love to hear about darling Tom 8...8...8...
RIP Tom run free at the bridge, you brave brave boy, now happily popcorning thru the lush green meadows and munching away on huge cucumbers and sweet corn silks, you'll be so very very sadly missed by your devastated family and mates, but NEVER ever forgotten xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) and lots of loves from Glynis, Velvet and Onyx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Another little star now twinkling in the sky .............. :(



Mate i'm so sorry, Tom obviously just had enough, i'm glad tho that he was at home with you all when he made his trip to the bridge.
What wonderful memories you'll have of Tom chirping away and his great big pigsonality! x)
HUGS FOR YOU ALL XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 
I'm so very sorry for your loss.
RIP precious Tom. Run free x
 
I'm glad you had some happy times before he passed. He is now pain free and popcorning at rainbow bridge :)
 
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