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Piggie holding leg up

  • Thread starter Thread starter SamFoulds
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SamFoulds

Well the title says it all.

I went out this morning to put the piggies into the outdoor run and I noticed that Boots is walking round holding his back leg up. I have had a feel and move it a bit and he has not squeaked or bitten to show that it hurts and was running around the outdoor run happy enough.

Any ideas, the only thing I can think of is a broken leg but surely he would have shown some indication that he was in pain. He is still chomping an troughing. :(
 
I had a case where my Nia badly strained her shoulder joint, so the problem may be sitting further up. Best take him to be seen by a vet.
 
Well I'm sat here and he is out there running around with his toys and playing with Dora, so I don't think it can be anything too sinister as you say - perhaps a sprained shoulder. I think I will being him in and give him a warm bath to soak it in, it helps me when I'm sore.
 
Occasionally they do seem to get passing problems like this, I have come across a fair few pigs with this general complaint. As you say it is not causing him severe pain as a fracture would so is unlikely to be an urgent problem and there is a chance it will heal of its own accord, given a little time.

I'd be inclined to give a one-off dose of pain relief (if he is not walking on it then it suggests pain when he tries to walk on it) and monitor him over the next day, if no improvement at all then contact the vet for a proper examination (or earlier of course, if you see fit!).
 
I think that would seem to be the best course. He has has awarm bath and I have now wrapped him up and put him in a box. I know he is away from his brother but when they are together he is not resting it at all.

I think I will leave him in his box until tonight and put them back together.

What do I use as pain relief? Surely not childrens calpol?
 
If you have Rimadyl or Metacam to hand one of these would be ideal, but children's Nurofen (ibuprofen) or Calpol can be safely used.
 
thanks for your reply.

No I don't have the first things you mention but do have Calpol. How much would I need to give and would it need to be diluted?
 
Is it the infant Calpol you have (not the 6+)?

If so, no need to dilute, the dose for an adult pig (over 6 months) is 0.2ml. It can be given up to twice daily but a one-off dose should be enough to tell you if it's of any benefit to the pig in this particular situation.
 
Today I took Boots to get checked over as he is still holding his hind leg.

The vet said that under xray it looks like a defective growth plate on his knee cap and that his knee cap was constantly dislocating. I have know collected him and she has told me that he needs 4 weeks of complete rest (no running etc) and if necessary kept away from Dora as they play so much. She said that he is not to go out into his run or anything as he will start running around etc so I told her about the indoor cage I have being 45 inches long I think it was. She said that I need to half the space.

Question - How would I halve the space or what else could I use (I am thinking about those plastic storage crates you get from Tesco), the other thing is that poor Dora is going to be beside herself if she dosent see Boots - an I can't keep two piggies in such a confined space. If I keep them completely seperate I don't want fighting in a months time between them - they love each other so much.

She said to go back 4 weeks so they can see how he is doing but that there isn't too much they can do.
 
AWWW what a shame. Could you not keep them both in the small cage as it's twice the size recommended?

Or could you set them up next to each other so they can at least sniff each other through the bars? Poor boots.
 
I could put them in it together but I think it was te fact that they are so playful when they are together.

I have put them both in the hutch for the night as this is shorter than the indoor one and they haven't got as much run space as it were as there is a partition in there. I have also closed the ramp so he can't go running down. Whether this is right or not I don't know. But oh have they missed each other today. It was so sweet when I put them back together, weeking away :(

What's the thoughts on continue to give him a little Calpol, I don't think he's in pain as he is not squeaking, but then the vet said they don't always squeek when in pain they just get on with it.

I
 
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