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Poor Tommy Thumb!

M

melsey3

Junior Guinea Pig
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Southampton UK
Am really upset and worried right now! I have my 4 indoor cages stacked on top of each other in the kitchen, and have never had any issues (1 on 1) (2 Separate stacks), early this morning I believe one of my 12 week old piggies "Tommy Thumb" was having fun doing zoomies and popcorns, and somehow managed to tip the cage off of the other cage, and kitchen side sending it crashing to the floor. My daughter found the cage upside down on the kitchen floor. scared that both piggies had died in the accident she upturned the cage gently to see if they were okay! 1st glance they seemed fine, but then she noticed my poor Tommy wasn't using his leg! I asked her to bring him to me so I could check them both out, once I had checked them I got myself the first vet appointment I could.

Tommy is now up at the vets with Oreo awaiting sedation for an x-ray, I am really scared about whether he will come through the anaesthetic because of his age. Has anybody else had an experience of a piggy so young with anaesthetic? I have been reassured he will only be having a tiny amount, and just enough to make him really sleepy, but I am terrified. I have lost animals under anaesthetic before so this is an extremely anxious time for me.
We think Oreo is fine, and has no obvious injuries or damage (both were given a full check over)
many thanks!
I feel like such a bad owner right now!
 
melsey3 said:
Am really upset and worried right now! I have my 4 indoor cages stacked on top of each other in the kitchen, and have never had any issues (1 on 1) (2 Separate stacks), early this morning I believe one of my 12 week old piggies "Tommy Thumb" was having fun doing zoomies and popcorns, and somehow managed to tip the cage off of the other cage, and kitchen side sending it crashing to the floor. My daughter found the cage upside down on the kitchen floor. scared that both piggies had died in the accident she upturned the cage gently to see if they were okay! 1st glance they seemed fine, but then she noticed my poor Tommy wasn't using his leg! I asked her to bring him to me so I could check them both out, once I had checked them I got myself the first vet appointment I could.

Tommy is now up at the vets with Oreo awaiting sedation for an x-ray, I am really scared about whether he will come through the anaesthetic because of his age. Has anybody else had an experience of a piggy so young with anaesthetic? I have been reassured he will only be having a tiny amount, and just enough to make him really sleepy, but I am terrified. I have lost animals under anaesthetic before so this is an extremely anxious time for me.
We think Oreo is fine, and has no obvious injuries or damage (both were given a full check over)
many thanks!
I feel like such a bad owner right now!
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BIG HUGS

Freak accidents like the one you are still in shock over are by their very nature unpredictable and therefore not preventable. We all get caught out by things we haven't encountered or could imagine now and then. Sometimes they come sadly with more serious consequences. It doesn't make you a bad owner - and you are doing exactly the right thing with taking him to the vets as an emergency.

If it is any consolation for you, this kind of accident is a first for us; and that even after well over a dozen years of existence and countless freak accident posts from other distraught owners!
Please do not beat yourself up over this highly unusual incident and instead concentrate on measures to prevent a repeat. You can never undo what has happened but you can always go and improve!
Could you try and find a table that is large enough with the legs to fit above the bottom cage? Or work out a way you can keep the two cages in separate places?

In German speaking countries baby boar castration at 200-250g of weight (around 2-3 weeks of age before they start making viable semen) is common; in Switzerland, any for sale pet shop or breeder boars have to be neutered before they can be bought. The success and recovery rate is actually higher than in older boars because babies heal a lot quicker.
At 12 weeks yours are coming up to teenage and should be a decent enough weight for any GA; in your case it will be just as much as is needed to sedate him so your boy can be positioned with extreme care in a couple of different positions (usually up/down and then sideways) to get a spacial view of any problem. ;)

Fingers very firmly crossed!
 
Try not to worry, you’ve done the right thing getting him to the vets for a check over and hopefully the vets will just be giving him a whiff of gas to sedate him for the X-rays. Don’t feel like a bad owner, it wasn’t your fault! But it might be a good idea to move their cage so it doesn’t happen again now it has once, he’s obviously a very excitable piggy! Hope he’s ok and it was all just a bit sore which is why he wasn’t using it. Best wishes, keep us updated x
I haven’t had any of my piggies that young under anaesthetic sorry, but have read about others. Sure other people with more experience will be able to share their experiences soon x
 
Thankyou! I am going to be calling vets at 2pm, unless I hear otherwise (hopefully I won't, as in that instance it is never good news) it is 1.40pm, and I am anxiously awaiting 2pm, hopefully will go by really quickly, both times phone has gone off (once for a 1.30pm alarm) and the 2nd (for a notification) I have held my breath, then realised my heart was pounding, and then pulled myself together again. I really do hope he is okay because he is a beautiful little soul, and really is a very happy boy! I would hate for that to be taken away from him.
 
melsey3 said:
Thankyou! I am going to be calling vets at 2pm, unless I hear otherwise (hopefully I won't, as in that instance it is never good news) it is 1.40pm, and I am anxiously awaiting 2pm, hopefully will go by really quickly, both times phone has gone off (once for a 1.30pm alarm) and the 2nd (for a notification) I have held my breath, then realised my heart was pounding, and then pulled myself together again. I really do hope he is okay because he is a beautiful little soul, and really is a very happy boy! I would hate for that to be taken away from him.
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HUGS

We all go through this whenever we have a piggy undergoing an operation or an examination under GA. :(
Fingers firmly crossed!
 
melsey3 said:
Just phoned surgery, and a different one of the branch of my vets has told me I have to wait for them to call me now, because they have a severe staff shortage.
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Aw no! Everywhere is being impacted by this dreadful virus! Sorry, it must be awful waiting for that call x
 
Oh no, hope you hear very soon. I’m always a wreck waiting for news on my bubs! x
 
melsey3 said:
He is doing okay! He has a fracture, and has had a little cast put on, am allowed to collect him in an hours time.
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Aw so glad he’s been ok with the anaesthetic, poor little guy with a broken bone though. Young piggies heal much better than older ones so he’s got youth on his side!
May be a good idea to adapt his cage a little before you pick him up, take anything out that he could climb on and fall off etc and some nice soft fleecy bedding for him to lay on when he’s home recovering x
 
we have taken the food trough out already, and have started to clear my main rooms table for the cage until I can come up with something to stop this happening again, somebody mentioned perhaps somehow latching the 2 cages together with tags or something. In a few weeks I will hopefully have a new outdoors hutch for them, so they will be returning to outside. They love it out there, especially in the springtime, although the cold grass experience will be a new game to Tommy! Hopefully he will heal quickly "my little cutie pie" he really is a lovely boy, even the vet said that when she met him today.
Am just so pleased it went okay, as that was my biggest worry.

Thanks for everybody's support it is really appreciated.

I have had a bit of bad luck with my piggies over the last 6 months, and also lost one of my bunnies in June, so am hoping this will be the last for a while.

Unfortunately several of mine are over 5 now, the oldest being 7 in June.
 
Sounds like you’re already on it then! Hope you can rearrange and fit everyone in safely! Hopefully no more issues and he heals well now too. So glad he’s ok.
Yes I know the feeling, lost my old boy Rupert last year as well as my 9yr old one-eyed chinchilla Pedro, within three weeks my beloved Jess who’s just turned 7 also lost her eye! It’s hard when you seem to have one thing after another.
But hopefully your little man will be ok now, they tend to recover from the anaesthetic much better when they’re younger so can imagine he’ll be a naughty boy again soon! Just try and keep things away from him that’ll cause more trouble! He sounds lovely :love: Make sure you get some pics, we love piggy pics on here!:D Hope you have a good night with him x
 
update on Tommy! Tommy is doing very well with his fracture, and is now using his leg well!
He had a cast fitted initially, but by the time he arrived home from the vets it had come off! We went back to the vets on the Friday, but decided to see how he went without the cast, as he didn't seem to be particularly bothered, and was preety much back to his usual self! SWe have just been using Metacam for him.

We are 3 weeks on from his injury now, and he is an absolute live wire, which scares the hell out of me, as he is supposed to be confined to a small space to prevent this, but he is doing lots of zoomies and popcorns around his carrier. I am hoping the vets will let me move him back in with his new cage mate tomorrow, but I think they want him in a carrier for a further 2 weeks.
 
Glad to hear he’s back to running around. Just make sure you introduce in neutral territory and not just put him in the cage with his friend. It could be misconstrued as invasion of territory 😬
 
Aw, so pleased Tommy Thumb is back to his energetic ways again x
 
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