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Smudge Has A Broken Foot.

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*BLASTS THE HALLELUJAH THEME FULL BLAST*

THE SCAAAAAABBBBB CAME OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!

......FINALLY.

It's not completely healed, but we're nearly there! I'm just waiting a little longer before preparing her to go back with the others.
 
Hi
If you have any further problems(and I hope you don't) I can't recommend my piggy specialist vet enough) she is only in Dursley - so would't take you too long to get there - my Bumble had on going Bumble foot which has finally cleared - she has several pigs of her own - Rachel Mowbray at Vale Vet referrals. - but hopefully everything will be ok - I would certainly get a second opinion off her if another vet is suggesting amputation (they are a referral service for more complicated cases ) - good luck x
 
Hi all:

Gone downhill. Scab re-opened, but now she's not eating as much as she should, been steadily going downhill over the past 24 hours. Stepping in with force feed. She's slightly lethargic and sitting in one place, doesn't want to move.

There is absolutely no way I'm letting anything happen to her. Been through hell and back with Smudge, but she's so worth it. Don't care if I'm up all night.
 
DoragonHinansho said:
Hi all:

Gone downhill. Scab re-opened, but now she's not eating as much as she should, been steadily going downhill over the past 24 hours. Stepping in with force feed. She's slightly lethargic and sitting in one place, doesn't want to move.

There is absolutely no way I'm letting anything happen to her. Been through hell and back with Smudge, but she's so worth it. Don't care if I'm up all night.
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Please have her seen tomorrow asap and have her checked if an infection could have got into the leg. Make sure that you change where she sits regularly to keep her dry and warm. Don't forget to offer plenty of water, as much as she'll take.

Fingers very firmly crossed!
 
Already on it - the one day my car decided to break down! Nightmare this is. I can bus it so I'll make the first appointment I can in the morning.

Changed the vet bed over. The scab doesn't look infected, but considering it's STILL not healing at all....

Gonna just hand feed and offer her some food during the night to see if she'll take it. Not giving up yet.
 
DoragonHinansho said:
Already on it - the one day my car decided to break down! Nightmare this is. I can bus it so I'll make the first appointment I can in the morning.

Changed the vet bed over. The scab doesn't look infected, but considering it's STILL not healing at all....

Gonna just hand feed and offer her some food during the night to see if she'll take it. Not giving up yet.
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BIG HUGS!

You are doing all you can!
 
Improvement overnight. I did force feed, and she's already taking a little carrot and a couple of bites of hay in her own. Shattered.

Taking car to be fixed right now (I practically begged the garage to help me out as Smudge needs to see a vet!) so they're working on that and then she's going down to be looked at.
 
HUGS!

Wishing you and Sudoku all the best for today. Rounding the clock feeding can really take it out of you, but glad that Sudoku has perkeup a little bit. Please continue. :(
 
Wiebke said:
HUGS!

Wishing you and Sudoku all the best for today. Rounding the clock feeding can really take it out of you, but glad that Sudoku has perkeup a little bit. Please continue. :(
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I think you mean Smudge? ;) but I like that name, will store it for future names.

The vet took the scab off and had a look inside, she couldn't see any infection but cleaned it all out. Smudge in on pain relief just in case; and I'll continue with the feeding.
 
DoragonHinansho said:
I think you mean Smudge? ;) but I like that name, will store it for future names.

The vet took the scab off and had a look inside, she couldn't see any infection but cleaned it all out. Smudge in on pain relief just in case; and I'll continue with the feeding.
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I meant Smudge. Sorry, just jumping between too many threads and mixing up piggies after a bad night of my own... :doh:
 
Giving a small update on the situation with Smudge.

Been doing a lot of background reading into Guinea Pigs biting their scabs and MOST of the suggestions for getting her to stop I've tried. With some more research, I'm going to try honey: can't remember the brand from the top of my head, but I'm going to try applying honey to the wound and hoping the healing properties can heal it quicker than she's biting it off! That's the theory.

Posting a picture of the foot from the upwards view here! (Sorry, excuse the blood, she decided to rip it off...for the 4th time tonight...)
12966044_1184200514953560_1572795638_n.webp
I'm not sure if it's worth trying to wrap the foot to prevent her from biting it, but as trying to wrap her up many times beforehand I really don't think it'll help the matter, it just encourages her to bite more.

If this continues for much longer...I may have to make the decision to put her to sleep. I've been keeping this quiet; but I've been thinking about it for the last month or so. 6 months into this and we're getting pretty much nowhere. I'm just concerned about her overall quality of life; as she's alone and just bored of being inside the quarantine hutch...since she's still not allowed to be with the others; and she's just ripping herself open again and again.

However, she is still well in herself with an always increasing appetite after the scare a couple of weeks ago, so this is why I'm taking a lot of time to think about this properly before I make that decision. The vet is also considering removing that part of her foot surgically, but I'm not too keen on that idea as Smudge is using that foot absolutely normally. - I'm worried she'll either be PTS as she won't adapt to 3 feet, or she'll die during surgery. I'm just trying to place the emotional attachment aside and make the best decision for her. I think that if I still can't get this to heal within a couple of months then I'll consider it further. However, while she's still well in herself I don't want to make any decisions.

Thank you guys for your continued support with this over the past few months. I wish I knew more about Guinea Pigs myself to help some of you in return! Why I've spent the time to do lots of research this year while tying it all into my studies. But the support I've gotten is absolutely amazing, so thank you all so much.
 
Piggies can live with 3 legs, I've seen one with 3 & I think as it's her front paw then it wouldn't be as hard to adapt to as the hind leg. I am sorry you are having to consider this :( Is she still on Metacam? I would definitely try a low dose maybe twice a day for a while just to see if that helps in case it's painful for her x
 
She was on the Metacam but honestly, that wasn't making any difference to it at all! She was biting it MORE with the metacam. She has gone two weeks before without even touching it and it got so close to healing, it was literally there...before she went on her 4-times ripping open spree this evening....

That's the frustrating part. We've come so close so many times.
 
The vet I have been seeing has forever been insisting that Smudge should be away from the other pigs for "rest" and not to be on normal bedding. Every time I have asked to put her back in with the others to try and reduce the stress of her and the herd, she's been getting increasingly cross with me and insisting that she needs to be kept separate. There's also the ramp I need to make sure that Smudge can get up and down on her foot before I try and re-intoduce her; as since its been so long I'll have to do a whole re-introducing process.
 
Hi again - sorry you are still going through it with Smudge - is she on any antibiotics ? can you get her over to see Rachel Mowbray at Vale vets in Dursley - she works usually on a Monday and Wednesday at the practice ( she is at pet rehab or lecturing the rest of the time ) - she really is fantastic (she has just operated on Bumble again for me today ) - I am 100% certain that she can get to the bottom of it for you - she is an exotics specialist and has her own pigs - she cured Bumble's bumblefoot (one of her own sows had it ) and is an expert in banding up piggy legs - if its difficult for you to make a set appointment time you could probably arrange to drop Smudge off early in the morning on your way to work and then pick up in the evening (they don't shut till 7 ) - I think an a consult is about £30,but I can check tomorrow evening when I pick Bumble up -
I can't really see much on the picture on here and I am really crappy at anything to do with computers - but if you want to PM me perhaps you could email me with a photo and brief history and I could forward it on by email? and is it just the scab problem that you have now? - so not infected and putting full weight on it?
 
Smudge is booked in with Rachel at 6:15 Monday Night - they've given me a double appointment so they can see in-depth Smudge's problem. They're also going to get the entire medical history for Smudge from my local vet (which may or may not triggered some Anxiety Attacks over them harassing me I'm swapping vets or something, but hey. I'd rather see a specialist at this point.) So she can see exactly what Smudge has had done over the past 5 months.

I'm very nervous, guilt feelings are really beginning to set in about how long this has gone on and Smudge may have been from an infection which I simply didn't know was there, but I'm just....I'm really hoping she'll have a better idea.
 
I wouldn't feel guilty about swapping vets, people swap vets all the time. You have been using your current vet for months now so it's time for a 2nd opinion.

I would also ask Rachel if she can go back with her friends?
 
I will ask Rachel that evening - TAN has been an absolute super-star and sent me pictures of what I should expect - HOPEFULLY she'll have little Smudge's foot wound up nice and tight so I can finally reunite them all. I did have them all out together for some gentle play time the other day...Bramble went running up to Smudge and they literally just sat there snuggling one another, so I felt even more bad when Smudge had to go back in her little isolation hutch...

Thank you. In fairness, I have been using them for several months and I would like a second opinion so I suppose I'm entitled to that.
 
:agr:

don't feel guilty.

I've changed vets several times . I remember telling one vet I was going to take Bess for a 2nd opinion and they were fine with me.
 
First of all, I just want to take a moment to thank @TAN - She was LOVELY and left me a little care package of metacam for me to have if Smudge needed it, and she did! Honestly, that was so much appreciated and if there's anything I can do to help you out in the future, please just say!

Rachel was FANTASTIC. My old vet practice didn't bother sending her Smudge's history, so asked me about the background of the injury and what Smudge had in terms of antibiotics and things like that. She then decided to take Smudge out the back for an x-ray to give her a better idea of what was going on (she also did that for free, she asked if she had had an x-ray and I said yes, but the old vet practice had simply said "it's broken but we can't tell you where or how") and once she was done, got me out back to have a look for myself. Here;s where things get technical and I'll try and explain as best as I possibly can.

In a guinea pig's foot, there are "joint rings" which hold the joints together in the toe. Now, Smudge's foot isn't broken - there's no fracture there. Instead, she's missing the "joint rings" which Rachel thinks is either from the trauma itself or infection has gotten there. It's all surrounded by a mass of swelling.

The plan of action is as follows: Get the pressure from that foot, so it's wrapped up and I've been sent home with a variety of supplies to wrap it back up again. If it's not infected, great, just make sure the scab heals. If it IS infected, she wants to do a tiny procedure which involves injecting an antibiotic bead directly into the joint to bring down the swelling and clear the infection. Smudge won't need a full GA for this, just enough to keep her fairly still. Rachel took bloods directly from the joint itself and will get back to me on Wednesday to let me know if it's infected or not.

Rachel also didn't understand why Smudge has been kept separate from the others for so long as she didn't NEED to be. Smudge is perfectly capable of going up and down ramps and being on regular bedding. However, I tried putting them all back together tonight after some re-intro but it went horribly wrong, Holly and Smudge ended up fighting. I wasn't comfortable with leaving them in together overnight, so I placed Smudge back indoors for the time being - and I'll try again tomorrow, and clean out the hutch first and de-scent everything, as Holly and Smudge get on just fine outside of the hutch. I'll do another re-introduction back when I have daylight and clean the hutch out while they're bonding again so hopefully the re-intro tomorrow will go a lot smoother. After college tomorrow I'll have a good few hours before sunset to ensure it's all gone okay.

Honestly, than you so much for @TAN for recommending me to the vet practice, they were lovely and very professional - and despite my age, they explained everything to me in such a manner that I'd understand and I could tell they know exactly what they're doing. I think I finally found my perfect vet practice.
 
I'm so pleased you went to see Rachel - I knew she would be able to sort smudge out.Sounds very much like the first time I went over there with my Noodles (RIP) - we were referred because my local vets couldn't find out what was wrong and knew Rachel was great with guineas.I still remember it like yesterday - we arrived after 7pm when they had closed - and there was just me and Noods ,Rachel and the cleaner - Rachel said she could feel ovarian cysts and took us out the back and I held Noods while Rachel ultrasounded her - and 2 ovarian cysts appeared on screen - I'd say Rachel is the female equivalent of Simmon Maddock - So glad it all worked out.
 
Brilliant news. There is some light at the end of the tunnel at last. Good luck with the bonding.
 
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