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A fall and back leg paralysis :(

H

Hogmex

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Hello one of my piggies got spooked by something and ran full pelt, fell about 2 feet, awkwardly.
She seemed ok at the time but her leg are now just being dragged.
Has anyone tried any treatments? I have a bit of Loxicom, the only vets nearby don't have a lot of experience by the sound of it. I will be going to a vet, I'm just a bit weary of non guinea pig vets from bad experiences in the past.

I've read on here some things about vibrating pads, steroid injections and anti-inflammatory meds/injections.

What should I do?
 
Hogmex said:
Hello one of my piggies got spooked by something and ran full pelt, fell about 2 feet, awkwardly.
She seemed ok at the time but her leg are now just being dragged.
Has anyone tried any treatments? I have a bit of Loxicom, the only vets nearby don't have a lot of experience by the sound of it. I will be going to a vet, I'm just a bit weary of non guinea pig vets from bad experiences in the past.

I've read on here some things about vibrating pads, steroid injections and anti-inflammatory meds/injections.

What should I do?
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Hi

Back leg paralysis always needs to be seen promptly, even more so any potential injury after a fall in order to assess the damage and make any necessary decisions.

Here is our list of recommended vets: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

Here are our practical tips and comprehensive care advice on looking after guinea with mobility issues, whether they are temporary or long term: Looking after guinea pigs with limited or no mobility

Practical tips for minimising the risk of falls and freak jumps:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely
Children And Guinea Pigs - Age Appropriate Interaction And Responsibilities.

All the best!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi

Back leg paralysis always needs to be seen promptly, even more so any potential injury after a fall in order to assess the damage and make any necessary decisions.

Here is our list of recommended vets: Recommended Guinea Pig Vets

Here are our practical tips and comprehensive care advice on looking after guinea with mobility issues, whether they are temporary or long term: Looking after guinea pigs with limited or no mobility

Practical tips for minimising the risk of falls and freak jumps:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pigs Safely
Children And Guinea Pigs - Age Appropriate Interaction And Responsibilities.

All the best!
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There is nothing nearby. I saw that one of the users here goes to Ashcroft vets near Cambridge, (buns and ?)
I'm not sure I can get to the others near by. I don't drive and the public transport to Northampton is via London.
 
Yes I use Ashcroft Vets.
Sorry, I’m not sure how you would get there though on public transport as I don’t know what buses run (I don’t use them). The nearest train station is still a good drive away from the vets location
 
Does anyone know if I should suggest anything if the vet is clueless? I'm going to have to go local I think just for the drugs etc.
 
I think this practice will give me the lower cat strength matacam, at a much lower dose. Other guinea pig vet have given me the dog strength, Is there a know reason for this? Is the cat version not strong enough? Typically I've been given 0.2ml of the cat strength and 0.2-0.4ml of the Dog strength. There is quite a big difference. 3x the strength.
 
Has anyone made one? I was trying to read up on it here, someone mentioned making one out of a flip-flop or/and Mecano?
 
Sorry I’ve not heard of anything like that. Do you have a pig with mobility issues?
 
Hogmex said:
Has anyone made one? I was trying to read up on it here, someone mentioned making one out of a flip-flop or/and Mecano?
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Hi

Unless you have a trained prostetics mechanic on hand, PLEASE leave be!
Home DIY stuff like this is a gimmick that does more secondary damage than the initial injury and will make things worse, not better. Quite a few piggies have died not long after the pictures and videos were taken that are sadly still making the rounds on social media. There is a LOT more concerns and planning going into these things than just fixing some wheels to your piggy. :( :( :(

Have you made a vet appointment yet in order to have the damage to the spine/nerves assessed yet in the first place? THAT is the urgent bit before you do anything else, especially get stuck on any owrst case scenario. If you are lucky, it is just some bad bruising but only a vet can tell you.

I also hope that you have read our information links re. care of piggies who are unable to move around and how you have to rearrange your cage to suit their needs re. hay and water access, which still make over three quarters of their dietary needs as well as your cleaning regime for the area your piggy is both lying and toiletting in. These are much more immediate needs.

I am merging this thread with your first one, so we are keeping everything to just one thread per case and are not causing confusion and bad answers for you because posters are not aware of the background. Unlike social media, we do not rely on lots of new threads and can concentrate on giving individualised ongoing support.
 
Before you panic long term try and get her seen short term - it might just be some new swelling that the metacam will alleviate.

Yes, I had the same question about cat v dog strength and it's something to do with the cat strength now being officially licensed for pig use so that's what less experienced vets (and even some more experienced vets) tend to offer. If you say straight out that you've used dog strength before and are happy with that you might be able to pre-empt a cat-strength prescription. It's weight dependant - they work out mgs per kg of pig apparently. George (1.35kg) is 5 and in good health but has roughly 0.3ml dog twice a day for arthritis and this is long term. Vet was happy for me to do it this way or do a pooled dose once a day instead. George decided for himself! But of course your piggy will be a different weight and may have other issues which determine the dose prescribed.

They might offer x-ray but you can think about that nearer the time. It's not inevitable that there is serious damage - my neighbours pig fell about 2 feet out of a cage on legs and she found her the next morning sitting underneath it and she was fine! Another poster had a piggy who did a massive leap and did actually break a leg but the last we heard it had started to heal up OK on it's own. However, it is important to get her checked over to do as much as possible to help her. They can sometimes unfortunately have internal bleeding even if the bones are OK - they don't generally land well, it's down to luck x

If she's bedded on shavings/hay or something it might be nice to get a comfy bit of folded fleece in there for her to have a soft place to lie while she tries to heal. I am a relatively recent convert to guinea-pig soft furnishings but they do love them! My arthritic older boy definitely loves his snuggle tunnel ☺️
 
Hogmex said:
I think this practice will give me the lower cat strength matacam, at a much lower dose. Other guinea pig vet have given me the dog strength, Is there a know reason for this? Is the cat version not strong enough? Typically I've been given 0.2ml of the cat strength and 0.2-0.4ml of the Dog strength. There is quite a big difference. 3x the strength.
Click to expand...

Cat strength is officially licensed for small exotics; three times stronger dog strength is not. Many general vets will downscale the dosage from cats or rabbits, not knowing that guinea pigs have a much higher tolerance for it.

However, even a general vet can assess the problem and make an x-ray, if needed because that part is physiologically the same in all pets and they have trained for what to look out for and how to check. ;)
 
I've seen a vet, she said if there is no improvement in 48 hours to think about her quality of life and consider PTS. Seems a bit too soon. She still has her passion for grass.
The vet also thought chunky bit on the top of her shoulders was something sinister, I think its just fatty tissue that some guineas have, isn't it? Scruff of their neck?
I have cat strength metacam, I hope its enough at 0.2ml.

Ok, thanks for the advice on a mobility device, I thought it might put less stress on her, but I'll forget that.
 
I’m glad you’ve been able to get her seen.
Is that 0.2ml once or twice a day?
What is her weight?
 
Quite a stingy portion compared to what some piggies get! :hmm: But you might notice a difference in the hours after she's had it x

Is she an old girl or younger?

Of course you'll be thinking about her quality of life all the time anyway. But yes, I'd be thinking that if she was still eating and pooping well, moving around (I had one that just dragged her back legs around for a few weeks following sudden paralysis but the front end was fine) and not appearing to be in pain 48 hours seems a bit too much pressure to see improvement! Make sure she is able to reach her food and water - perhaps a bowl rather than a bottle if she's going to have trouble stretching up. How are the other pigs with her? Are they acting normally, or bullying, or perhaps snuggling up and looking out for her?

We use snugglesafe heat pads in our cage but they are round and hard - my pigs lie next to them rather than on them. But sometimes when I've had a poorly one I've made a normal rubber hot water bottle and put it against the outside of the cage (I have those plastic tray types) so it warms one wall in the bedroom area. I generally find the patient leaning against that wall - but of course it is easy to just move away. I never use these inside the enclosure as my pigs nibble rubber. I have also changed my covered area by removing the wall and draping a towel over - this means pigs can push in and out like a tent if they are not able to manoeuvre to the door. I cut a hole out the front too but my cages are 10 years old and hacked up now! If you have a nice new set up don't get too carried away at this stage...
crop pic.jpg
 
Free Ranger said:
Quite a stingy portion compared to what some piggies get! :hmm: But you might notice a difference in the hours after she's had it x

Is she an old girl or younger?
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She is an older lady, though fit and well normally. Her buddy is older still, can be a bit cranky, though they do snuggle, I'll separate them tonight just to be safe.
I haven't seen her try the water bottle or the water bowl(good idea) yet, so I'll keep doing it by hand.

Did your lady recover ok after her sudden paralysis?

I've been putting the hot water bottle (not making it too hot) on top of their dens, would it be better at the side?

Thank you all for the help! I really hope she will ok.
 
My girl didn't unfortunately but her case was slightly different. She was older and suddenly lost movement and feeling completely at the back. She managed pretty well for a few weeks sliding around like a seal but she always sat on the same spot and I couldn't stop that. She very quickly lost muscle tone and then developed a large pressure sore which got infected. The only blessing was that she didn't feel any pain from it - from a certain point along her back she didn't feel anything at all. They said it might have been a previous spinal injury (she had been rather manhandled in her old home) or some sort of growth or some mystery problem. She was a beauty x

I think there is hope for your lady. Just make sure they can't get at the hot water bottle. My Flora has nibbled through daughter's bike tyres and flattened them!
 
Free Ranger said:
My girl didn't unfortunately but her case was slightly different. She was older and suddenly lost movement and feeling completely at the back. She managed pretty well for a few weeks sliding around like a seal but she always sat on the same spot and I couldn't stop that. She very quickly lost muscle tone and then developed a large pressure sore which got infected. The only blessing was that she didn't feel any pain from it - from a certain point along her back she didn't feel anything at all. They said it might have been a previous spinal injury (she had been rather manhandled in her old home) or some sort of growth or some mystery problem. She was a beauty x

I think there is hope for your lady. Just make sure they can't get at the hot water bottle. My Flora has nibbled through daughter's bike tyres and flattened them!
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Aww, thats sad, poor ol' girl x

I'm just trying to imagine a guinea pigs reaction to biting through a tyre & inner tube, yeah I have the hot water bottle in a towel to avoid temptation to nibble!
 
I just wanted to update that she is almost back normal, its hardly noticeable but she has a slight limp and if she turns around on her back legs its a bit of a wobble.
But its a relief she can eat and drink by herself and move around.
It did take longer than the 3 days the vet suggested, but you could see her back leg twitch like she was attempting to scratch her ear.
She is a trooper.
 
Hogmex said:
I just wanted to update that she is almost back normal, its hardly noticeable but she has a slight limp and if she turns around on her back legs its a bit of a wobble.
But its a relief she can eat and drink by herself and move around.
It did take longer than the 3 days the vet suggested, but you could see her back leg twitch like she was attempting to scratch her ear.
She is a trooper.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the update. It is always great to get an outcome.

All the best for it eventually healing off completely.
 
Oh that's great news!
And thanks for updating the thread... people who search the forum find these threads when something similar has happened to them so it can really help to know that there is hope, and with a decent vet and a caring owner there are happy endings out there 💕
 
Thank you everyone for the support. x

I think getting her on loxicom/metacam straight away (Using the dog strength equivalent at 0.2ml every 12 hours) and keeping her in a smaller area by herself for a while to force rest and recover by not moving around too much, helped a lot.

Fellow Guinea Pig guardians give the best advice!
 
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