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Broken/Injured Leg

Crystal.L

Crystal.L

Junior Guinea Pig
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My guinea pig has an injured hind leg. It is curled up and he's not using it at all, I'll be scheduling for an appointment at the vet tomorrow but I just wanted to know if this has happened to one of your guy's piggies and how you were able to make it not so stressful for them/their vet stories.
 
One of my boys hurt his leg. I saw him limping one morning. As a prey animal though he decided to hide his pain when he was at the vet but luckily the vet was expecting him to hide it. The vet confirmed a soft tissue injury and he was prescribed a weeks worth of anti-inflammatory pain killer. As soon as I put him back in their shed, he was limping again, cheeky boy!

Unfortunately there’s not really any sure fire way of making it less stressful other than ensuring you take his companion with him to the vet with him so he is never alone.
 
Once we came home from a visit and I found one of my boys was limping. It was odd because he let me pick him up without a fight. I got him to the vet on the Monday and he was prescribed metacam. He may have injured himself when jumping off the ramp.

More recently I saw the same piggy limping. I managed to get an appointment the same day but he was absolutely fine by the time we got there 🙄

Try and get him an appointment today - I think that’s what you meant although you posted in the middle of the night. Hope he’s all better soon.
 
All I can say is be very honest about how it happened. If he mis-timed a jump or was dropped or fell off a worksurface - these things are seen by vets all the time. If folks feel a bit embarrassed and say "oh, I think he caught his nail..." when he actually leapt 2 feet from your arms the vet won't know to check for other invisible (internal) injuries/tender areas/broken teeth etc. Much better for piggy for the doc to have as much knowledge as possible. They hide their injuries so try and herd him into a carrier rather than pick up in case of fractured ribs etc. At the very least you should get effective painkiller for him. as long as there's no pain he can still live a good life with mobility issues.

If he has a friend and can travel with them to the vet it will be less scary for him. Good luck 💕
 
He injured his leg by trying to climb/jump out of his cage multiple times (his first time injuring not that he's had multiple leg injuries). He did try to hide his injury but my grandmother caught his act. Lol.
 
Crystal.L said:
He injured his leg by trying to climb/jump out of his cage multiple times (his first time injuring not that he's had multiple leg injuries). He did try to hide his injury but my grandmother caught his act. Lol.
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I am sure the vet will be able to help.
He may just need pain killers, but it is very important to have him checked out.
Do you have an appointment booked yet?
 
Did he jump on top of a hide to try and jump out? You’ll have to make it more piggy proof then. I can’t remember what type of cage you have.
 
Siikibam said:
Did he jump on top of a hide to try and jump out? You’ll have to make it more piggy proof then. I can’t remember what type of cage you have.
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I have a C&C cage, he was trying to climb out of it. He climbs and jumps at things like his hay feeder but yesterday, he tried to climb/jump out of his cage because I had closed the entrance way because I had to leave for the day and I wanted to make sure he stayed safe (ironic).
 
Quick question, how do I know if the veterinarian is very experienced or not experienced at all?
 
Crystal.L said:
Quick question, how do I know if the veterinarian is very experienced or not experienced at all?
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I tend to ask a few questions.
Do you see a lot of piggies?
How many per week?
What sort of problem is most common etc.
Most vets are happy to be honest about their experience. My local vet is not a specialist and will always ask what I think, and is also happy to call a colleague or refer me to a specialist if she feels something is beyond her experience.
I would say my vet visits are 50% with the local vet for basic stuff (hay poke, limping, etc), and 50 % with the specialist (dental, bloat, lumps, etc).
 
Did you check the vet locator to see if there are any near you?
 
Swissgreys said:
I tend to ask a few questions.
Do you see a lot of piggies?
How many per week?
What sort of problem is most common etc.
Most vets are happy to be honest about their experience. My local vet is not a specialist and will always ask what I think, and is also happy to call a colleague or refer me to a specialist if she feels something is beyond her experience.
I would say my vet visits are 50% with the local vet for basic stuff (hay poke, limping, etc), and 50 % with the specialist (dental, bloat, lumps, etc).
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:agr: I asked my vet tons of questions when I first went. Luckily it was great answers plus they specialize in guinea pigs. It's soooo hard to get a good vet.
 
Siikibam said:
Did you check the vet locator to see if there are any near you?
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I searched up exotic animal hospital online and came up with Sunshine Animal Hospital and James River Animal Hospital. I called around other vets to see if they specialized in piggies, the only two were the two listed above aside from Healing Paws. The doctor that usually does guinea pigs was out on vacation. I got an appointment at Sunshine Animal Hospital tomorrow at 6:30pm.
 
I can't remember if he has a little friend or not. Sometimes we get posts about piggies persistently chewing bars and it's often (not always) single pigs that do this - they are trying to get through. If he's on his own he might be trying to get out to look for other pigs... they don't understand about pet shops, they just think about what might be around that corner. Finger crossed things go well at the vets - but then you have to think about how to prevent this happening again x
 
Free Ranger said:
I can't remember if he has a little friend or not. Sometimes we get posts about piggies persistently chewing bars and it's often (not always) single pigs that do this - they are trying to get through. If he's on his own he might be trying to get out to look for other pigs... they don't understand about pet shops, they just think about what might be around that corner. Finger crossed things go well at the vets - but then you have to think about how to prevent this happening again x
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He does have an 5yr friend. I think his friend was out of the cage so maybe Buffalo was trying to get to him.
 
Everything went pretty well at the vet, she said that she didn't feel any broken bones when she checked Buffalo's leg. She did provide us with anti-inflammatory medicine and said to go back in a week if he was still limping. My vet provided Rimadyl for him and said that he looked very healthy, he even gained about 15 grams since I last weighed him which was almost a week ago! I used the veterinarian at Healing Paws when I first got Buffalo but she was out on vacation this entire week and I didn't want to wait a whole week before he got his leg checked. Quick question though, what should I do if Buffalo refuses to eat the medicine? He took most of it but when there was just a little bit left, he refused to eat it.
 
I don't know Rimadyl... is it a solid tablet, powder, or in a liquid form? And how much does he have to take each day?

That's great news about his leg not being broken 😊
 
You just have to be firm when giving it to him. Just be careful not to put too much into his mouth at a time.
 
Free Ranger said:
I don't know Rimadyl... is it a solid tablet, powder, or in a liquid form? And how much does he have to take each day?

That's great news about his leg not being broken 😊
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It was originally in a tablet form but the veterinarian smashed it up into a powder form and mixed it with water. He has to take 0.14 cc each day for a week.
 
While the veterinarian did her exam, she was shocked by the fact that he let her touch his head, eyes, ears, mouth, and body without any fight. When she put him down to see him run, he didn't run until I grabbed his favorite t-shirt and his buddy out of the pet carrier. Do your guy's piggies usually fight when they are being seen by the vet? She said the other guinea pigs that she's seen are usually the opposite of Buffalo.
 
Mine haven’t fought when being examined by the vet. Piggies are different. It may be he’s okay with being handled more than others.
 
It's good news he can trust a vet! Mine don't fight but they will try and get back into the carrier. Buffalo is a real character!
0.14cc isn't so much... he'll just have to be brave. I give a small piece of parsley after which mine are very fond of but it's normally rationed because it's higher in calcium. Mine don't go for the cilantro, and parsley has a strong flavour in case the meds are bitter. It's a 'treat' in the same way that when I was growing up you only got grapes if you were ill. It was the thing to take a bunch of grapes to a sick relative or somebody in hospital. For years as an adult I didn't buy grapes because nobody was ill! And if I saw them in someone else's house I was like, "Oh, is someone poorly?" I'm showing my age now!
 
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