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Guinea Pig Broke Her Leg

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jenju

New Born Pup
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Hi Everyone,

My Guinea Pig Eevee jumped out of my hands today as I was about to put her back in her cage and upon an emergency vet visit, we have discovered she has fractured her back-left leg. The vet gave me 3 options:

1) place a pin between both sides of the fractured bone which would cost ~£800-£1000
2) have the leg amputated which would cost ~£400-£500
3) euthanasia.

Of course I don't want to euthanise her as she is only 12 weeks old and her sister had to be euthanized a month ago for dental problems. I don't know how I'd be able to cope with losing both of them so soon after each other.

The vet gave me some Metacam so that I could have a day to think about it and so that she will not suffer so badly while I do think about it. I've done some online research and seen that some people have splinted their guinea pigs broken legs, and they have healed without surgery or treatment. I think this is only really possible in babies though and I don't think 12 weeks old is really considered a baby anymore. I may ask my vet tomorrow if this would be possible.

If not, then does anybody have any suggestions? Perhaps on how I may be able to proceed while not spending too much money? Of course - if I have no other choice then I will pay for her surgery, but it would leave me in a very bad situation after as I am living off my university loan right now and have costs such as rent and car insurance to pay for. Thank you.
 
I agree with the others, best to chat it through with your vet. I suppose the only thing with having the leg amputated is the strain it would put on her other back leg. I wonder if it might make her prone to arthritis for example in the future for example?
Something to ask your vet maybe, best of luck to you both 🤞❤️
 
I would imagine if splinting was a viable option for this specific break it would have been offered, unfortunately incorrectly healed broken bones can cause a lifetime of pain so it's not ideal to try to do this at home.

I assume the prices quoted were from an emergency out of hours vet which are usually more costly, are you able to keep her as pain free as possible until regular vets open tomorrow and get a second opinion/quotes from other vets in the area to see if they can bring the cost down a little bit?

Good luck with your decision ❤️
 
Just for information, one of my RB piggies broke her back leg and it was pinned successfully. She walked on it fine after her op although it was a bit stiff afterwards and she sometimes did a bunny hop instead of running normally.

She was around eight years old when she had the op, and sailed through it much more easily than I had expected and it healed well. I was glad she had the op. I negotiated a payment plan for the op so I didn't have to pay the whole amount in one go. You might be able to discuss this with your vet.

She was quite famous after the op. The vet who did it was an orthopaedic specialist for the vet group, but he had never pinned a bone in an animal as small as my piggies. Her x-rays were circulated around the vet practices in the group.
 
Hi,
Several years ago I had a pig who broke a hind leg as a result of a fall and had it amputated. He was about 5 months old at the time and lived to be six years.

Unless it is very clean break splinting a piggy's leg is not an option and agree with what @Eriathwen says about this.

There is a lot that can go wrong with pinning bones of such a small animal and no guarantee that it will work or that a further procedure maybe needed. Unless it is being done by an orthopaedic specialist, as in the case of @Posyrose I personally wouldn't consider it.

Amputation, although it sounds dramatic, is usually the best option. It is a relatively quick and straightforward procedure.

Guinea pigs cope well on three legs, especially when it is a hind leg that is lost. This is because most of the weight of a guinea pig is in the skull and chest and carried by the short, shock absorbing, front legs. Hind legs, by contrast are power houses designed to propel the pig forwards, especially when running at speed, and don't carry much of the weight of the pig, so losing one wont affect the other adversely, especially if you dont allow her to gain excess weight. When walking with a missing hind leg it is noticable but when doing zooming you really can't tell!

The only way in which it affected my piggy was in his ability to groom as you can't scratch with just a stump, so you will need to give your pig a little brush every day to remove the lose hairs and every so often clean her ear on the side of the missing leg as she won't be able to do this for herself. Other than that she should be able to lead a normal life.

If I was in this situation again I would opt for amputation again too.
 
I'm not sure how to post an update but thank you everyone for your help, advice and kind words. I took Eevee to a specialist small/exotic animal vets and they managed to put her leg in a cast today and said it should heal by itself in about 6 weeks! They said that as she is so young, the bones should have no trouble healing and she is doing fine right now! Eating lots of hay and veggies with no trouble (although definitely annoyed at the massive cast attached to her leg)!
 
Just seen your thread. My late degu, Marley broke his leg. His leg was too small to put a cast on. Worse case scenario was amputation but he was given metacam for the pain and we were told to remove everything in his cage so he couldn’t jump around and for him to rest which was difficult for a degu. Thankfully it worked and his bone fused back together within 3 months and no further treatment was needed. It sometimes caused him pain and he was left with a slight limp but he lived until he was 6 and a half

I hope your girls leg heals well x
 
Brilliant glad it was a more positive result wishing you and Eevee all the best and sorry for the loss of your guinea baby 🌈
 
jenju said:
I'm not sure how to post an update but thank you everyone for your help, advice and kind words. I took Eevee to a specialist small/exotic animal vets and they managed to put her leg in a cast today and said it should heal by itself in about 6 weeks! They said that as she is so young, the bones should have no trouble healing and she is doing fine right now! Eating lots of hay and veggies with no trouble (although definitely annoyed at the massive cast attached to her leg)!
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Thank you for the update! Please let us know how she gets on x
 
jenju said:
I'm not sure how to post an update but thank you everyone for your help, advice and kind words. I took Eevee to a specialist small/exotic animal vets and they managed to put her leg in a cast today and said it should heal by itself in about 6 weeks! They said that as she is so young, the bones should have no trouble healing and she is doing fine right now! Eating lots of hay and veggies with no trouble (although definitely annoyed at the massive cast attached to her leg)!
Click to expand...
I am trying to picture in my mind the little cast. I am so happy for you both🎉
 
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