My Guinea pig has been limping since yesterday. He has been eating and doing all other normal things. But he is limping and holding his injured foot up. There are no other signs of distress, but that could just be because he’s hiding them. Can guinea pigs have sprains in their limbs? Both my guinea pigs run behind each other and chase each other in the cage. Could it have been that he’s twisted his foot or something? Could it be a fracture? He is running around. Just with slight caution as to not bear any weight on that one foot. But once I give them food, he comes running. He still definitely has the limp though. Can someone please tell me if they’ve had similar experiences with regards to a single injured forelimb. Thank you.
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Guinea pig limping
- Thread starter maithgks
- Start date
Please have your piggy seen by a vet. He will need pain relief.
Yes they can sprain their limbs.
One of mine suddenly started limping, I didn’t see anything occur, but something had clearly happened. He is a climber so perhaps had jumped off the roof of his hide and had a bad landing. Although he decided to walk perfectly normally when in the vet consulting room. The vet obviously knew they are so good at hiding any pain and he was clearly too scared to show it in the consulting room, he prescribed a week worth of anti inflammatory pain relief. I got him home, put him in his cage and he immediately started limping again. He gradually got better over the week with the meds
Yes they can sprain their limbs.
One of mine suddenly started limping, I didn’t see anything occur, but something had clearly happened. He is a climber so perhaps had jumped off the roof of his hide and had a bad landing. Although he decided to walk perfectly normally when in the vet consulting room. The vet obviously knew they are so good at hiding any pain and he was clearly too scared to show it in the consulting room, he prescribed a week worth of anti inflammatory pain relief. I got him home, put him in his cage and he immediately started limping again. He gradually got better over the week with the meds
Yes I got him checked by the vet. He did an x ray and said that his x ray showed signs of osteoarthritis. He’s only 2.5 years old. Isn’t that too early for arthritis to kick in? I’m really worried. Also thank you so much for your advice @Piggies&buns. He did the same at the vets place too. He stopped limping. Now he seems better.
Hi!
There are different forms of arthritis; while the most common form is age-related arthritis, like in humans, it can sometimes affect your piggies with a genetic disposition for it.
If the limping has disappeared, it was likely just a mild sprain in one of the leg joints, which are not at all uncommon in lively piggies. All it takes is a bad landing after a popcorm or from a jump.
Knowing that your piggy has osteoarthritis at a young age, I would recommend to give a glucosamine based joint supplement (Oxbow do them when you google) and to have your piggy vet checked every 6 months for monitoring the progress. At some point, painkillers may have to be used but that will come when needed according to your vet's assessment.
Thank you so much. I’ll definitely get the supplements. I love him so much I just don’t want him to be in constant pain
Thank you so much for all these tips and information 
What treatment or medication did the vet prescribe?
Were you given some from of anti-inflammatory and pain relief for him when he is in pain?
No currently he’s not been prescribed anything. I’ve just been told to do hot/cold intermittent fomentation. What signs of pain should I be looking out for? Cause he’s stopped limping and is bearing weight on his limb normally. But I have a feeling that he is in pain and doesn’t move around much as much, maybe. It may just be in my head though. I really don’t know. The vet said that he would start him on painkillers if he did not improve. He seems to have improved since yesterday. But there’s really no way to tell if he’s always in pain, is there? Could you please guide me to identify some of the signs of pain, even if he’s trying to hide them. I really appreciate all the help. Thanks.
Also they’ve identified a couple of osteophytes in the same joint (right shoulder joint). Those I’m sure are causing him trouble when he bears weight while walking. The thing is oxbow joint health supplements are not available in India, and I’m going to have to ask my family to get them for me from the United States. But they don’t get here until the first week of April. Would that be too late?
The vet said that he would be starting him on Meloxicam. Are there any side effects to long term usage of pain relief meds? Can I administer something at home, like Ibuprofen? I referred to an article online that said that would be okay, but of course I didn’t want to take a wrong step. I was just looking to see yesterday if there was anything I could do to relieve his pain. But then luckily I found an exotic vet close to me and took my piggy for a consultation.
Meloxicam/metacam is the licensed analgesic for guinea pigs and can be used for the long term; arthritic elderlies of mine have been on it for several years. Since your vet is not overly concerned, it is highly likely that the arthritis is still only very mild and was found only because of the x-ray and not because it is causing any symptoms or much discomfort yet. At the worst, your piggy will need a very small daily maintenance dosage.
It depends on where the arthritis is actually located but you will eventually notice small changes in how they sit/move depending on what is impacted. I would however not hold my breath that this is going to happen anytime soon.
Please NEVER use human painkillers on guinea pigs. They can cause real harm. The best thing in the medium and long term is glucosamine to prevent any bones rubbing on each other for as long as possible. See my earlier post.
Yay. Thanks so much. Reading that made me really happy. I’m glad that he doesn’t have to be in pain and that he can be started on analgesics without any issues whenever the vet deems it fit. And I shall work on getting the supplements as soon as possible. Thanks!Meloxicam/metacam is the licenced analgesic for guinea pigs and can be used for the long term; arthritic elderlies of mine have been on it for several years. Since your vet is not overly concerned, it is highly likely that the arthritis is still only very mild and was found only because of the x-ray and not because it is causing any symptoms or much discomfort yet. At the worst, your piggy will need a very small daily maintenance dosage.
It depends on where the arthritis is actually located but you will eventually notice small changes in how they sit/move depending on what is impacted. I would however not hold my breath that this is going to happen anytime soon.
Please NEVER use human painkillers on guinea pigs. They can cause real harm. The best thing in the medium and long term is glucosamine to prevent any bones rubbing on each other for as long as possible. See my earlier post.