Milo hasn’t had an x-ray yet as she thinks it would be best to get all done once (op and x-ray) rather than put him through anaesthesia twice. We saw an emergency vet last night who said she felt crunching and our local vet today also agrees it’s broken. Otherwise he is happy and healthy and he is still eating and pooing. Not sure whether we leave it and put him on pain medication, as if in the future it doesn’t work we can review our other options, but as the break is so high up we are not too sure how well amputation will work. We can get an x-ray and have his leg pinned or we do the worst option and have him put down. She would refer us to an exotics vet who said the risk of anaesthesia was 1 in 25 piggies don’t pull through.
It is great he will be seen by a specialist vet - that will help a lot.
I am sure things will also become clearer when you can see the x-ray - clearly the location and type of break will influence the treatment offer (amputation, pinning, resetting).
It's a difficult decision to make, but you are clearly doing all you can right now - hopefully piggy is on a high dose of painkillers while you wait?
What I would also say is please don't put too much stock in the anaesthetic stats. In the UK (and indeed most countries) these are actually very inaccurate, as they are not really representative of the piggy population as a whole.
Here in Switzerland (where almost 50% of all piggies undergo anaesthesia), the general stats on anaesthesia in guinea pigs are less than 1 in a 150 piggies will have problems while under anaesthetic.
The problem with stats like this in the UK is that firstly very few piggies ever actually see a vet. Many of those that do are already very ill, as signs of illness can be subtle and easily missed, or owners will put off the vet with home remedies for as long as possible to save money.
Those that do see a vet are often just pts when problems are deemed complex, as many general vets do not have the experience to treat these problems (see earlier comment about very few piggies ever actually seeing a vet).
Additionally even those piggies that do see a vet often don't receive treatment as many owners are not prepared to spend hundreds of pounds on an animal that cost them 20 pounds. Sad but also true.
So overall guinea pig anaesthesia in the UK is often done on piggies who are already very ill, and by vets who have limited experience in this area, and sent home to owners who may not have a full understanding of the complex post op care needs, hence the odds are not really in their favour.
If you take your individual case - a heathy, younger piggy who is eating and drinking independently, will be operated on by an experienced vet and returned home to an experienced owner who can offer suitable care than I would think the risk is far, far lower than quoted.
Here they both are during summer! My favourite picture, Milo being the one with the white beard.
Milo won’t need the op x
