mackenziejanetaylor
Junior Guinea Pig
This morning when I went to give the guineas their morning pellets Boswell didn't come running to me like he usually does so I was immediately worried (they all usually come straight away).
When he eventually came out and started eating, I noticed he was limping really badly and not putting any pressure on his front right foot. I let him finish his breakfast and then got him out to take a closer look.
His leg looked a bit strange but there was no redness, no cuts, nothing that looked like an infection.
I rang the vet and luckily managed to get an appointment within two hours. The vet had a good look and didn't think it was a fracture as she had a good feel of his leg. She did notice when she pressed an area of his leg he was in really bad pain and spotted there must be an injury there. She thinks he has most likely hurt himself while jumping or playing in the cage, and she also asked if he could have fallen but there's nothing in his setup that's high enough to cause this kind of injury... so I'm lost for ideas about how it could have happened.
He has been prescribed anti-inflammatory painkillers for 7 days and told me to keep a close eye on him (which I do anyway). She didn't think an X-ray was necessary since she didn't think it was a fracture from what she could feel and said it can be difficult to even see with guinea pigs. It would also mean putting him under which obviously should be a last resort with guinea pigs.
So... has anyone experienced anything like this with their guinea pig before? I'm worried about him, he seems in so much pain. I write on here when my piggies are poorly and always get great advice.
Here he was this morning below:
When he eventually came out and started eating, I noticed he was limping really badly and not putting any pressure on his front right foot. I let him finish his breakfast and then got him out to take a closer look.
His leg looked a bit strange but there was no redness, no cuts, nothing that looked like an infection.
I rang the vet and luckily managed to get an appointment within two hours. The vet had a good look and didn't think it was a fracture as she had a good feel of his leg. She did notice when she pressed an area of his leg he was in really bad pain and spotted there must be an injury there. She thinks he has most likely hurt himself while jumping or playing in the cage, and she also asked if he could have fallen but there's nothing in his setup that's high enough to cause this kind of injury... so I'm lost for ideas about how it could have happened.
He has been prescribed anti-inflammatory painkillers for 7 days and told me to keep a close eye on him (which I do anyway). She didn't think an X-ray was necessary since she didn't think it was a fracture from what she could feel and said it can be difficult to even see with guinea pigs. It would also mean putting him under which obviously should be a last resort with guinea pigs.
So... has anyone experienced anything like this with their guinea pig before? I'm worried about him, he seems in so much pain. I write on here when my piggies are poorly and always get great advice.
Here he was this morning below:
I've explained what happened in the thread below:
