My guinea pig fell from a 1 foot table

[AleKriNa]

My piggie, Alex, fell from our table. My sister was handling him and he just quickly explored the table but then he just zooms, he was near the edge of the table and we were too late to catch him, we saw him just chilling on the floor just after he fell. When we pick him up he squeals once for a moment. We comfort him and observed his behavior, he's still like before, when we hold him and gently pressed him on the legs, spine, ribs close to the mouth, he was just chill. Then we feed him his fave, and he continues eating hay and the grass we gave him. We observed him walking ok, just like before. He even popcorned. Do I have to go to the vet? I don't have that money for a check-up.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Hello,

Unfortunately accidents can happen. We always recommend handling and playing with guinea pigs in a safe, enclosed space on the floor to avoid accidents.

ideally he should be vet checked, though if he is displaying no abnormal behaviour or signs of pain, please keep a close eye on him.

Hope your boy is ok!

 

[AleKriNa]

Hello,

Unfortunately accidents can happen. We always recommend handling and playing with guinea pigs in a safe, enclosed space on the floor to avoid accidents.

ideally he should be vet checked, though if he is displaying no abnormal behaviour or signs of pain, please keep a close eye on him.

Hope your boy is ok!

Thank you so much. We also plan on going next week, to be sure. Just saving up enough money. I also hope he is ok. Thank you!

 

[Claire W]

Accidents happen and hopefully he’ll be ok but it’s good he’s acting normal

 

[AleKriNa]

Accidents happen and hopefully he’ll be ok but it’s good he’s acting normal

Thank you! Yeah, I felt a little relief he's behaving normally. I sure hope he'll be ok after the check-up.

 

[Wiebke]

My piggie, Alex, fell from our table. My sister was handling him and he just quickly explored the table but then he just zooms, he was near the edge of the table and we were too late to catch him, we saw him just chilling on the floor just after he fell. When we pick him up he squeals once for a moment. We comfort him and observed his behavior, he's still like before, when we hold him and gently pressed him on the legs, spine, ribs close to the mouth, he was just chill. Then we feed him his fave, and he continues eating hay and the grass we gave him. We observed him walking ok, just like before. He even popcorned. Do I have to go to the vet? I don't have that money for a check-up.

Hi!

If your piggy is popcorning, they are alright.

Just keep an eye on them for a day or two in case of a potential internal or spine injury that may not manifest instantly; in this case, you need to see a vet very promptly.

Guinea pigs don't have good eye sight over distance; they only react to sudden movements. This makes them very vulnerable to accidents from falls and blind jumps. If possible, make sure that they cannot jump off anything.

Please set a little money aside as part of the weekly/monthly maintenance cost in addition to bedding, hay, pellets and fresh food to gradually build up a vet fund. Illness and emergencies never happen at a good time (usually at the worst time possible in my own long term experience). It really helps when you do not have to worry about medical fees in the first place when you are dealing with a very ill piggy

You may want to bookmark these two links here as very useful information resources; especially as you are in a very different time zone to us:
All necessary information for emergency and crisis care as well as all-important feeding support during severe illness (including how you can improvise in a pinch):
Emergency Resources and Critical Illness Care - Contents list and subforum link

Here is the link to our comprehensive information collection. The guides are all written for owners without experience and are very practical, step-by-step and as precise and clear as we were able to make them: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides


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