Please Help! Lame Back Leg And Fighting...

[Fred&Winnie]

Please help! My 2 10 month old boars are worrying me and I need advice.... they've struggled with dominance in the past but Winston has always been top pig. Now Fred's unwell and it's all going downhill.....

Fred appears to be having trouble with one back leg - I noticed him sleeping at funny angles and being lathargic a couple of weeks ago which seemed to get better, but for the past three days he's been limping on it and is hopping about with it raised as he moves around. I've waited to see if its a sprain that will get better by itself but its not improved and he's started to seem quite low, so I'll be finding a vets for him first thing in the morning now they're mostly open again post-Christmas.

My other concern is that his dominant cagemate Winston seems to have suddenly noticed the illness too and just this afternoon has begun taking advantage big time. About an hour ago Mum told me that they were fighting, and I went straight there to see Winston incessently mounting Fred over and over, who was clearly VERY distressed. There was no blood, but with Fred already possibly injured I didn't want to sit back and do nothing so have divided the cage for the night. Have I done the right thing? I'm worried I may have damaged their bond by splitting them up mid-dominance behaviour, and I'm worried about how and when I'll be able to get them back together, especially if Fred's recovery may take a while....

ANY advice about either issue will be extremely appreciated!

 

[Lady Kelly]

It's a tough call because they haven't been fighting at all but also as you say with Fred having something wrong with it you have to do what you feel is best. Have you managed to separate them where they can still interact through the bars? This will likely bring them some comfort until you know more about what is wrong with Fred. I think I would have done the same as you if the humping seemed excessive. Fingers crossed he makes a quick recovery

 

[Betsy]

It's a tough call because they haven't been fighting at all but also as you say with Fred having something wrong with it you have to do what you feel is best. Have you managed to separate them where they can still interact through the bars? This will likely bring them some comfort until you know more about what is wrong with Fred. I think I would have done the same as you if the humping seemed excessive. Fingers crossed he makes a quick recovery

 

[DM030819]

@Fred&Winnie The main focus at the moment is getting Fred's leg to heal. I've been in a similar situation and I decided that separation was needed to let the ill piggy get better. When he was okay again then I reintroduced them.

Usually if a piggy starts to pick on another piggy that is ill then they don't usually stop until the pig is better. I had a pig exactly like that, he was a perfect pig until one of the others became ill. Then he was a little monster.

 

[Fred&Winnie]

Thanks for the reassurance guys! I have a 5x2 C&C so have split it with extra grid panels and cable ties (although Winston somehow managed to get over/under these at first into Fred's bit, so we've had to do quite a bit of reinforcing!)

I'm hoping I can get them back together soon, but will take your advice over waiting for Fred to heal fully before trying anything ... I was just worried they'd lose their bond if I had to leave them apart for too long! I'll focus on worrying about Fred's leg in the short term first

 

[Reenie]

I think the fact that Winston is trying to get to Fred could demonstrate that their bond is strong, which bodes well for re-introducing them in the future. Monitor their behaviour while they're apart, as if they seem to want to be together it's a good sign.

 

[Fred&Winnie]

Just thought I'd give an update now that Fred has returned from the vets - the vet examined his back legs and believes the problem to be in the hip on his right hand side. He says the leg feels stiff but is tracking properly through the joint and isn't dislocated. Without an x ray he can't rule out breaks, and because of Fred's size if there is a break they'd be limited for what they can do, so he's been sent away with Metacam (0.2ml daily for 10 days) to see if there's an improvement. Fingers crossed its a sprain or muscular, if theres no improvement in a fews days he'll be off for an x ray....

 

[Tiamolly123]

You probably are going to separate them keeping a grid in between. Unfortunately any piggy will sense a weakness, in another hope it isn't a break.
If you watch a nature programme you will see they always go for the weak one.

Forgot sorry...hi & welcome to our friendly forum

 

[Fred&Winnie]

Hi guys, I have another update after having taking little Fred to a guinea pig specialist who was incredibley thorough in checking his over. The physical examination drew a blank apart from muscle wastage on the bad leg, so I agreed to go ahead with x rays. From this he's been diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplaysia, so both hips are affected with shallow sockets. His 'good' hip is good and painfree basically because he has no ball left on the femer to rub with, and through wear or deformity Fred's basically done the surgery that would be required to fix the problem naturally by himself (ie. Removing the ball). However the bad leg still has a deformed ball which is grinding, hence the lameness.
The vet has prescribed a stronger and long term dose of Metacam and reassured me that although his legs will never be 'normal' he will get around just fine on the painkillers, and in time the remaining joint may wear itself to a painfree state like the other hip.
After his night in hopital Freddie's thrilled to be home, and he and Winston have had a good squeak hello at eachother through the bars <3