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Injury Flickers not walking on back leg

Kelly9

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Ugh. This Flickers is named Dr. Flickers Frogaletta for a reason, lol. She sees the vet a lot.

She has her back end kind of hunched in and isn't wanting to put weight on back right leg. Yesterday it seemed she listed to one side in the back. She currently has a fungus behind both ears that I put Monistat on last night. We have a vet appt. for tomorrow. She did fall on her back when she jumped out of my son's hands into her cage, but it was less than 6-7 inches, about 2 weeks ago. Things have been looking fine.

1. What happened? lol I know you can't really answer this. Is she injured from the fall or does the fungus have something to do with it?

2. Is it ok to wait until tomorrow? My vet is out of the office for 2 weeks and this is the place she recommended for exotics.

3. Should I begin any treatment now?

I am so worried and scared!
 

Kelly9

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4. What should the vet do?
5. Both girls staying in the 10X10 free run room (with food & water) because of their fungus I am treating. Once they get baths with the Nizoral I will put them down in the cage. This was the first night of being in the free run room. Could she have injured herself running into something or fighting with Cupcake? There is a nightlight in the room.
 
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Piggycraze

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Please take her to the vet, my little pig Cocoa had this same problem, and we thought she had bumble foot, so we tried a home remedy. Soon to find out the next day at the vet that she had a broken back and had been paralyzed, so she couldn't use her foot. We ended up having to put her down because of the pain, im not saying this is what your pigs problem is, but please take her to the vet asap.
 

Kelly9

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@(broken link removed) You wrote this on another limping post: "Satins are a breed with really shiny hair. It almost seems to glisten. Satins often have problems with bone density, causing lameness and other problems. It can be remedied by calcium supplementation. "

My girl IS a satin and I keep calcium low, or try to.
 

Amy262

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Check her foot to see if it swollen. This is exactly what happened to my pig. She had fungus on her ear. That cleared up with meds. Several weeks later she started limping and not using her back leg. Her foot was swollen. Vet prescribed antibiotic, but then I noticed how flaky it was also. I started using anti fungal meds on it. It cleared up and she is walking on that foot again. If her foot is at all swollen, take her to the vet because he may need an X-ray and/or antibiotics (forgot to mention that the vet did an X-ray first). If it is flaky, start treatin for fungus. Sounds like we are both in similar situations right now. I just ordered anti fungal shampoo on amazon. I will be bathing all the pigs when it gets here and continuing to treat the one with the meds from the vet (lotion...can't remember the name...at work right now).
 

Kelly9

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I don't think it is swollen. I checked before I wrote this post, looked again after your post, and I can't really tell. She has black feet, so it is kinda hard to tell about the flakiness. Doesn't really look flaky, but easily could be if she is scratching behind her ears.

Poor Cupcake was all upset we were bothering Flickers, lol.

We do have similar situations. Hopefully, your situation works out so you can give me advice on the fungus!
 

bpatters

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@Kelly9, reducing calcium for a satin pig isn't a good idea. You're really between a rock and a hard place, but not all pigs develop stones on high calcium diets, but satins do develop very painful bones and joints. I'd err on the side of feeding calcium (largely through veggies, not through supplementation) and hope to be able to manage any stones if they develop, rather than lowering the calcium for a satin.

She could well have injured her back and/or legs when she fell, even if it was just a short distance.

Your vet should take an x-ray to see how well calcified her bones are, and if there's any obvious joint disease.
 

Kelly9

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@(broken link removed)
How do you know where to find that infomation? Every time I research how to care for my pigs, I get general information. Certainly, nothing that detailed. (somehow I can't seem to get rid of the formatting when I copy your name.)
 

bpatters

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Here are some links I got from googling "guinea pigs osteodystrophy satins" (without the quotes):

(broken link removed)
https://www.guinealynx.info/records/viewtopic.php?t=164
https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44412
Metabolic Bone Disease in Exotic Pets
https://www.guineapigcages.com/foru...-my-satin-guinea-pig-calcium-supplements.html

I just notice that my post said that "satins do develop very painful bones and joints." That was a misstatement on my part -- not all satins do develop osteodystrophy, although many of them do.
 

foggycreekcavy

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I think it's a very good idea to have an x-ray done. I doubt it's related to the fungal problem.

I have heard anecdotal evidence of pigs with mobility problems because of calcium issues suddenly doing better after being fed some alfalfa hay for a few days. It might be worth a try in addition to the vet visit and X-rays (but only if your pig does not have issues with stones or sludge).
 

Kelly9

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UPDATE: Flickers just has a soft tissue injury. The vet extended her legs and the right was definitely more stiff in comparison to the left, but she was so scared, she ran and walked just fine in the room! He did not find any other problems, except the soft tissue injury. She will get Metacam for pain relief.
 
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