Injury URGENT! I accidently dropped Castiel and I have NO clue what to do!!

[EmmaFranson]

Omg, I am freaking out right now. I was trying to get my 6 month old guinea pig Castiel out of the cage, and he took a small nip at my finger that I wasn't expecting, so my hand just automatically flinched and released him.. So he fell out of my hand from about my ribs (I'm 5'6), onto his shoulder area, and he made a thud sound, and then flipped onto his stomach. He just kinda of sat there frozen for a bit as I bent over to pick him up, and he's got blood coming out of his mouth. I've never once dropped a guinea pig before, ever! I am seriously bawling my eyes out, I don't know what to do..

He's moving around (he's on my lap right now), I can't feel any noticeable damage, but he is shaking and there's the blood from his mouth that I cant figure out where it's coming from since he wont open his mouth for me, I can only move his lips out of the way - his incisors are fine although covered in blood. He wheeks as he moves around, but I can't see anything more.

I can't drive, my boyfriend does but he is out of town for work until the 28th. The emergency vet is in the next town over and is a half hour drive from my house, and I don't know if I can get a taxi there - I don't know if they would let me take Cas in a carry case all the way out there. I could stay up all night and hope to God that one of the two vet clinic's near me have an opening tomorrow, but they don't open until 8:00, and it's just about 1:30am right now. I want to call the emerg vet, but I don't know if it's something that I can viably get to

Somebody please help - I am completely at a loss for what to do!! Help!!

 

[Soecara]

Is he still actively bleeding or has the bleeding appeared to have stopped? how long has it been since the fall? Has he tried to eat at all since the fall? It is possible he has injured his back teeth or his cheek, but either way you won't be able to see it so it would take a vet with the proper tools to determine.

 

[EmmaFranson]

For the most part it's stopped.. He's saliva is tinted pink, but he's not soaking everything in blood anymore.. It's been about 50 minutes? He hasn't really tried to eat anything much, just a few attempts at chewing the chair arm and my hand.. and those were only half interested

 

[Soecara]

If the bleeding has stopped and he is up and moving around he may be able to wait until morning to see the vet so long as his condition doesn't decline. He does still need to keep eating though, try offering him some soft vegetables like some lettuce and see if he is able to eat.

 

[EmmaFranson]

Okay, well he's eating a bit of lettuce now, and he's drinking some water - I got him in a 2x2 cage right now on the wishes of my boyfriend to make sure his cagemate doesnt start a fight with him (which he normally does if he can smell me on another pig).. And his saliva is back to normal color.. He's still shaking, and wheeking lightly with his movement, but he seems to be moving fine, just a bit lower to the ground than he normally would be. I'm going to call the Vet in the morning to see if I can get Castiel in tomorrow.

 

[smfetter]

Did you get him into the vet? What happened?

 

[EmmaFranson]

Yes, I got him to the vet that afternoon (the only time I was able to get a ride from somebody - my saint of a brother rushed over after he was off of work and drove me over).. He doesn't have any noticeable fractures or broken bones, but we couldnt check his teeth since Castiel wouldn't open his mouth for any of us. The plan of action was to get him on metacam/meloxicam (I don't know which, the Vet told me metacam, but the VA doing the pricing and all that asked about meloxicam.. So I'm not sure which), give him that once a day for 7 days, and if he's not back to normal by then to get him in for xrays to find out what is going on.

As of right now, Castiel is walking around a little, properly now, but he is barely eating - to the point where I'm going to get him on Critical Care/Vitamin C if he doesn't eat anything substantial by the time I wake up in the morning - and he's not drinking anything. I've started syringing water into his mouth to get some liquid in him, but I don't know how much. I figure I'm going to wait to see if the metacam does anything, and hopefully he starts eating soon, but if I'm still having to force feed him by Sunday he's going back to the vet as soon as I can get him in. Oh, also he is still passing poops, but they're extremely tiny. He stopped passing poops for a few hours until I went to get him packed up to go to the vet, which is when it kicked started again.

Does you know if there is a specific amount of water he should be force "fed"?

 

[Soecara]

If his poops are decreasing in size it would be better to start the critical care sooner rather then later. Also it would be a good idea to weigh him at least once (a kitchen scale that can weigh up to 5 pounds is ideal for weighing guinea pigs) a day to see if his weight is holding steady or if it is declining. If you haven't already read this page https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

 

[EmmaFranson]

I've started him on Critical Care, and I've noticed that he's somehow knocked out his two top incisors. I found one in the cage, but I have no idea where the second went, so Im just going to assume he swallowed it by accident. My guess is that the fall cracked and loosened them, and him trying to chew on the cage bars to get his cagemates attention is what knocked them out... He's getting the Critical Care, with liquid Vitamin C mixed in, and between 2-6 cc's of water every couple of hours.. I'm also giving him some lettuce, a few chopped tomatoes, and some cilantro everyday which he does eat, it's just really hard for him to do so. He's also got a water bowl with him which I hope he uses when I'm out. I change the water when Im going out and when I get back, but when I am at home I syringe him water. I'm gonna make a vet appointment tomorrow to see what else I can do for him to help him. If I remember right, guinea pig's teeth are always growing, so I'm just wondering what I can do until they grow back. One broke off cleanly right at the gums, so I'm not worried about that one, the second broke in a jagged pattern so that might be a concern when it grows back in

 

[bpatters]

You do need to get him to a vet and get that jagged edge smoothed off. Otherwise it can cut his mouth and gums. But you're right that GP teeth always grow unless the root is so badly damaged that they can't, but that's not what usually happens.

Ask for x-ray and make sure his jaw isn't broken.

 

[EmmaFranson]

I've gotten a vet appointment booked for tomorrow after for the xrays and teeth "shaving". He's actually doing alot better, he's drinking out of his water bottle again, and he's eating a bit of his pellets now, too! He's still not eating as he normally would, so I'm still giving him the Critical Care, but since he is eating a bit more, I'm not giving it to him as often as I was yesterday. On his own, Castiel is eating small amounts of tomatoe, pepper, cucumber, and cilantro, and a ton of lettuce and hay.

I gotta say, without the help of everybody here, I'd be alot more stressed out and probably doing something wrong - my boyfriend is out of town for work, so I didn't really have any support around me that actually understands how attached you can get with your guinea pigs, and how people feel when one of them gets hurt or sick. So, thank you guys!