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Injury Not using front right paw?

nugget

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My guinea pig named Muffin will not use her right paw and holds it up to her body when walking, and lays down to eat. I noticed it yesterday evening while sitting in their cage for lap time. I was wondering if this was a case of bumble foot or if she might’ve sprained it? It looks a little swollen compared to the other front foot. I gave her 1/4 of a crushed up baby aspirin mixed w carrot last night, and she ate most of it and it using her paw more now it seems. I’m not that worried yet because she is still eating, drinking, and running like a madwoman but I want to know if this would be possible to fix at home. I’ve attached two pics of the paw, thank you!
 

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3785E58D-3ABB-43AC-ACAB-03C21A526CD2.jpg 416F2AD8-0255-43D7-933E-3F374E4E5317.jpg

Guinea Pig Papa

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Never give your pig aspirin. It can be toxic to them. There are much safer alternatives, such as metacam, but it would require a vet visit.

One of my boys, Sly, would injure himself the same way from time to time. It was always the same back leg, and it was one that had a prior injury when he was very young.

You can treat it at home, but NOT with aspirin or other over the counter meds without consulting your vet. You can limit her movements, by placing her in a small area with her food and water close to her so she doesn't need to move. If it is just a sprain, it'll clear up in a few days.

You should take her to a vet to make sure that's all it is, and to get proper pain meds.
 

nugget

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Oh and I forgot to add but when I squeezed the paw and leg a little bit, she doesn’t squeal or make noise just yanks it back to her body after a couple of seconds
 

nugget

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Never give your pig aspirin. It can be toxic to them. There are much safer alternatives, such as metacam, but it would require a vet visit.

One of my boys, Sly, would injure himself the same way from time to time. It was always the same back leg, and it was one that had a prior injury when he was very young.

You can treat it at home, but NOT with aspirin or other over the counter meds without consulting your vet. You can limit her movements, by placing her in a small area with her food and water close to her so she doesn't need to move. If it is just a sprain, it'll clear up in a few days.

You should take her to a vet to make sure that's all it is, and to get proper pain meds.

Thank you for your advice! I will no longer give the guineas aspirin, I looked it up last night and somewhere said vets could prescribe 20mg of it to g pigs but I trust this thread more. I think we’ll wait a few days to see if it gets better then go to the vet if necessary. I’ll update the thread when something happens
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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She's trying to hide her pain and protect her leg at the same time. Guinea pigs are prey animals and will hide it as much as they can, to avoid appearing weak to a predator.
 

bpatters

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Ditto [MENTION=35161]Guinea Pig Papa[/MENTION]. Just section off an area of her cage, or put a travel cage inside it, to restrict her movement for a few days.
 

nugget

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UPDATE: Muffin is completely back to normal and the swelling is almost nonexistent! We didn’t need to go to the vet and the next day after I posted this thread she was using her leg a lot more. I’m happy to say she’s back to popcorning and being her spaz self :)
 
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