Feet Chip not using back foot

[Catahoula]

Yesterday I noticed Chip wasn't using his back right foot/leg. I inspected him for injury and didn't see any. I was able to move his leg and hip joint around without any indication of pain, so I believe the cause is in his foot. It doesn't appear swollen or red, but obviously something is not right.

His normal vet is out of office until Thursday, so I was given another recommendation of a vet that could handle guinea pigs. I'm a little leary, but this can't wait. We have an appointment at 3:30pm (EST) today.

Can anyone provide me with information regarding pig safe medications? I'd like to know ahead of time in case the vet wants to give him either a pain killer or anti-inflammatory/steriod medication to help him out.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Have you checked the safe medication list over at www.guinealynx.info ? The info on pain killers will be there.

 

[Catahoula]

Have you checked the safe medication list over at www.guinealynx.info ? The info on pain killers will be there.

Thank you @foggycreekcavy for that link. It was very helpful.

I was very satisfied with the amount of cavy knowledge this vet had. She was very enthusiastic and was loving on Chip the whole time. It appears his ankle might be a little swollen, so she gave him metacam for 5 days and then we'll recheck. Really hoping he just had a small sprain and this will be enough to get him all healed up.

 

[PiggieGuinea]

Yay! Glad to hear good news! Did you find a new vet? Our vet recently sold his practice.

 

[Catahoula]

Yay! Glad to hear good news! Did you find a new vet? Our vet recently sold his practice.

The office where he usually goes gave me a recommendation of another cavy savvy vet in the area. I was very pleased with their service.

 

[PiggieGuinea]

Thats great. Now I need to move to florida. We dont have a local cavy savvy vet in our area anymnore

 

[Catahoula]

Here is a pigture of Chip at the vet yesterday.

 

[MrWhistles]

AH!
You went to my piggy vet! They're such excellent exotic vets. Glad all went well and he is on his way to recovery

 

[Melissa123]

Chip is very cute! I hope he starts feeling better soon!

 

[Catahoula]

Sadly I only have one more days worth on metacam for Chip and he's still dragging his foot around. I'm guessing the vet will want to do an X-ray next.

 

[MrWhistles]

Oh nos!!!
I hope it's nothing more serious and he's just taking a longer recovery

 

[kendalm7]

Feel better chip<3 he's adorable!!

 

[Catahoula]

Oh nos!!!
I hope it's nothing more serious and he's just taking a longer recovery

I hope so too. He had a pretty rough start in life considering he was supposed to be snake food. I've only had him for 3 months and he's in much better condition now, but there's still things that need healing. With all this focus on his feet, I realized how tore up they are from when he lived in a wire bottom cage. I figured they would heal on their own, but after 3 months, I guess not. Although I know it won't do anything for his hurt foot/ankle/let, I've been rubbing coconut oil on his feet. In just 2 days it's made a huge difference.

I was to clean his ears out and give him another bath, but I figured I'd save that terrrorizing until he was feeling better. Poor Guy, makes me so sad to see him like this. He's still trying to popcorn when he's happy, but isn't doing zoomies or even exploring as much. Just sitting in a corner or laying down in his hidey.

 

[MrWhistles]

I'm sure you'll find the root cause and all will be solved. I've used coconut oil for just about anything health wise. My dog/cat even get a bit in their food just for the health benefits.

 

[Catahoula]

Chip went back to the vet today, because he's still not using his foot/leg. They did a serious of xrays, but were inconclusive. You could imagine how hard it is to hold a guinea pig still to take the images. They are being sent to a radiograph specialist for a better reading. There's 2 areas that have peaked the vets interest, one on his ankle where it looks misaligned (possibly broken/fractured) and one on his upper leg bone where the bone doesn't appear to be continuous.

I was given a copy of his xrays on disc and if I can figure out how to open the files, I'll share them here. Chip was also given 7 more days of metacam, 10 days of baytril "just in case" there's an infection going on, and metaclopramide for GI motility in case the baytril doesn't sit well with his belly.

Please send Chip positive thoughts that he heals without any major procedures necessary.

 

[MrWhistles]

My goodness
I hope he pulls through this well. I'm not sure what the procedure is for broken legs. I read from someone here that they may do a re-break. That sounds so painful and unnecessary to do to a pig. But who knows? They're so little that maybe a re-break is the only thing they can do.

I think sharing the photos may help. Some of the experts here may give their opinion on what i appears to be.