Limping guinea pig

[PurpleDaisies]

Last night I found one of our three girl pigs had suddenly developed a limp (front leg). She seems totally fine apart from the hop-a-long running style (eating, squeaking, "running" around, passing wee and poo normally). The foot looks and feels normal with no redness or heat and I can't feel setting untoward along her leg.

We're off to the vets later but I was just wondering if anyone else has had any experience of something similar? Poor little pig will be getting spoilt with extra veg (if her sisters don't pinch it!).

If there's nothing obviously broken/open wound/injured claw it could be a hay splinter.
I get them in my hands and they blinking well hurt . A pig can't tell you (well they can, my pig would bite me)

If you wet the skin and run your finger gently over it , if you 'get' the splinter, she'll flinch. (If it is a splinter of course)

Hope it's easily sorted

Good Luck PurplePiggie.

We're back from the vets and the carpal joint is swollen so it looks like she's injured something. I've got painkillers and antibiotics (in case it's an infection) and we'll have to see how it goes.

Her sisters gave her a very good sniff when she got back and they're a now wolfing down a big pile of grass. I really hope it heals quickly.

Aw poor girl
How the dickens did she injure herself (they aren't the most athletic creatures) unless she jumped suddenly or jumped off something?

Sudden spontaneous popcorn?
Was there a wound at all? Bite/scratch?

Hi Purple and Purplepig! My old Smoothpig once injured his leg and was on a similar amount of medicines. It was one of his hind legs and he was dragging it. After a couple of weeks he was back to,his normal self except he developed a love of all syringed medicines. So hopefully your piggie should be fine soon. Just keep up with the meds and try not to let the other pigs harass her so she can rest and heal.

She absolutely love the metacam! She seems really happy in herself and the other pigs are being well behaved so far. Hopefully she'll be back to normal soon. She's standing square on all fours so that has to be a good thing.

I reckon it probably happened jumping off a little shelf in the hutch-they like to jump up sit on it and observe the world. I might take it out. Thanks fernie and 70.

Great, another drug fuelled pig! Smooth was insatiable - I'm convinced he faked a few illnesses just to get metacam.

Hope she's improving Purple

Miss pig is definitely a metacam junkie-she was practically leaping at the syringe this morning. She seems to be limping a lot less too, hopefully it was just a nasty tweak rather than a proper injury. I like your suggestion fernie that they fake illnesses for drugs...

When our boar was neutered he had a painkiller at the vets then a bottle of painkillers and an insulin syringe to measure out his doseage.
First day we held him , he quaffed it. Next days he pootled up to recieve his medication. Not because he was in sooo much discomfort that he needed it.............he liked it .

He had his two days and the scraping in the bottle (his extra day ), so not enough to turn him into a guinea-junkie .

Onwards and upwards PurplePiggie (just hope she doesn't tell her cagemates about it)