An update on Molly: My little trooper seems to cope well with the situation, eats very well, and pee and poo accordingly. I have continued with the physiotherapy 2 -3 times a day, but can't say I have seen much improvement. On the other hand I have not pinched her toes to see if there is any difference in her reactions either - I don't like to hurt my babies, so I leave that to my vet!
Wednesday was check up time for Molly again, and to my surprise her reflexes were much stronger than before - it almost looked like she was kicking when the vet checked them! But if that means Molly will be able to walk again I don't know, as her spine is still curved, and the vet doubt it will straighten itself very much. But hopefully she will be able to waddle about with time.
Molly scared me a bit today, though. I came to give the pigs some grass when I saw her little legs kicking in the air. The upper part of her body was inside her step stool house, and for a second I was afraid something terrible had happened, but it turned out she had managed to fall on her side, or almost on her back, and couldn't manage to turn herself on her belly again. When I turned her the right way she looked very offended about the incident. I had to smile at her!
Molly fell and are onw dragging both back legs
Good point, Bethie! I must be tired, because that didn't occure to me before I read your post!
Poor little Bug! "You don't know whether to laugh or cuddle them : )" That was exactly how I felt about Molly, too. It was worrying to see those kicking little legs and round belly, but at the same time it was comical. And her face when I had turned her around was just priceless! She was SO offended, as if it was me that had caused this situation!
I have good news today - your encouragement helps, Jane! For the first time this year everybody was out on the lawn for an hour; of course closely supervised in an enclosure that was partly covered with a large piece of cloth for shade and protection. And everybody behaved themselves most of the time, just chattering their teeth a little bit. Much better than expected. After eating grass for a while they sat closely together, and Molly tucked her back legs under her! When she moves about they are sticking out behind her as before, but when she rested in the grass she sat on them. That makes me really optimistic at the moment! I know she won't be able to run, but I think it is possible she will walk or wobble or whatever to call it. She has a strong will, for sure!
I have good news today - your encouragement helps, Jane! For the first time this year everybody was out on the lawn for an hour; of course closely supervised in an enclosure that was partly covered with a large piece of cloth for shade and protection. And everybody behaved themselves most of the time, just chattering their teeth a little bit. Much better than expected. After eating grass for a while they sat closely together, and Molly tucked her back legs under her! When she moves about they are sticking out behind her as before, but when she rested in the grass she sat on them. That makes me really optimistic at the moment! I know she won't be able to run, but I think it is possible she will walk or wobble or whatever to call it. She has a strong will, for sure!
Poppypiggy - can you give us an update on Molly?
Our Scottie (black American male, 1 1/2 years old) suffered a similar fate 2 days ago. He squirmed out of my 9 year old daughters hands and possibly landed on his back. He's been since dragging his hind legs, but shows some ability to move his legs. We have him confined in a smaller cage, he is eating, drinking, pooping fine. We took him to a vet and have been giving him Metacam. The vet was not an expert in exotics or guinea pigs, and I did not have an x-ray taken as I wasn't sure what value the x-ray would bring if it doesn't change the immediate treatment options. I'm now trying to research additional information online, and I expect that I will go back to an exotic vet by the end of this week and have an x-ray taken.
Poppypiggy - I'd love to correspond further with you as you seem to have had the most relevant experience. I am hoping that Molly has improved further.
I welcome all advice.
Our Scottie (black American male, 1 1/2 years old) suffered a similar fate 2 days ago. He squirmed out of my 9 year old daughters hands and possibly landed on his back. He's been since dragging his hind legs, but shows some ability to move his legs. We have him confined in a smaller cage, he is eating, drinking, pooping fine. We took him to a vet and have been giving him Metacam. The vet was not an expert in exotics or guinea pigs, and I did not have an x-ray taken as I wasn't sure what value the x-ray would bring if it doesn't change the immediate treatment options. I'm now trying to research additional information online, and I expect that I will go back to an exotic vet by the end of this week and have an x-ray taken.
Poppypiggy - I'd love to correspond further with you as you seem to have had the most relevant experience. I am hoping that Molly has improved further.
I welcome all advice.
I am so sorry to hear that Scottie has injured himself! When Molly did her jump it was the most upsetting experience I have ever had with any of my pigs, and I still shiver when thinking about it. But if Scottie moves his legs a little bit, that is a good sign. Just be careful when handling him; the spine is very fragile at this point, as I am sure you know. I got the advice to use a shoe box with one side removed when I had to lift Molly out of the cage, and that worked very well for the about 3 weeks before her spine had healed, more or less.
Did the vet give you any Pred? I believe that helped Molly in the first few days, as it has anti-swelling and anti-inflammatory properties ( https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21192 . Later she got Metacam.
I hope Scottie will recover more and faster than Molly has done. As far as I can see Molly has not improved very much since the last update, but I handle her every day, so there might have been a little difference without me noticing. At least she moves around quite a bit and seems to be content with life, but she drags her legs like she did 3 weeks ago. There is a little bit more "resistance" in her left leg when I do the "physio", though, so things seem to be going ..., well, somewhere, if not in the right direction. I doubt she will walk again, but I think that is because a vertebrae is more damaged than seen on the x-ray.
I have tried to do water therapy with her, but that has not worked out; she doesn't like to be in the water and she refuses to swim. Next step will be the Roxy Roller, but I have not been able to find all the materials yet. I am working on it, though.
You are very welcome to contact me through the mailer, and I will try to answer all your questions if I can.
Did the vet give you any Pred? I believe that helped Molly in the first few days, as it has anti-swelling and anti-inflammatory properties ( https://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=21192 . Later she got Metacam.
I hope Scottie will recover more and faster than Molly has done. As far as I can see Molly has not improved very much since the last update, but I handle her every day, so there might have been a little difference without me noticing. At least she moves around quite a bit and seems to be content with life, but she drags her legs like she did 3 weeks ago. There is a little bit more "resistance" in her left leg when I do the "physio", though, so things seem to be going ..., well, somewhere, if not in the right direction. I doubt she will walk again, but I think that is because a vertebrae is more damaged than seen on the x-ray.
I have tried to do water therapy with her, but that has not worked out; she doesn't like to be in the water and she refuses to swim. Next step will be the Roxy Roller, but I have not been able to find all the materials yet. I am working on it, though.
You are very welcome to contact me through the mailer, and I will try to answer all your questions if I can.
Thanks for the fast response.
The vet only prescribed Metacam, which I'm told is a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory. It's now been 2 days, so I'm not sure that a change in medication would help at this point.
I'll likely take Scottie to an Exotics specialist tomorrow. They charge $65 for the visit which is OK, but $169 for the X-ray. While this is "nice to know" information, I'm not sure how it will help the treatment decision. I'm hoping that the doctor will be able to feel the shape of the spine.
This whole experience has been very heart breaking for all of us. I really appreciated seeing all of the Molly postings, it gives us hope that Scottie will survive this.
The vet only prescribed Metacam, which I'm told is a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory. It's now been 2 days, so I'm not sure that a change in medication would help at this point.
I'll likely take Scottie to an Exotics specialist tomorrow. They charge $65 for the visit which is OK, but $169 for the X-ray. While this is "nice to know" information, I'm not sure how it will help the treatment decision. I'm hoping that the doctor will be able to feel the shape of the spine.
This whole experience has been very heart breaking for all of us. I really appreciated seeing all of the Molly postings, it gives us hope that Scottie will survive this.
I am sure Scotty will survive! Even if pigs are fragile, they can also be tougher than you would expect.
$169 sounds like a lot for the x-rays, and I am not sure if those really made any difference for Molly. The best information the vet got was from pinching Molly's toes, and finding that there was a reaction. After that it has mostly been a matter of exercising the legs carefully.
I hope everything goes well at the vet tomorrow. Scottie is fortunate to be in your care!
$169 sounds like a lot for the x-rays, and I am not sure if those really made any difference for Molly. The best information the vet got was from pinching Molly's toes, and finding that there was a reaction. After that it has mostly been a matter of exercising the legs carefully.
I hope everything goes well at the vet tomorrow. Scottie is fortunate to be in your care!
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