Ianto and the broken femur

Coldandsleepy

Post   » Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:39 am


Thanks for all the links, tracis!

Reading through them, I'm so glad we have cavy savvy vets around here, and that none of them have suggested euthanasia (!) for him. I think that along with talking to the specialist about surgery vs splinting, we will also ask about the possibility that the bone could knit on its own. Before we separated him from the other two guys, he was getting around as well as ever (which is very well-- he is one of the fastest, most agile piggies I've ever seen) on three legs, so it's hard to say if a limp would deter him. Well, we'll see what the specialist thinks, anyway...

Ianto's doing about the same this morning. He's sitting inside his carrier (about the size of two grid blocks-- we don't have many extra grids right now, so this is the best way to keep him separate from the other guys) happily munching away at grass. We gave him a good amount of lettuce and dandelion greens before bed last night, and he vacuumed them all down. It looks like he's also hit his pellets. He's awake and alert and behaving pretty normally. For an injured pig, he is certainly taking this all in stride. :)

The thing that concerns me is that it doesn't look like he drank any water since last night. I know he got some liquid out of the lettuce, but I don't know if that's enough. He's currently resting on a bed of CareFresh and hay, so I can't tell if he's been peeing (looks like he's been making plenty of poo, though) or if his pee looks normal.

I really want to move him out of the carrier. We don't have enough extra grids to make him a whole second enclosure, but we should have enough to fence off 1-2 grids, which is about the size of what he's in now, and it'd be a lot easier to see him. The local vet was of the opinion that we should keep him in the carrier, but not being able to easily check in on him (he's inside it under a cuddle cup-- both he and his brother love hiding under the things) is making me really uncomfortable.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:45 am


You might want to use towels to better monitor pee and poop output.

User avatar
CavyCastle
Supporter in '10

Post   » Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:48 am


Do you have any small Rubbermaid tubs?

If he's not drinking, extra wet down some veggies.

I had/have a guinea boy who came to me with a broken femur. He was too little to do anything other than love on and vet watch. Now, he is three times his original size and has a small lump on his hind leg. He is also VERY FAST and jumps/popcorns throughout his cage. Nope, that experience hasn't slowed him down a tick. :)

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:50 am


I was thinking of something like that but realize you can't see out of them and they have poor air circulation. Something better is needed.

Coldandsleepy

Post   » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:50 pm


We ended up making him a little 1x2 apartment in the main enclosure yesterday morning. At first we were worried he would be agitated by being able to see his friends but not being able to get to them... however, he has continued to build his reputation as the most laid back piggy ever by not seeming to care. (His brother Jack, on the other hand, spent about forty minutes going NUTS about the return of Ianto.) He's continued to eat and started drinking noticeably, and he's peeing and pooing normally. Couldn't ask for much more on that front.

We went down to the specialist this morning and she said flat out that surgery would be a bad idea for him. It turns out he has a butterfly fracture rather than one clean break, which means pinning wouldn't work well-- they'd have to first piece the bone back together, which is a really complicated surgery even when the bone you're working on isn't teeny tiny. So, she recommended that we let her wrap it and let it try to heal naturally. She gave us another week's worth of Medicam for pain management.

So that's where we're at. We'll be monitoring him to make sure he doesn't pull the wrap off (so far he doesn't seem bothered by it at all) or readjust it in some way that cuts off circulation to his toes or anything, and in a week we'll take him to the local vet to be re-wrapped. And then if all goes well, in a few weeks, he should be as healed up as he's going to get. She doubts he'll ever get full use out of his leg again, but agrees that he's doing an admirable job of getting around on three to start with, so it's probably not going to diminish his quality of life.

User avatar
Bytxlaura
Remembering Nemo

Post   » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:13 pm


That is as good news I guess as can be expected :( I wish Ianto a speedy and uneventful recovery!

User avatar
Kermie831

Post   » Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:48 pm


Sorry he isn't a good candidate for a pin.

Cadbury was in a similar situation with his leg. We opted to have it amputated - since he was doing great on 3 legs anyway! and so he wouldn't be tempted to use it.

solipsistnation

Post   » Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:18 am


Not needing surgery was actually kind of a relief... We were worried because piggies are so sensitive to anesthesia.

Currently we have Ianto hanging out in his private zone and we're making sure he has his own hay, greens, and water close enough that he doesn't have to move much. He happily ate his pain meds this evening, which is nice because it means we shouldn't have to fight him to get him to take them... Of course, the tape wrap has started to come unravelled a bit, although only the end of it. I put a little more tape around there to keep it from getting worse very quickly, but we may have to have him rewrapped soonish if he keeps getting it free. I don't think he's unwrapping it himself, just moving around enough under his fluffy hut that it came free.

He's still eating, still drinking lots of water (which is good since it's been REALLY REALLY HOT today) and still a fairly perky little guy, even when I picked him to to retape him. He's so patient...

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:54 am


You're checking the foot periodically for good blood circulation?

I bet he will be able to get around fine once it is healed.

solipsistnation

Post   » Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:47 pm


Yep, I'm checking as often as I can and so is my wife (who is home more during the day). His little toes were good and pink this morning. He's still getting around well in his subset of the big enclosure, even with the wrap. He's eating, drinking, and even takes his pain meds without too much complaint. He did work a couple of inches of the outside end of the wrap free last night, not enough to actually get to places where it would loosen anything important, so I put another piece of tape around it (loosely, just enough to hold it down) so it wouldn't trail and get caught on stuff and unwrap farther.

I may be speaking too soon, but I think we're out of the scary part, and now we just need to keep an eye on him and make sure he heals well.

solipsistnation

Post   » Thu Apr 23, 2009 1:44 pm


And, weighing him, he's gained 10 grams. Sheesh. All this not running around at top speed is clearly getting to him.

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Thu Apr 23, 2009 3:53 pm


Sending more good thoughts for Ianto! He is very fortunate to have you both caring for him. :)

Post Reply