Tripod!!!

[uglibug]

Has anyone got any experience (or even ideas) for a goo with a rear leg amputation? Lucky will be coming home with three legs tomorrow and we're worried about her managing. Is there anything we should do for her? She won't be moving about much for the first week or so because she'll still be in a cast but when it comes off we want to integrate her with the girls. Any ideas welcome, getting her used to moving about, using a wheel or any cage modifications needed?

[bouncy]

I've had others with three and, once they wound has healed, they've just carried on as normal! Lucky has the added complication of having another in cast, so I suspect her ability to move about will be severely hindered for a couple of weeks until that comes off. I've not had animal experience of this, but I've had to cope with both arms being in plaster, and I've wanted to just rip them off, so your biggest challenge may be stopping her from doing the same?

[uglibug]

Hadn't thought about that!! She was so spaced on the tramadol she'd fall asleep with a mouthful of food, lol, but once she's feeling better she's going to want to chew it. Anyone think of a way to put her off?

[Bexi87]

Erm...some form of mesh casing for the cast? Lightweight but metal so she can't chew it?

[titchycatnipsandwich]

Tinfoil maybe?

[bouncy]

Eeeeeeeeewwww foil on teeth!

The only problem with anything stronger than foil and is chew resistant is that it will likely cut into the skin. Otherwise, a small piece of 15mm copper piping springs to mind!

[titchycatnipsandwich]

I'm hoping that degus consider foil on teeth to be equally wrong

That said, River eats aluminium bracketing. So I'm not convinced that he would be phased by foil...

[bouncy]

But, to be fair, they are strange little things

[randomname]

I had a guy with a front leg amputation. He did fine. It took about 3 days for him to be up & around properly. He didn't have a cast. I kept him separate for around a week, then he went back in with the colony. We didn't have to modify anything, but he did have 4 other degus to help him out. The fur grew back surprisingly quickly, within a couple of weeks. It was honestly fine, he never was any different. He was a total cutie

[deguconvert]

I'm sorry the leg needed to be removed, but all these stories of degus that have had a loss of a leg are so encouraging. And really. . . degus being as they are, she will be a total athlete before you know it!

[randomname]

From what I remember from research at the time, animals do much better than people with amputations. They don't get depressed or miss the limb like we do. They find a way to move about & just get on with it. They don't feel sorry for themselves, & their cage mates don't treat them any different. However, I do remember something about animals that pick up food in their 'hands' to eat - in some cases (usually in chins I think, but must apply to degus as they eat the same way) if a front limb is removed they can't pick up food & therefore starve. I had to watch my Stumpy for the first week to make sure he could manage. He was fine & eating ok by the third day if I remember rightly. I can't remember how he did it, but he managed fine.
Rear amputations don't have this worry. All she needs to do is find her balance. I bet by week 2 she's all over the place, running in the wheel etc.
I also remember a Supervet episode recently where Noel said he always prefers rear leg amputations as the animal recovers their mobility much quicker, but he has known cats & dogs with double front leg amputations that still have great lives, can move about ok.
Animals (& vets) are pretty amazing imho.

[uglibug]

Well, she's recovering well. She's still trying to stand and is actually having some limited success!! She sort of wedges herself against the food bowl and rolls onto her cast, then pokes her other two legs down to the floor. Atm, her legs are at full extention so she just sort of wobbles a bit and falls over, lol, but she certainly doesn't seem to miss her back leg atm. Hopefully, minus the plaster she should do it a lot easier. She's still on the baby food, so we're a little bit worried about her nutrition, but hopefully with two hands back and no baby food on offer, she'll go back to the nuggets.

[randomname]

aww bless her. She'll just get used to walking with the cast, when they take it off & she has to find her balance all over again. It's great she's up & about, she must be a strong lass. I can't wait to see 'photos

[deguconvert]

Going to put in my support for photos as well. Hee hee!! Glad she is finding her way!

[uglibug]

Can't seem to upload pics from my phone. But will see what I can do when I next get on a computer, lol.

[moletteuk]

Sounds like she is doing great and has plenty of fight in her

Is she getting Critical Care? That would be better balanced for nutrition than baby food. I guess some high calcium seeds (and other seeds) would help, you could mix those in or put them near her.

FlickR or tapatalk app work well for pics from a phone.

[bouncy]

Oct 11, 2017 4:06:43 GMT uglibug said:

Can't seem to upload pics from my phone. But will see what I can do when I next get on a computer, lol.

I struggle from my phone, too. I have to go to the full site and do a full reply using the "insert picture" button. When the BikerBabe site was running on here, we just had to put IMG in square brackets at either end :\

[bouncy]

Oh, and I'm loving the ingenious way she props herself at the bowl. Is she trying to eat normal stuff, or is your friend holding back on offering it?

I've already asked for pics on the other thread, so I won't nag on here too

[uglibug]

Lol. Nuggets are on offer but she's not eating them atm. Switched out the baby food for critical care so she should be alright on soft stuff for a while. She can't seem to pick up the nuggets to eat them but she is managing one handed forage munching,lol. She's big on dandelion and loves to lie there chewing on an apple twig.

[titchycatnipsandwich]

Just don't be surprised if poop is odd, if she's mostly eating a liquid diet