What to do with a limping goo

[s]

Hello everyone!

So, my degu Daewoo has been limping for a couple of days, keeping his back foot off the ground. He can move the foot and it seems to be in the right position, but he avoids using it. It seems very slightly swollen compared to the other foot. I'm wondering what I should do on two fronts.

First, we haven't yet taken him to the vet and I'm not sure if we should. His foot, as I mentioned, seems in the right place, and from what I've read on the forum it seems the usual prescription is rest. I'm not sure it's worth the stress of the vet, and the dangers of X radiation, for them to just tell him to rest.

Second, I'm trying to make his environment easy and restful. However, his cage has three levels and he has to climb a lot. If I removed all the levels he wouldn't have enough floor space as the cage is a bit thinner but taller than most. We tried moving him to a backup cage with lots of floor space but he doesn't like it much and that cage has its own issues (including him biting plastic which is bad for his teeth, and the water bottle being in the wrong position). I'm also worried that he won't get enough exercise because usually a wheel is said to be essential.

I'm wondering how I can make the best of this situation and help him rest and stay healthy!

One of the problems is that although he's limping he's still as energetic as usual and tries to run on the wheel and climb stuff. He's only one so he hates being debilitated!

Any help much appreciated.

[winic1]

The wheel should come out for now, so that he cannot keep running on it, and will have to rest.
As for all the climbing between levels, can you create ramps from level to level, at least temporarily, so that he's walking between levels, instead of climbing and jumping? Some simple boards, or rough cardboard (so it's not smooth and slippery) or something?

If his foot does not seem to be broken, and it is still normal warmth (meaning it has good blood flow) then he really just needs to rest it until it gets better. Which is difficult for a goo, but the less you let him re-aggravate it, the sooner he will be well again.

[savvy]

I'm so sorry to hear about Daewoo having a limp.

If its been a couple of days and he still won't put it to the floor, it may be worth having it x-rayed to make sure it isn't broken, he could probably do with some pain relief too, especially if there's swelling. It is important that they rest an injury and a few days without a wheel won't do him any harm. If you have a heat pad such as a snugglesafe, try put that in his cage to encourage him to rest.

[bouncy]

Agree.

Remove the wheel, encourage Daewoo to rest by putting in a heat pad, and making sure the food and drink are on the same level. If you have metacam, give some - it's anti-inflammatory and pain relief. Finally, get him to a vet!

[deguconvert]

My thoughts are the same. The swelling is what gives me pause. There must be something more going on . . . broken, or dislocated, and while they may not be able to treat a broken bone like they do for larger animals, they should be able to advise you and help him with pain etc.. If it is dislocated, it needs to be put back in the right place or it will never heal for him. You won't know if it is either of these two conditions if you don't take him to the vet. I do believe that a vet is your wisest course.

[s]

Thanks for the advice. I can't really put ramps in the cage but I put a bunch of extra steps in so it's gentler. I also removed the wheel.

His foot seems the same size as the other one now, I'm not sure if I imagined the swelling or it went down. 😆 He's still limping though.

I'll try to get him to the vet on Monday.

[teemu]

If you can (very carefully!), does he react with pain if you touch the foot? For example, if you put a finger under his foot while he's standing, can you gently lift the foot without obvious pain? It sounds like he might have just sprained his foot with a bad jump or landing, but it's also possible that he might need a vet visit.

If it looks like he's starting to use his foot again by tomorrow, or you see him putting any weight on it, then it's likely not a break or a dislocation. Especially if he at any point stands on two legs. But if he's totally avoiding the leg and obviously being careful with it, then it certainly needs to be looked at.

[s]

Update!

Thanks for the advice everyone.

We took Daewoo to the vet and she said that his leg seemed fine overall. She checked all the joints etc and said nothing was broken or dislocated. So he just needs to rest! He doesn't seem to be in pain, just a bit of limping still, and he's fine with me touching his foot.

My biggest problem is that he doesn't like to rest! He's an active boy! I took his wheel out of the cage so that he'd get more rest but instead he just runs around the cage and bites the bars more. 🙃 When he's out of the cage he tries to climb everything as usual. We put a heatpad in his house too which he likes but doesn't stay on for that long. 😆

If anyone has any advice on when to put the wheel back, how long it's okay for him to be without a wheel, or something to preoccupy him so he doesn't get irritated waiting for his foot to heal, that'd be great!

Thanks again.

[savvy]

Great news tgat it not broken.

If the heat pad is in his house he could be finding it a bit too warm. Try putting it beneath a pile of hay, but not in an enclosed space so the heat can escape better.

Also, to keep him occupied he needs a challenge, try giving him a nut in its shell such as a walnut or hazelnut that he has to work to get at. If he's concentrating on getting at the nut, he's not running on his wheel.

A treat, hidden inside a small cardboard box, stuffed with hay will also suffice, but probably not for long.

[teemu]

Yeah, degus really do not enjoy having to rest. But even though he might get irritated from having less to do, it's not dangerous or harmful to reduce his physical activity possibilities for a short time due to health reason, like the days he needs for his foot to heal. I've had to keep a degu off from climbing, running in a wheel or otherwise straining for two weeks, and even though he was pretty annoyed over it, it was necessary and everything was fine afterwards. If Daewoo's just sprained or otherwise hurt his foot a bit, he'll likely be back to normal within a week, and he'll be alright not having a wheel for that long if needed.

Keep him company when you can, and like Savvy says, you can give him things to do that do not require running or climbing. If you can find a coconut, giving him the empty shell (without the flesh inside) can really engage a degu for a bit as well. When he wants to move, running on a level surface is better than running in a wheel or climbing, since that way he can protect his sore foot better.

[s]

Thanks for the help!

Daewoo's foot is back to almost 100% now! Must've just been a sprain or something. He's moving pretty much normally and scratching no problem.

Might try putting the wheel back and seeing how it goes.

I'll try to be more careful in the future with where he climbs and make sure there are no hazards in his cage. He's such a cheeky boy who tends to overestimate his own jumping/climbing abilities. 😅

Anyway, happy ending!

[teemu]

That's great to hear

It was probably a bad landing that did it, degus can be REALLY reckless about jumping down from high places. I've had a situation where one of my degus jumped down, landed really hard and limped for a time due to it. You mentioned earlier that your cage is pretty tall (I think), so it would probably be good to try and make sure there's a lot of surfaces he can land on, so he can't drop through the levels or something like that.

Putting the wheel back is probably fine. Just keep an eye out in case his limping worsens again, and remove it if needed.

Speaking of, what kind of a wheel does Daewoo have? I just thought of the fact that certain kinds of wheels can cause accidents like this, so checking that his wheel is safe would also be a good idea. Ideally, degus should have solid wheels that don't have any openings in the running surface. Many wheels are made from wire mesh, or have spokes instead of a solid running surfaces, and these can cause leg issue. A mesh wheel can potentially cause wounds in the feet (although degus have pretty tough feet, so they seem to be less susceptible to this than some other rodents), and wheels with spokes can cause an accident where the degu's foot slips between the spokes and gets injured while running.

So especially if his wheel has spokes, it would be a good idea to replace his wheel before giving it back. But if the wheel is fine, then sure, give it back and just monitor his recovery!

[deguconvert]

It occurred to me that having some photos to illustrate the bad wheels vs good wheels would be helpful . . . so I tried putting links into a post to show them ... and it was not successful. LOL! I thought if I could use links, it wouldn't use memory space. BUT I am, very apparently, not good at getting links that work. Realizing also that some links that work here might not work elsewhere in the world.

So let me just say that we recommend using wheels that are only solid surfaces, both running surface and back wall surface, and which are firmly fixed to the cage by a good quality bearing that is located in the center of the back wall, and this ensures that no body parts will fall through or be at risk of being pinned or cut by a wire support bar, or other openings in the running surface (as are often found in many rodent wheels).

[teemu]

Ah, yeah, that's true, preferrably the wheel should also not have an open "back." I was just thinking about feet and how they could get damaged, but Deguconvert is indeed right in that there are other things that can be very dangerous, as well.

This would be a very bad wheel, for many reasons:

First, it has spokes, which can trap a foot and cause all kinds of issues. Second, it's open and the support bars can also cause many problems (no worries, it's not one of mine!)

The second common, but nasty wheel is essentially similar but has a running surface made from wire mesh. I feel like those might at least be preferrable to spoked wheels like in the picture, since at least the degu can't slip and damage their feet on the surface itself, but they're only marginally better and have many issues still.

This kind of a wheel, on the other hand, is ideal, as Deguconvert pointed out:

This wheel has a solid running surface that cannot cause leg damage, and the axle is hidden from the degu, and there are no connector bars that could damage any parts either. The only issue is that these kinds of wheels are pretty hard to get. It's possible to make one yourself, and there are instructions online, but very few places sell them.

It's a bit easier to get running wheels like this that are made of wood or plastic. A wood wheel is okay, as long as the wood is nontoxic, but the problem is that degus will destroy it thoroughly rather quickly. A plastic wheel should never be put into the cage, since degus will likely gnaw it as well, and unlike wood, plastic will be very harmful to them. Both would be fine if used outside the cage, during playtime, under supervision, but will of course not solve the issue of having a wheel in the cage.

Another option would be a running saucer. I have no experience with these myself, but I think I've seen more running saucers that are made of metal, and they are, by nature, not plagued by the issues that wheels often have. Some degus don't really like them, though, and they take up a lot of floor space in a cage. They look like this:

[deguconvert]

That's a great post, Teemu! Thank you for doing that!!