Degu foot amputation

[agll]

Hi everyone. I want to ask if anyone has experienced amputation of a degu’s foot? One of my goos had a worsening foot condition for couple months in a row; at first the veterinarian treated it for a bacterial infection, but after an x-ray he came to the conclusion that it was a bone sarcoma and amputation of the entire foot is required. This is an experienced vet and in any case in my town there is no one else with rodent experience, but I am very scared. During 10 years as a degu owner, I have never heard of a degu's life after a foot amputation. This goo is still relatively young (2.5 - 3 years old), active, it is difficult for me to imagine the process of future adaptation. Maybe similar cases have already been discussed here on the forum? Thanks very much in advance.

[savvy]

Welcome to the forum. I'm tagging bouncy as she has experience of this.

[darthchinchi]

Is it a front paw or a back paw?

I had a chinchilla once, who had to have his front paw amputated. Took some getting used to for him, but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.

[agll]

Apr 11, 2024 21:25:45 GMT savvy said:

Welcome to the forum. I'm tagging bouncy as she has experience of this.

Thanks a lot!! 

[agll]

Apr 12, 2024 6:26:17 GMT darthchinchi said:

Is it a front paw or a back paw?

I had a chinchilla once, who had to have his front paw amputated. Took some getting used to for him, but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Thank you for answering! It is a back paw. And glad to hear that your chinchilla was able to adapt! Did he lived a long time after the operation?

[bouncy]

Hi there!

Sorry to hear about your goo 😕 If infection is the reason, you may find the vet will remove the leg rather than just the foot but don't worry.

I've had two amputations on two goos, both rear legs. The first one was due to the equivalent of degu MRSA. As soon as he came out of surgery, his brother piled on top of him. He was running around as soon as he got home. His brother learned to stand on his opposite side when wanting treats at the bars, so he just had to give him a shove to get first dibs. His only issue was oversteer when charging around on my kitchen floor. He was seven yrs at the time, and died just over a year later of natural causes.

The second is a young pup with lots of birth defects. His brother was aggressive trying to get to his critical care feed, and accidentally broke his leg shoving him out of the way. He was 11 months when he lost his leg, and was charging around, climbing the bars, and generally causing chaos again the next day. Five months later, he's in better health than I've ever seen him, fighting fit.

The main risks they faced were the actual surgery, due to the anaesthesia, and keeping the wound clean for post op healing. It also may take time for fur to grow back. Spud's fur grew back within a couple of weeks. Little pup Sooty's has only just started to grow back! They have tails, which help with their balance, so it doesn't really bother them at all. Cost is likely to be £500-600. Which vets do you use?

Any other questions, just ask!

[agll]

Hello Bouncy and thank you very much! Your answer is the first information I have on degu amputation.

Probably, if the goo was over 5-6 years old, I would not have dared to take such a risk, but he is still so young, active and strong, I hope he will cope.

First of all, how was the first time after the operation? Were they able to move actively right away? Was there any disorientation, traumas, attempts to do something that they were no longer capable of?
This is the current house of my goos  - as you can see, there are quite a lot of stairs, some of which are quite steep. ( In the photo, two sections of the cage are isolated, but there is a removable ladder between them.) I can replace the steepest stairs, but the level difference is still quite large. I am very afraid of future possible traumas. They also admire to walk around apartment, of course, more than anything else in the world, except their favourite snacks 

Regarding the vet, we recently moved to Belgrade, Serbia. Here, only one team of doctors at the local veterinary institute has sufficient experience to treat rodents.


[/a]

[bouncy]

With both degus, they were back doing normal degu things as soon as they were over the effects of anaesthesia. The only thing either of them struggled with was jumping. With only one hind leg, they couldn't jump as high. Certainly with little Sooty, his remaining back leg is becoming stronger, so he can jump nearly as high as before. Stairs will be absolutely no problem. They can do everything they could before with four legs, including running in a wheel, climbing, rolling in sand...... You haven't got many places for jumping in your cage, so they should be absolutely fine.

[agll]

Thank you very much ! I hope everything goes well and he can recover as quickly as your degus.

[bouncy]

I'm sure he'll be fine. Degus are very adaptable!

Watch out for his T-Rex arm Moment - he'll use the stump of his leg to scratch behind his ears at some point