Broken/Lame Leg....poorly Scooby

[paulweese]

Hi Everyone!

I am after some advice please?!

Scooby our degu got out of the cage on Sunday night because i stupidly didn't shut the cage door down properly. At some point during the night he has injured his left back leg. It is just dragging behind him.

I took him to the vets on Monday morning straight after we found him and the vet could not feel any break. When ever the vet or me touch the leg Scooby didnt move it or make any noise almost as if it wasnt there. The vet could not feel a break in the leg so prescribe some anti-imflam drops which we have been giving Scooby once a day. I have separated the bottom level of the cage from our other Degu (Thierry) to try and let him rest it and not climb to much. Scooby now sometimes seems to have the leg tucked up but not putting any weight on it.

So yesterday we got in the house and we notice Scooby had blood underneath his eye, seemed to be wiping his nose (like a runny nose but no blood) and making a clicking noise when he was breathing. We are pretty sure he wasnt doing this before and we have been keeping a very close eye on him and sure we would have spotted it.

So my questions are..... If Scooby doesnt start using his leg has anyone got any experience of 3 legged degus? Im not sure if just to leave the leg or if amputation is the best option. I dont wont him to get sores/infection in the leg. He is eating a little less than normal (as can be expected) but drinking the same.

The more worrying part is the eye/nose issue, its got me thinking it may have been a head injury and the leg is a result of that injury.

Im just so angry with myself for not shutting the cage door properly

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[philbailey1806]

What a shame! Poor scooby! I've never seen a degu with only 3 legs before, but I have seen a rescued degu on youtube called footloose, that has no feet due to bumblefoot, and it seems to cope fine, so I can't imagine aving 3 legs affecting his quality of life too much, as for the runny nose and clicking definately sounds like a respiratory infection to me. was it a cold night he escaped? Degus are prone to pneumonia, and I wouldn't advise anaesthetic untill he recovers fully, as it's risky to put a small rodent to sleep at the best of times. All-in-all I think your vet is the best qualified to answer your queries and give you your options and the best course to take. I hope this helps and I hope poor scooby gets better soon.

[paulweese]

No it wasn't a cold night.

I just watched the video on footloose and discovered another one called "Paralyzed Degu Baby Tuffy" Scooby left leg was in same position as "Tuffy".

The vet said to give him a few days before making any decision. Like i said he seems his normally happy (happy as he can be) self so i dont want to make any quick decision.

[lorrainekuk]

When Torres jumped from the top of his cage last year he fractured his leg (took him to vet etc) keep him in as small a space as possible - nothing to climb on etc. ( The vet said to leave him for 6 weeks!) It seems so cruel but they will quickly heal.(Think it was closer to 3/4 weeks he was in the samll space) He seemed to be in trouble for a couple of weeks then seemed to get better over night. We currently have Torres in his resticted space again after scrapping with his bother the other night he has injured his other back leg. Will leave him there until he shows signs of improvement. Try not to worry in the short term - at least need a few weeks to see what happens

[paulweese]

Thanks for the advice.

6 Weeks!! It does seem so cruel but its for the best. Its been 5 days now and Scooby is definitely trying to use his leg more. Think i might have been getting ahead of myself when i started this thread!

[Kins]

Jun 16, 2011 11:04:35 GMT paulweese said:

So yesterday we got in the house and we notice Scooby had blood underneath his eye, seemed to be wiping his nose (like a runny nose but no blood) and making a clicking noise when he was breathing. We are pretty sure he wasnt doing this before and we have been keeping a very close eye on him and sure we would have spotted it.

How is this problem now?

It sounds like a bit of rest and 'relaxation' is what he needs with regards to his leg. One of my pairs of goos had a nasty fight a while ago (they now live in a divided cage) and one of them had a bite on the front of his ankle, he wouldn't use it for a few days but it soon healed up and he now doesn't have any problems at all.

As you have taken him to the vets I think just keep an eye on him. Sounds like he's much better already though anyway which is great.

[moletteuk]

Clicky noise while breathing suggests respiratory tract infection, which would need some antibiotics. Fingers crossed his leg sorts itself out.

[paulweese]

We think the eye injury might be from when we had both degus together for a while. Thierry got a little excited and started jumping all over Scooby! We have kept them separated since then until Scooby is fully recovered.

His runny nose seems alot better now, think it might have been stress etc from his adventure out of the cage! Going to keep a eye on it and if it starts again ill take him to the vets.

We have found degu poop in the spare room upstairs and in the bathroom! We think he may have fallen down the stairs as there is a little spot of blood at the bottom.

Leg Update - He is using the leg now, he is waddling a little but definitely better! Not climbing yet but we are keeping him in the bottom of the cage for another week.

[emz]

My Steve almost ended up with an amputated leg. He got it stuck in a hammock a lot of people use (I have posted multiple warnings so hope no one uses the P@H parrot slumber tunnels) and I found him stuck the next day his leg swollen, sticky and stuck in the fabric. It didn't even look like a leg.

His leg only really improved quickly when I moved him to my current cage, which is home made. So instead of mesh walls he had a fully wooden cage. I had to rush job the cage a bit but it really did the trick within a week he made a huge amount of progress where for the few weeks before he had barely improved.

My advice is, if you have a wired cage, to possibly move him to a new location like a cage like this. He needs rest and antibiotics and it will probably take a few weeks. His toenails may fall out with a injury around the foot (one of Steve's did) just wash it with a mild, warm salt solution if this happens to keep it clean.

The breathing sounds respiratory and will need addressing quickly, as it can be fatal for small animals I believe. I have never had any experience of it personally luckily.