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[Jessnicole]

Hello everyone, I'm still a slightly new chinchilla owner (had Kabuki for about 4 months now) and this morning he decided to go for an unplanned run around the house. Needless to say this sparked the attention of my dog who began following him very closely. In the end, Kabuki turned around and my dog seemed to have knocked into him thus causing him to limp slightly and hold his right back paw's toes in a curled manner. I gently tried to feel both back legs and nothing seemed out of place..which is a good sign I hope.
I understand that taking him to a vet is the best bet, however I was just wondering if anyone had any insight on to whether it was a break or a sprain. Obviously hoping for the latter.

Thank you in advance:)

[Jo Ann]

     It could be either ... only a vet could tell you for sure.

If there is swelling or fever in that area, I suggest taking him a.s.a.p.

Keep us posted on how he is doing.

   Jo Ann

[Jessnicole]

Well I took him to the vet today and it turns out that his leg is dislocated and surgery is required. Not exactly the news I was hoping for, but atleast soon he'll be on the road to recovery.

[Jo Ann]

   When will they do the surgery?

Once they do the surgery, he will probably be put on antibiotics ... caution must be taken there.   

Antibiotics will kill the bacteria ... all of it ... the good and the bad.   

The good bacteria is known as flora and it is in the intestines.  This is what helps him process his food properly.   

A good source of this good "bacteria" is yogurt.  (Mine like the strawberry and blue berry the best.) 
BUT ... since yogurt is a dairy product and dairy products can not be taken at the same time the antibiotics because they will cancel out the good the other does.   
Soooo ... the yogurt is given half way between doses of the antibiotics (at leas 3 hours apart), so that the antibiotics has time to kill any bad bacteria, then the yogurt can replenish the flora to keep your little one's system going properly.

When a chinchilla's digestive system stops or slows, it sets into motion additional problems ... ones that are worse than the dislocated leg.

Keep us posted!

   Jo Ann

[Petco Chinchillas]

Oh, I am so sorry!!               Chins do break their bones easily!

[Jessnicole]

In the end surgery wasn't necessary. This morning the vet was able to give him an anesthetic and "pop" the dislocated part back into place. He warned me that this wasn't a guaranteed fix and Kabuki might have a slight limp after he's healed, but eventually he'll adapt to it and be perfectly fine. Now my problem is that they put a splint on and bandaged him up, but he won't stop biting the bandages. We were given an elizabethan collar to deter the biting, but it doesn't fit right and he absolutely hates it. He needs to keep the bandages on for a month, so any suggestions as to how I can stop him from biting them off would be greatly appreciated.