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[Jenova]

I feel so bad I can't describe it. She always jumps onto my shoulder from the side door of the cage and we have a wonder around the house together, but last night she lept off my shoulder into the front of the cage and fell onto the bit at the bottom. I didn't see how it happened but now she's holder her left paw into her chest and not using it.

She immediately got up and ran around the room, not using the paw, but 'happy', lively and into everything. She found the dust bath, chewed the wall, acting normally. I rounded her up and put her back in the cage and she went into her box to sleep. I checked on them later and she was still asleep, so I gave all four of them some oats and she was happy again, got really excited about the oats and was pushing and shoving with the rest of them for more.

She has also stretched the front leg out and sort of groomed it a bit. I have had a look this morning, nothing looks swollen and I don't think (and am really, really hoping, it's not broken). Obviously she needs to go to the vets but I'm just after some advice from you as well.

What should I look for to see if it's broken. I'm not going to poke around, I'll leave that for the vet but can I look for swelling or anything to give me a hint? What sort of medication such as painkillers and anti-inflammatories can I expect to be given and what sort of dosage for a large female (about 600g).

And when Chong had his toe bitten he didn't use his paw for weeks and held it up like Cheech is doing. So is it possible she's not hurt as much as I think and Chinnies like to protect even small injuries? Thanks.

[dianah]

i don't know about paw injuries but they usually give metacam as it is both, an anti-inflammatory & a painkiller. the dosage is 1 drop a day and it did make my chinchi quite constipated although he was perfectly happy to eat it if it was on top of a raisin.

i hope your cheech will be ok xxx

[Jenova]

Thank you.

Looks like I better get some more raisins in.

[dianah]

let us know what the vet says!

[Debbie.nl.ca]

You should be able to feel for any breaks. They do get bruises , pulled muscles and torn ligaments too.
Hope all goes well.

[Jenova]

I took her in today and it is broken.  The good news I suppose is that it's a very clean break. My vet is bandaging it up now on her lunch break. She said it should heal very quickly within a few weeks... if Cheech doesn't chew the bandage off. I personally don't see that happening, she chews everything! But as the alternative is pinning it I'm willing to give it a go. My vet is going to rig up a collar for her and spray the bandage with a sour spray to hopefully stop her chewing it. And I've rigged up a one storey cage for her to recover in on her own.

I feel utterly sick that this happened. I just can't express it. She means everything to me and I really didn't think it was broken by the way she was acting. I just need everything to go okay for her now and ger her better and back with her family.

[dianah]

hugs. you've taken her to the vets and she's getting her paw fixed. hopefully she won't chew the bandage and will be good as new very soon if not, there's still an alternative treatment.

chins are very good at hiding that there's something wrong with them. you took her in as soon as you could. i'm sure you'll take very good care of her xxx

[Jenova]

I know. I just didn't like the idea of taking her to the emergency vets incase I got someone inexperience who could have caused more problems. I didn't think it was as bad as it was as she was eating and all her normal stuff, just a little off. I feel bad that she had to wait but also I'm glad I did. I took her to the vet I wanted to see, who treated her on her lunch break and is coming back in off her holiday to do the re bandage next monday! She's had her pain relief and I should be able to pick her up soon. I just hope it's before I have to go to work. Otherwise my ex boyfriend will pick her up. She'll still be in good hands as I he loves her just as much as me if not more but I just want to give her hugs and raisins and know she's alright while I'm at work.

And she has a collar on so I know she's not going to be happy. I'm going to have to hand feed ehr for a few days while she gets used to it.

[dianah]

awww, poor little baby. so good to hear you've got such a nice vet.

my vets have an emergency service and you call and speak to the vet on duty and they do triage over the phone, i guess, and if they don't think it's an emergency, they just give advice and ask you to come when the surgery is open.
so perhaps even if you called, they would have asked if she's eating & moving about ok and as the answers to both are yes, they'd tell you to come and have it checked out during surgery hours if you're still worried.

i know it's awful when they're not well but it sounds optimistic!

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Yes I had to rig up a collar from an exray film. Cut it to size, attached snaps and even lined the inside with fleece.
I know how you feel, it's heart breaking.

[dianah]

Yes I had to rig up a collar from an exray film. Cut it to size, attached snaps and even lined the inside with fleece.
I know how you feel, it's heart breaking.

awwwww

[Jenova]

Well I was gutted that I couldn't pick her up myself but my friend picked her up and brought the cage down to the living room so he could keep an eye on her. She was still really wobbly and kept on falling on her face which was really distressing.

I took the cage to the bedroom to watch her overnight and seriously every noise she made I woke up and checked her, but she was fine and chewing her box by about 2am. I was worried that her collar was too big and she couldn't put her good paw on the floor properly, so I discussed it with the vets and they said I was okay to trim it down as long as it was still longer than her mouth. She was so happy to get it off I had half a mind to let her keep it off, apart from seconds later she was chewing her cast! She's a bit happier now with a shorter collar and I bought her some fancy hay. She had her medicine by syringe really well and loved the taste, what a relief! And I've been grinding her food up with an electric chopper so it's in tiny little pieces and mixing a few oats in which she's loving.

She's still struggling to move about a bit and still sometimes trips over and I feel so sorry for her. She likes to sleep all hunched up in a ball or on her side and she can't do either of those with the collar on and I just feel so mean. But she's asleep now and tomorrow evening I'm going to move the cage next to the other chinnies so they don't loose their bond. I just can't wait for her to be better!

[dianah]

awww, seems like she's doing really well it's great she loves her medicine! it's a shame about the collar but just remember, if she leaves the cast alone, it should be healed within weeks. she won't remember by the end of the summer!

good news