Chin w/broken leg. Advice?

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CarrotCube

Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2018
Messages
11
So, due to an accident, I stepped on my Chin last night, resulting in a broken right radius and ulna.
Im so so glad it wasnt worse but still, we are not happy about it.

He is currently with a cast? I think. (Im sorry I'm Spanish) and has the entire leg restricted right now.
No hide, no shelves no anything and of course, no more playtime.
He looks misserable and really wanted his shelves back. He was, for the first 15-30 minutes looking up to see if he could jump to them but found out that they werent there anymore, wich frustated him a lot untill he got tired.
How can I make his life a lil more enjoyable while he heals?
Also, just realiced that he won't be able to have sandbaths.

Vet told me he will be healed in a week but maybe up to 20 days.
It seems a little cruel to me to deny him of sandbaths or a hidey house or... anything really for a month.
I hope he gets healed as soon as possible but I do want his recovery to be less boring and misserable.

Im also expecting him to chew on it and to break it while i sleep so he is going to have to go back to the vet. Maybe everyday if he keeps messing with it. Wich... you know. Not something he enjoys. At all.

Should I give him extra applesticks? I usually give him one at night, and he has a couple toys and cardboard tubes but he is only really interested in apple sticks.
Any similar experiences? Did your chins manage well getting used to live in a bare cage for a couple of days?
 
From personal experience, I'm going to say your vet is full of it. I've yet to see a chin heal a broken limb in a week, especially without having surgery. Even then, the chins that I know of have ended up having to get the limb ambulated anyway. Maybe in your case that won't be, but they are tiny little bones and I'd have to wonder if they were even set correctly.

As far as the cage, I see no reason he can't have a house to hide in. I would pass on the dust bath because of the jerking, but it's not going to hurt him to live without it for a little while. The big thing is confine him from jumping. I would suggest a smaller cage, rather than his regular one. It sucks and they hate it, but it's for their own good.
 
@tunes

I dont really mind him having to get it amputated, really. It'd suck but both of us will adapt nicely.

He probably said a "week or two" so we dont get super overwhelmed? Ive seen a lot of vets (and doctors for that matter) say that itd heal soon and then need longer
Like when my dentist said "A month" and then I had to wear brackets for 6 months.
It may not be the case in the US but here is generally, a common thing to expect.
Thats why Im going to mentally prepare myself for a month.
Maybe thats also an "excuse" so people will actually go to revisions instead of not going.
While on internships, we had some people skipping revisions, so it may be for that as well

As for the set... I'm going to hope it is all well set, if it turns out he needs amputation, I think Id wish I had done it earlier to save him the stress and to save me some money. But generally speaking, surgeries are seen as a "last resort" kinda deal over here so it 100% makes sense to me that theyd try setting the limb before surgery.

Still, maybe they won't amputate it even if its not 100% fully healed becase, if it can have good QOL without needing the paw amputated, I doub the vets will risk a surgery on such a tiny and delicate animal, but they havent even mentioned the word "amputation" so I have absolutely no idea if theyd consider it or not.

Again, different countries, different practices. I've only had good experiences with these vets so Im inclined to follow their advice.
I think I will push for a hidey house after a week or so. They said no to the house because he loves going to the top level and he cant jump a lot for now.

He is currently in a smaller cage, wich he really hates... I just want him to understand its temporal and not permanent.

Im reassured about the sand baths, I hope he wont mind it too much and I will make sure he has a Biiiig sand bath once he is healed, tho!

Thank you so much for your time and advice =D
 
I can't really add too much, but if you really don't want to give him his house back, since he jumps on it, you can make kind of a hiding area. If he doesn't chew fleece (the only safe fabric) you can tie or pin some fleece to the top of the cage draping down and kind of make a tent for him to hide in. Since it's attached to the top of the cage he can't jump on top.
 
@Amethyst

Oh! That sounds super nice!
I do have some fleece lying around Ill see if he likes the idea of if he doesnt!

Thank you very much!!
 
He has ben sleeping a whole lot lately.
I think thats fairly normal, he eats and is a lil more active at nighttime, when I offer some treats scattered around the cage (so he has like 5 seconds of entertainment) and an applestick.
I do worry he will get bored or frustated by the lack of activity in the long run.

He is ike 90% of the time flopped on his good side, very rarely restin sitting or lying down.
he doesnt seem to care about the fleece tent i made him but ill leave it just in case.
 
Update:
He chewd the bandage/cast off last saturday at night, went to the vets to have it completely removed. Gave him some cream for the skin since it was super red and bad.
Today he had to go again for a revision anyways with the exotic vets.
No xrays in fear that too much manipulation could injure his leg further. The new bone callous is still a little soft but vet didnt bandaje his leg again. As long as he is not using it a lot for now it is all ok.
The injury site is inflamated but vet said its normal and that it should be better soon, because the callous has ben formed and all. Next week i have to go back again, hopefully for some Xrays see if it was all a success.

He seems a little bored lately, he is still eating hay, he hasnt touched his pellets. he will beg for oats and applesticks but doesnt care for other kind of sticks or toys (He has two TP cardboard rolls, a wooden chew toy and two other hazelnut sticks), wich is kinda sad. I will check his teeth when he is a little better, I dont want to manipulate him too much. They should be ok, last time I could see them they looked ok.
He uses his leg a tiny bit while begging and grooming his face. Otherwise he has it in the air. He can use his hand, opening and closing it.
His fur is not matted but doesnt look really good. I hope he can bathe again soon, I can tell he misses sandbaths a lot.
 
If you can hold him, you could rub the dust into his coat. It won't be near as fun as doing it himself, but it should still help lift some of the oils.
 
If you can hold him, you could rub the dust into his coat. It won't be near as fun as doing it himself, but it should still help lift some of the oils.

Id rather not hold him. He is squirmy and doesnt tolerate being held very well.
I am also not experienced enought to grab him by the base of the tail, I heard thats a way to hold them but... It doesnt look very confortable to me either.

I could try doing that while I distract him with some applesticks, but my main concern is that he would try to roll around once I finish, and the rolling and squirminess is not something he should be doing yet.
I will try, see what he does, hopefully he wont roll around
 
So, he did roll around whenever i did that so I had to stop

The good news is that he is healed now! Not fully healed because broken bones take months to fully heal and stuff, but the callous is hardened, he is using the leg and hand as usual, altho he is still holding it up a little bit, but he is using it more and more each day so its really good.
He got full mobility and functionally, his hair is starting to grow again and vets said that he can do normal life so I've ben giving him big sandbaths and all his cage stuff now.
He seems really happy now life has returned to normal.
(He is still only chewing on applesticks tho, will have to buy more)

So i guess thats that
Thanks for your words and time! It was really appreciated <3
 
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