Daisy hurt her leg :(

[Asha]

Last night I noticed that one of my female chins, Daisy, was limping. It was her back left leg. I have no clue how she hurt it. I took her to the vet today and they did a full orthopedic exam on her legs. Nothing was dislocated and the vet did not detect any fractures. She asked me if I wanted to do an x-ray to rule out any possible hairline fractures, but I cannot afford it right now (been a really rough month). My biggest concern was to keep her out of pain. So, I opted to keep an eye on her for the coming week and the vet put her on Metacam for pain. I am supposed to call the vet back next week with an update. If she has not improved, I will bring her back in for further examination.

So far, Daisy has been eating and pooping normally which I'm thankful for. I got her to eat pellets and hay out of my hand last night. After the vet visit today, I gave her more food and she went after the hay pretty fast which I consider a good sign. Is there anything else you guys think I should be on the lookout for while I monitor her? I'm sure plenty of you all have dealt with similar situations. I just want to keep her as comfy as possible. Thanks!

 

[obcsed]

Might be a good idea to put her in a smaller cage for awhile. At least remove any shelves or anything else she might jump up on. You want to limit her activity while it heals and make sure she doesn't cause further injury to it. It took my little guy a good week to recover from a sprained front leg. Metecam helped for sure but they forget about the injury when it doesn't hurt so limit her activity while she is on it.

 

[tunes]

I would definitely put her in a smaller cage for at least a week, maybe longer. Hairline fractures can easily heal on their own, but you need to restrict activity. No jumping, no falling, etc. I also wouldn't allow any out of cage time until you are sure she is healed up, i.e., no more favoring of the leg.

If you have a very small cat carrier, that would work. She will be mopey about it for a while, but it's better than having it get infected or end up needing amputated because it doesn't heal well.

 

[Asha]

I moved her into a smaller single level cage with no shelves as of last night not only for the injury, but her sister is also rather rambunctious and I didn't want her bothering Daisy. I gave her the Metacam as soon as I got home from the vet, its a .05 ml dose, but the vet said I could go up to 1ml if needed. I had to go out for a bit and visit my grandparents, but I'm back home and I just checked on her. She is definitely sad and mopey looking, and does not appear to have eaten anymore since I had left the house She is just kinda laying down resting, but she looks so sad and I feel so bad for her. Her ears are back and she will crack her eyes open when I come in the room. Does Metacam make them sleepy at all or lose their appetite?

 

[Jadebf700]

When Buddy hurt his leg (AKA jumped off my shoulder and landed on the floor...) we did the exact same thing that you are doing now. He was a bit more sleepy but if you think about it, you don't rest well when you are in pain do you? But take some tylenol or ibuprofen and you are going to make up for that sleep. Buddy was a little sleepier and was bored for a while but it is worth it for them to heal. Just make sure she is still eating (it may not be as much because she isn't using as much energy as she normally would be) and she keeps pooping and she should be fine. Good luck!