Foot stuck in cage grate!

[Sinfonian]

This situation has already been resolved, but I thought I would share this with you.

A few hours ago, I heard what sounded like my chins fighting. Since they only recently have been easing into being cagemates, I was quite worried (they only spend a few hours a day caged together at the moment). I opened the cage and removed the small house in which they seemed to be fighting only to realize that what I heard wasn't fighting, but one of my chins thrashing around violently. Her foot had somehow slipped through one of the small holes in the bottom grate of her cage and had come up through the next one, trapping her foot (upon later inspection, her rear toe was sort of the 'catch point' that added greater complication to the issue). I quickly pulled her and the grate out of the cage and held her still so she wouldn't cause any more damage. I was afraid that her leg might already be broken or dislocated. I drove her to the vet, still holding her the whole way. *Incidentally, she bit the **** out of my hands in that process. I've never seen her so freaked out! :/ Once at the vet, we quickly and carefully cut the cage grate apart and freed her. To our amazement, she does not appear to have any broken or dislocated bones. She has major scraping all over her foot, but nothing from which she can't recover. She'll be on pain meds and antibiotics for five days, and then *hopefully* that will be the end of this.

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Until now, I had been a huge fan of the 'clean living' cages I bought for my chins (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751762 and http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751772&keepsr=0&clickid=prod_cs). They were very cheap and seemed to be of reasonable quality. The plastic ramps and shelves that came with them are pretty useless and obviously not good for chins, but one can easily install wood shelves and pegs. I'm not so much a fan of them any more. >:0

I was already in the market for a larger cage, but this obviously hastens the need. If you have any cage recommendations that aren't huge budget-busters, please let me know!

 

[alli713]

Glad you were there to hear her having issues! This is why it's so important if you're going to have wire bottom (or plastic bottom in this case) that the openings be no bigger than 1/2" x 1/2", any longer than that, and what you just saw can happen.

It could have been so much worse if you hadn't been there!

 

[tunes]

I have people ask me all the time if those are safe and I tell them no. The problem is, people just don't know any better because the stores recommend them and you tend to trust the people who work there because they should know this stuff. They might be safe for a rabbit who has huge feet, but anything smaller I would never use them.

I'm glad things turned out okay with her. It could have been so much worse.

 

[Sinfonian]

I know, I'm so glad I was there! If I had been working today, my poor girl would be like this until somewhere between 7:30 and 10!

I just measured the openings, and they're roughly 1/2" by 1" - definitely too big!

 

[Grumbles]

I'm glad Lily is safe, you can never have too many healthy Lilys. :dance3:

 

[Jenn]

Wow, could have been a much worse ending, and I'm so happy to hear that this story had a happy ending.

 

[AZChins]

1/2"x1/2" and no larger. I hope that the chin is feeling alright now.

 

[furrylovables]

So sorry to hear about her Paul, thank godness you were home. I haven't carried those cages in a while. Thanks for the heads up though. Take care of your little girl.

 

[Snickers]

Glad you were home. Poor little guy.

 

[Sandi]

Aw, poor baby, keep a close eye on her, she could be sore still?

 

[Rickman]

Before I became computer literate, [and some may argue that] and found this forum, I worried about the sizes and how they'd be uncomfortable for little feet.
I went to one of the home improvement stores amd bought 1/4 x 1/4 "hardware cloth", and covered ALL the floors that had large openings in the wire, and made sure at least 1/2 the floor was covered with wood - even covered all the ramps! Then I began buying cages without floors, just chips in the pan!
That size is almost perfect, as the thin side of "tic-tacs" slide right through!
A cheap but effective cure for your problem!!

 

[NOLA Chins]

Several not too expensive pet store cages can be reworked- especially if you can live with the plastic tray. If not, there is a white wire/blue pull out tray that we had success modifying: http://www.freewebs.com/nolachinrescue/apps/photos/photo?photoid=28568773

The Martin cage for @ US$139 is a good deal, too.

 

[Sinfonian]

She's definitely still sore, but hopefully her pain meds will help with that. She is going back and forth between using her leg and limping, so I'm not sure what to make of it.