broken leg

[RDZCRanch]

Once again, breeding takes that turn towards bad. I have a litter of 2 week old kits (I posted pictures of them the other day). The little ebony boy, Hephaestus, has decided he wanted to be his namesake...COMPLETELY. Sometime during the night he managed to break right hind leg. He is not in a cage with wire floor and there are no shelves in his cage either. He is in a spacious run style holding cage with just his mom and sibling. I took him out originally to check that foot because he had lost the toes when mom was trying to pull him out. I cleaned the toes and saw another spot of fresh blood higher up on his leg. Once I started cleaning that area I noticed a piece of "tissue" that was causing him a lot of pain and appeared slightly shiny. Upon closer inspection I found his foot to be twisted and the little piece of "tissue" was actually part of his "shin bone" sticking out of his leg. So, now we will be off to the vet in a short amount of time and looking at options for amputating a leg from a 2 week old kit.

In over 100 litters of kits and multiple kits...I have never had this happen before. I even took preventative measures to the point that my kits are never in wire flooring cages or cages with shelves...moms are moved out of runs when they litter and into holding cages with nothing for them to hurt themselves on. This just goes to show that "the joys of breeding" never let up.

I'll post pictures later when I take off his temporary splint. I work at a vet office and since I couldn't get an appointment until this afternoon I wanted something to keep the wound clean of shavings and to give him some comfort so we stabilized the leg...he's now got a big white thing attached to him but he can at least move around now and isn't feeling the pain so much when he tries to hobble around. And no, we did NOT attempt to straighten the leg or anything like that...it's hard to describe but I made my vet do it, lol.

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

Ow that's awfull

There's always the chance of an accident happening.
But if you had so many litters and this is you're first accident like this, you're one good breeder!!

The kid's in good hands, i'm sure of that

 

[Snickers]

I hope things work out for the little one. i just got back from Dr. Greeks office with Snyckers.

 

[RDZCRanch]

You pulled out just as I was pulling in Nan! I tried to get your attention but you were already almost out of the parking lot.

The baby is doing well. They put the bone back in and gave him a splint. Dr. Greek feels that since he is so young we'll use amputation if and only if the foot dies. Other than that he said he should heal really fast and well because young animals just bounce back like that. I was shown how the splint was done and given tape and instructions for reapplying the splint once a week for the next four to six weeks. I was also given some antibiotics just in case there is an infection.

 

[AZChins]

What did he give you for antibiotics? I'm just curious because babies are so fragile.

I'm glad it's splinted up! Whew. Poor little dude. I bet that it will be pretty much healed within the next month. They heal so quickly and perfectly. As long as the bone is set in reasonably the right place it will heal.

 

[mishellyshel]

that is great news! maybe you could post a pic of the little dude?

 

[Chinniechantel]

Great news! I have had only one broken leg here and it was my fault, I didn't close the cage completely and a just weaned kit jumped out. He broke his leg. He had surgery, had it pinned and casted and he did great. I had to go back two times to get the cast re-done because he chewed on it but otherwise he did great. He is now a gorgeous, big, happy dude who is a great breeder. I hope your little one turns out as well.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Here is a picture of the temporary splint we put on the poor little guy...

Then this is him today with the new splint and making trouble with his brother now that he can run with him again...

The vet actually showed me how to splint the baby leg on my own in case I need to do it in the future which will be very helpful.

 

[mishellyshel]

thanks for posting..........they are both gorgeous babies! doesnt look like that splint is gonna slow him down!

 

[lauralynne]

Poor little guy! Glad he seems to be doing well.

 

[AZChins]

Poor little leg! Next time see if you can give him a little more of his foot to run on. When you take the splint off, he's going to be really stiff in his little foot and joints! He will heal so fast, you are going to be amazed by that.

 

[Spoof]

Good luck, and keep a close eye on that leg - check the toes frequently. The second there is no blood/response or they are cold get him in to amputate or you'll loose him.

Party pooper I know, I've not known anyone that saved both the kit and the leg of anything under 4 weeks. If they're splinted they die, if they're amputated immediately they make a full (and fast) recovery.

I've had three broken legs here, two adults and one baby. Worked with a couple of vet friends that kept getting them as cases throughout college. We figured out if they're under a week the hot scissors approach was the best way to go. They recovered 24-48 hours, completely healed in under two weeks, had no adverse effects and didn't need antibiotics.

She did find that giving antibiotics to babies or the mom with babies was pretty much a kiss of death. Their systems just can't take it.

 

[RDZCRanch]

when I replace his cast next week, Susan, I'm going to make it so that his leg is in the correct chinnie leg position.

I'm watching him, Tara. He doesn't have any toes left on that foot though, lol. He was a breech birth and mom pulled off his toes on that foot. I know what necrotizing tissue looks like though and so far he seems to be doing very well. I haven't started him on the antibiotics I was given for that very reason...I figure if the foot starts looking funny or if he shows any negative signs I'll start it. I don't want to pound his system right off the bat though and I'd rather give him time to heal it on his own.

 

[saszygirl1]

I pray he recovers quickly.They are cute lil dudes.

 

[Cuddlebug]

Poor little guy. We, here, all have fingers and toes crossed for him. Keep up the good work.

 

[addictedtochins]

Poor widdle guy, he is freakin adorable

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

That is the saddest, sweetest thing I've ever seen. :hearts: Poor baby, I hope he makes it and heals well.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Well...I just checked on him and his foot is very much alive! Not to mention, he is getting used to the splint and is actually moving around much faster than his brother even. He's even continuing to gain weight like any other normal, healthy baby. No lethargy and no signs of abnormality. I'll have to get you guys a video of him running for you guys. It has got to be the cutest, funniest thing I've ever seen from a baby chinchilla, lol!

 

[AZChins]

I've had this type of thing happen with newborns a couple times and the leg has been saved each time. He'll do fine. And, he probably acts like nothing is wrong.

 

[RDZCRanch]

Well...i swear this boy just likes being trouble! When I checked him today before work it seemed his foot was swollen so I decided to redo his splint a day early. When I got home from work his foot is slightly cold and very swollen. When I removed his splint there was a foul smell...and...you guessed it! An infection. A few cleanings later and I redid his splint except I covered his wounds with draw out salve which is a tar-like pas that helps dry out the wound and pull out puss and usually a good amount of bacteria with it. It's worked very well so far on any wounds with infections in the chins. So, in the morning he'll get a fresh bandage and then back to the vet! *sigh*