broken leg

[Brittney]

Aww I hope he pulls through.

Young humans and animals are amazing at healing broken bones.

If his foot was cold and swollen, maybe the splint was put on too tight? You know when you put a band-aid on your finger too tight and it gets cold.

Any idea what caused the infection in the first place other than the broken leg itself? Maybe the splint rubbed an area raw? Depending on where the splint is and how tight it is, it could have rubbed an area raw and the splint created a breeding ground for bacteria.

While your at the vet, have them x-ray the leg to see if any progress as been made. I'm not sure how long ago this happened, but he should be making at least some progress.

They should be able to give you a topical antibiotic as long as it isn't a deep infection and you keep it covered.

Good luck!

Good luck with the little guy.

 

[AZChins]

If you clean it again, epsom salts work great for that type of thing. Keep it clean and dry...but you already know that.

I was thinking the same thing as Brittney. If the tape was too tight, it could have irritated the skin and caused some swelling. I've seen that happen with older chins and the tape really can rub legs raw...it can make the skin look like it's oozing clear puss a bit.

I hope he's okay. I've just had really great luck with little baby chins with broken leg problems.

That salve sounds really interesting! Have you used that with abscesses with any success?

 

[RDZCRanch]

I do have a topical antibiotic which was applied before the splint went on and will be put on again this morning. The splint was done last Tuesday...so it's been on for a week now. There was no swelling all of last week, that just started yesterday.

He has severed toes that were scabbed over, but when I took him for the splint they needed to clean it and removed the scab. I think that may be where the infection entered because they didn't cover the tip of his foot.

The puss that was oozing was white and smelled like an infection. I really really hate that smell...and sadly am used to it, lol. The splint was in the wrong area in my opinion. It was against the outside of his leg where the open fracture is instead of away from that wound...so it was rubbing against that and could have caused the infection there. When I replaced the splint last night I put the splint on the inside of his leg and it works just as well.

The salve has worked really well so far for me on abscesses. I've used it on a couple other chinchillas that have gotten wounds that I either didn't notice quickly enough or didn't clean well enough. I had one chin that had a large abscess on her back. We had to open it and drain it...it smelled absolutely foul and was definitely an abscess. We put the salve and then cleaned it again the next day and there was barely a wound, no foul smell, and no puss. We cleaned it just in case and applied antibiotic and it healed perfectly.

I'm going to check on him this morning, clean him up and I'll report back on his progress! Hopefully I'll see some improvement this morning. It's not necessary for him to have his leg but I really would like to save it if I could, and since his leg is still alive...well...we'll see I guess.

 

[lauralynne]

I hope he's able to keep it, too!

 

[Brittney]

I would see if they could make a tiny little cast instead of just a splint. It will be sturdier but won’t rub in wrong ways and won’t let bacteria or debris in.

When I worked in a vet’s office before I went back to school, the vet made a cast, not a splint, but a cast for a hamster. I know it can be done.

And why would they remove the scabs? That's not right, scabs mean the skin is healing itself and should be left alone. I'm guessing they accidentally removed them?

I would definitely try to save the leg. As long as you can keep infection down, and the leg stable, his leg should easily be saved.

 

[RDZCRanch]

When I removed his bandage today, the foot was almost back down to normal size, no foul smell and no oozing. Since it was still a little swollen I took him in just to make sure everything was going well.

The scabs were almost all the way off, so he removed them to make sure it wasn't dead toes hanging from his foot. He also wanted to make sure the foot was still healthy and getting blood flow.

We went back and he said whatever I did to the foot last night fixed it. The wound that was infected is now scabbed over after being exposed to air and drying out all day. He reapplied a splint and made it so that the wound where the open fracture was is not covered so that I can do wound management and keep it clean and keep it healing.

So...the leg is stable, the infection is under control, and my vet charged me nothing...AGAIN. *sigh* I've been cleaning and managing wounds for so long I should know by now that I know what I'm doing but he's a baby and he makes me worry!

 

[AZChins]

That's good news. Sometime I am going to get you a picture of the back legs of that little baby, who had her leg broken at birth somehow. One is a little shorter than the other, but it works fine...the fur never fell out and it healed so quickly.

Sooo...you are going to have to keep this little one forever, right? I tend to become rather attached to chins that need this much attention.

 

[lauralynne]

Good job, Tabitha. That's awesome!

 

[RDZCRanch]

well...the leg is healing up at the wrong angle. We're going back to the vet on Tuesday to see what he wants to do with it. I'll update more after the appointment. Other than the leg looking funny he's perfectly normal, runs, eats, and makes more trouble than his brother. He also has a family that is going to take him when he is weaned. We will see how everything turns out on Tuesday but he's perfectly healthy so I don't see him not surviving a leg break.

 

[AZChins]

He'll adapt to the funny angle if there's nothing more the vet can do. Baby chins are very, very adaptable. If the leg is nice and healthy, I wouldn't worry too much. Definitely let us know what the vet says. I am very interested in if anything more can be done. I'm glad that the leg is still there and has been healing up - that's a great thing, even if the leg is crooked.