Chinchilla Leg Injury!!

[Zelda]

Hi, this is my first time posting here and the reason I joined the forum isn't a good one.

My Chinchilla, Kiko was attacked by my cat. The cat got a paw through the crack under the door of the room the chin was playing in and got him. Kiko was bleeding, and there is a piece of his skin with the fur still attached dangling from his front leg. There's blood on the surrounding fur, but not a huge amount.

He seems fairly normal, considering his deep wound. He's still eating and walking around, just holding the injured leg up to his body. I've managed to help him avoid going into shock.

I have no way to get him to a vet until Monday, since it is closed until then. What could I do to help him make it through the day to get the help he needs?

 

[smhluvsmh]

There has to be an emeregency vet near you. I would suspect your baby is in pain. Go to a vet.

 

[obcsed]

He probably needs a stitch or two. I had the same thing happen to one of mine. The wound needs to be seen to prevent infection. Mine healed up nicely but he did end up loosing a chunk of skin.

 

[Zoaea]

Cat claws are very dirty, ever notice how even the shallow scratches give you a raised red line? So antibiotics will be important too. Tomorrow is a holiday, if the vet is still closed start calling around till you find an emergency vet. If you wait till Tues a nasty infection could set in deeply.

I would keep him in a small cage with fleece liners to keep him from running around and to keep sawdust from drying in the wound.

PS never put neosporin or peroxide in a deep wound.

 

[saphire]

Zoaea, it is not a holiday in Canada, so she should be fine.

 

[MyzarandGemma]

Yikes! I hope your chin isn't in too much pain... if he is, he may resort to chewing off his leg! Ack! So, as was said before, get him into a vet and get some antibiotics and what have you on it. If he is paying a great deal of attention to the leg, there is a thread on here somewhere about making a cone for your chin so he can't chew off the leg... gruesome, I know.

 

[sharon2girls]

My daughter's Chinchilla got it's foot caught on a ladder in his cage. Cover wasn't on. At first he just limped around and there was a slight abrasion on it. By weeks end he started to chew on it. After another week wrapping it (we went to several vets over a two week period, it was determined he had nerve damage and he would continue to chew on it as to him it was dead. We found a great Chinchilla vet who amputated his foot. He was fine within hrs of the operation and it is amazing how much he can move around and jump. I would suggest find a good vet to look at it.

 

[Newt]

OMG, any updates on this poor chin yet?

 

[Zelda]

Thanks for all of your help, guys! We don't have any emergency clinics in our area since I live in such a small town, but thankfully I've kept his wound clean with saltine water until I was able to get him to a vet. A few stitches later, and he'll be good as new in a few weeks!