# back leg folding



## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

I'm a little freaked out right now. My little one is not fully supporting her weight on her back left foot/leg. The other three are fine; she stands on her feet. The one in question... she's walking on her foot & leg... like from her knee(?) on down.

I scheduled a vet appt the moment I noticed it. It's at 2:40pm today.

In the meanwhile, she's still acting like a little rock star - moving her food dishes under her liner, eating, pooping, peeing, etc... She did curl up into a hedgie ball for me when I tried to inspect, but mostly just struggled to get free (which she does sometimes). She ran in her wheel last night and the nights before. Seems like a little less running last night though given a more clean wheel (relatively, I still had to scrub a bit). And she ran in my hands this morning. She didn't seem to be wincing or calling out... Though she's a prey animal so... I dunno.

Because of an injury to my finger (cut the tip off... stupid), hedgiedaddy has been the one to play with & clean her in the mornings and evenings for a few days up until last night. Or I have played with her, but only for short periods of time. So I worry that perhaps this has been going on for a few days, but I didn't notice. I took a few pics of her last night before I noticed anything awry... of course, she's hiding her foot/leg in each of them, except the blurry one:
[attachment=0:duccqy6c]0727092104.jpg[/attachment:duccqy6c]

Though she did do this weird tumbling thing last night (was in her house on level ground; ie, didn't fall) that I hadn't seen before. In retrospect, I wonder if perhaps it happened because she couldn't support her weight on her foot and fell/tumbled?

I know it is not a heating/cooling issue.

Okay, anyway, so I'm freaking out... I think appropriately.

She's in her house right now and has settled down. I think she'll stay in the same spot under her liner until it's time for the vet.

Thoughts? Things I should be discussing with her vet? Things I should be doing now?


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Calm down. I know what you are thinking but it may be a soft tissue injury. My Roll injured one of his back legs and he walked almost like he was rotating the leg. Yeah I freaked out too but the vet said it was a soft tissue injury, put him on an anti-inflammatory and I took the wheel out for a while and he was fine.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Thanks Nancy. I'll be crossing my fingers for a sprain. And will post what the vet says after we return.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Is there any swelling at all? I had one, Maui, who we think sprained her ankle while in her cage. We can only speculate as to how it happened, but it did. She had a swollen ankle and couldn't walk on it. Doc gave us an anti-inflammatory for a while and she was 100% afterwards. 

Think positive that its just something minor that will only slow her down for a short while.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

No swelling; no redness. Looks completely normal except that she can't walk on it like usual.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Roll had no redness or visible swelling either and the vet could rotate and move his leg no problem and it didn't appear to hurt him when she moved it. 

Keep us posted.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

We're back from the vets. Based on how Satin is moving her leg, what she looks like walking, a physical exam revealing normal appearance & flexibility, her general behavior, the types of situations hedgie could get into (ie, no giant cliffs from which she could fall), and no evidence of a pain response either while walking or while being felt, the vet's thought is we're looking at a sprain/soft tissue injury. 

The plan is 4 days of metacam (.08ml once daily) and no wheel. And hopefully, all returns to normal. If things either worsen or do not resolve in a week, bring her in for x-rays. We did debate pros and cons of x-rays with sedation (someone isn't interested in sitting still)... I hope we made the right decision... 

Poor little fuffer... not walking on her foot... woken in the middle of the day... and no wheel for nights on end...


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Hopefully with the metacam all with right itself soon and she won't be without her wheel for long.

I'm betting that there will be a hedgie riot tonight though!


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

I'm anticipating an overturned igloo at the very least. Glad the plastic edges are covered now.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

I'm glad for the good verdict. Try and monitor her without the wheel because sometimes they do things that are worse than if they had the wheel. Make her cage so she can't climb it.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

The giant mess didn't happen - I was rather surprised... and concerned. I know she walked around to eat and played with the paper towel in her litter bin. But her dishes were right where I left them, as was the igloo, and litter box (sort of strange for my little rock star). 

I couldn't find any poop or pee... I think she didn't know where to go or what to do without her wheel. I picked her up and we went to the bathroom (yes, she uses the toilet while I hold her) and she pooped a few logs and peed. 

Her little leg looks like it did yesterday 

She anointed with her meds last night so I'm getting ready to call her vet and see if they can call the same meds into a compounding pharmacy. She'll eat the roast chicken flavor... at least she has in the past.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Poor sweetie. I wonder if she is like my Riley was.

Riley would only go to the bathroom on a wheel. After having a biopsy done, I had to remove his wheel to prevent urine from splashing into his wound. He too had not gone to the bathroom by the next morning. We tried a few things and nothing worked. After some time had passed that day I got a bright idea of putting him on his wheel to see if he would go. He took 4 steps and pooped and peed larges amounts. I ended up having to 'walk' him several times a day (meaning I took him out of his cage, put him on his wheel and he would go potty) throughout the time he had stitches. At least while I was there I could prevent him from running and possibly splashing urine into his wound.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Just arrived home again. Looks like she's snoozing under her liner. I want to reach in and check on her, but am holding off so as not to annoy her. Though wondering if maybe I should see if she needs to poop or pee. How often did you "walk" Riley when he wasn't wheeling? And when during the day/night?

Happily, I was able to get some roast chicken flavoring to add to her meds from a compounding pharmacy... let's hope the medication goes into her instead of on her this evening.


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## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

I've noticed on these threads a lot of suggestions when a hedgie is not going to the bathroom the suggestion of giving them a gentle bath. I know if Sylvie hasn't used the bathroom in a bit and goes it water, out everything comes.


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## Shelbys Mom (Mar 27, 2009)

Shelby gets in these moods sometimes where she will NOT pee or poop in her cage at all! 
I have to either put her in her play pen or as silvercat mentioned put her in a warm bath.
Most of the time with her just simply setting her in her play pen works :roll: 
(spoiled little brats) :lol:


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

I believe I was putting him on his wheel 4 times a day. Early morning, after work, at cuddle time and again after he ate (he normally would eat at 10pm and was ready to go at 11pm). He always went to the bathroom, and often it only took 5-10 steps before he went.

I'm sure he would have liked to go more often, but he could have gone off the wheel!

Bathes sometimes work. Riley never once went to the bathroom in his bath, only ever on his wheel. Rose also has never once gone in the water. Some just are not so inclined.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Medication did go over better last night. The pharmacy gave me a little extra flavoring; I applied the tiniest little dab onto the end of the oral syringe. She spent so much time licking and chomping on it that she had swallowed most of her meds before anointing.

I tried setting her in her wheel... her little leg just slid out from under her. Couldn't get much traction from the fuzzy part  So no more wheel. Guess she'll just need to run in my hands until she's better.

I checked on her maybe an hour or two after her dinner - when she'd normally have run and started making a mess of her wheel. We went to the bathroom, but she was disinclined to use the facilities. Happily, she went this morning. I'll try again after I get home and at cuddle time. 

I thought about a foot bath, but she often scrambles so much when she's in the sink. With her little back leg not functioning properly, I decided it was best not to stress it (or her) out. I *might* try her in a deeper bath where most of her body will be supported by the water. Not sure how happy she'll be with that, but it'll get weight off that foot/leg.

She seems as perky as ever... funny little one. She's taken to watching me from the comforts of her igloo. I lured her out with mealies so she'd go eat her kibble last night.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Another day has passed and her little leg still looks the same  I was hoping for some sign of improvement. She has one more dose of Metacam tonight. Then, I guess, we wait it out until Monday. My poor baby... I worry about her.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

You may want to give doc a call to give a quick update. She may say to wait until Monday, but if there has been no improvement whatsoever she may say bring her on in today so you don't have to wait so long.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

My little one's leg is still bent at the knee (90 degrees), though she can extend and has been using her foot/ankle a little when walking. Previously, she'd been using her lower leg and foot as one solid unit (ie, no bend at the ankle). It's a very, very slight improvement. 

We're scheduled back at the vet's tomorrow morning for an official assessment. 

Poor little fuffer has been wheel-less for a week... Happy news is appetite is good. She is gaining a few g's weight. 

For other hedgies, how long did sprains take to heal? How long until "normal"?


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## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

poor lil hedgie. I hope alls well soon


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

We're back from the vet's again. 

Definitely confirmed no broken bones; no signs of anything neurological (minus the one time she walked on her "knuckles" for a moment); no signs of damage to her spine. Looks like she must have really twisted her leg... possibly some sort of aerobatic wheel maneuver?? It appears to be tendon-related. Were she a larger animal, the vet would splint her leg. But, in her experience, little ones like Satin have a way of fiddling with their bandages, pulling them tight, and cutting off circulation. Knowing Satin, I had to agree... there's simply no way that she would leave something like that alone. So, no splint for her. We *could* go to MSU to see if one of the orthopedic specialists would give her a hard cast, but it seemed like overkill... and there's no guarantee that they'd want to do that to her anyhow. She did have very slight swelling.

The new plan:
Metacam for seven days.
Line her wheel with craft foam and let her have it every other night (she's been gaining weight without her wheel... which adds pressure to her leg... so we're trying to balance out healthy weight & resting her leg).
Of course bring her back if things worsen, otherwise recheck in a few weeks.


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## HedgeMom (Nov 7, 2008)

Oh, Satin Miranda Hufflepuff, you are a piece of work. 

Soft tissue injuries take longer to heal than a break so you could be in for a long road ahead. There are a few things you can do to help speed this process along. 

Get some Arnica at the health food store. Put a drop or two in a small amount of safe oil (olive, flax, etc) and massage the leg twice a day with this oil. Make it fresh daily. Arnica speeds healing. 

Comfrey is good for strains and bruising and you can often find animal - safe creams at the health food store. 

Add a pinch of ground rosehips to her diet. They have healing properties and add Vitamin C to the diet. Ground up they are hedgehog-safe. 

Chopped fresh cabbage (chopped up so it's all bruised and crushed) can be applied as a poultice and will help relieve inflammation and speed healing. 

HTH.


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Looks like a trip to the health food store & craft store on my way home tonight! Thanks HM


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