gerbil

Question
My gerbil broke his leg and regretfully i took him to the vet and they in my opinion made it worse, but that aside they want to amputate his leg and im really worried about putting him under anistesia i was hopping you could just tell me a bit about what to expect.

Answer
Hi Kayleigh

I'm sorry to hear about your gerbil.

Firstly how old is he? There is always a risk with anaesthesia and this increases the older the creature however several of my gerbils had surgery and they were all fine although my vet was a small animal expert so he understood the dosage.

How bad is the fracture?

If it is straightforward with no circulation impairment then you might be better off letting nature take its course - you need to put plenty of bedding in the cage, only have a single storey as you won't want him climbing and make sure food and water are close by. It will take around 4 weeks to heal providing he doesn't use it. I've had several hamsters with broken legs and they all healed on their own. However if this is a bad break or there are circulatory issues then amputation is the best option. I suggest you don't have any woodchip in his cage for a while to prevent it infecting the wound - just use paper bedding and if he has a wheel he may not be able to use this due to repetitive use  - if it is a full amputation then he can once the wound has healed but if they leave a stump constant running could aggravate the wound.

I hope this helps you

Regards
Sheila