Guinea Pig 911

Question
My daughter dropped her guinea pig from our kitchen table (I think he got scared and started kicking) hes not wanting to use his back legs and has white thick like mucus coming from his private parts it almost looks like a mucus plug...I'm worried we are going to have to put him down :( please help!!

Answer
He could have one of two injuries: the first being just soft tissue injury that may heal on its own. The worse case scenario is a spinal injury which could leave him paralyzed. That does not mean he needs to be put down.  I wouldn't handle him anymore for a couple of weeks and see if it doesn't resolve on its own.

As for the mucus plug that sounds much like semen. A sudden fall resulting in blunt trauma could have caused an involuntary ejaculation.  Guinea pig semen is typically very thick and dries almost like hot glue. It's not unusual for something like that to happen, much as fear can cause an involuntary loss of urine.

Just leave him to rest. Make sure he's able to reach his water and food. Offer him lettuce to keep him hydrated, and hopefully this will resolve. Even if it does not that isn't a death sentence. He can learn to live with a disability.

You don't say how old your daughter is, but she's not the first child to have this happen. Perhaps having her sit on the floor to hold her pig in her lap might help prevent any future issues. I'm sure this frightened her as much as it did the pig.

For children under 8 I recommend they wrap their pig in a towel or blanket to help keep them from scratching the child and it also helps keep the pig calm. I'm sure you've already thought of this, so please don't think I'm in any way chastising you.  Accidents unfortunately happen to all of us.