paralysed back legs of newborn

Question
Susan, is there anything I can do to help my newborn guniea pig. My sow has just had 3 babies, 2 lively and well.The third unfortunatley seems unable to move his back legs. They are just over an hour old.  

Answer
Sometimes they are a little wobbly at first.

He may have had a bit more trouble getting born and be a little light on brain-oxygen.

If he doesn't improve a whole lot within next 12 hours or so, or if he gets worse, the vet might want to do some dexamethasone. Ashby was paralyzed all down his right side and dex brought him all the way back.

Please look at http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html#pups and http://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html

Some pups just don't thrive. The baby may not make it. Often there are problems with mom and babies.

What color is the baby? And what breeds were the parents? If the baby is all white and your parents had roan, you may have a lethal white.