upset piggy

Question
Hi again, he had an x-ray done and the vet coodnt see anything. However by this time his bad leg started to swell up and he wasnt using his good leg as much. The vet said that his bad leg is infected which is causing the swelling and that it will spread. She's giving him anti-biotics, she says we will have to put him down. Im devastated.We are going to have him for a few days and then hope for a miracle.
Thank you for your help
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Followup To

Question -
Hi thanks for the help, i moved him into my room away from Squeak and he seems to be happier about that. We took him to the vets this evening and she sed that she coodnt feel any broken bones and that he wasnt in pain when she examined him. Its defintely his left leg that hes dragging, his right one seems to be ok. And she pinched the left to see if he cood feel pain and she had to pinch quite hard before he felt it. She sed something about "deep pain". Then mentioned that it cood be damaged tissue or something to do with nerves. He cant control his bowels either. She gave him 3 injections (which he didnt approve of lol) 1 vitamin C, one anti-biotics and the last one anti-inflamitry. We're going back tomoz (12th) and she will decide if he needs an x-ray or not.

It didnt happen in the fight by the way becuase he was fine physically afterwards, the left foot thing literally happend over night.

The vet confused as to how it cood have happend.
What do u think?
thanks
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Followup To

Question -
hi, i own two piggys that are both 2 years old, not related but brought up with eachother from birth, theyve bin together for 2 years in the same hutch and theyre both males. The bigger one is Bubbles and the smaller one Squeak. Bubbles is a very cuddly, gentle pig and loves company and has always bin the dominent pig and Squeak hated being away from him.

However in the last week i found them in their run chattering their teeth at eachother, fur up, squeaking and chasing eachother. I no this means they were fighting. This was completley out of the blue. And i wasnt too worried jus thort they need some time apart but it continued for a couple of days and i wood find them with bit lips and scratched noses when I got them out of their hutch, so i started keeping one in my bedroom one night then the other the next night because i was scared of them hurting eachother.
It was alsways Squeak being aggressive and my dad sed to me that he has noticed that Squeak has grown quite a bit which i didnt notice until he mentioned it.

So im guessing its to with the fight for dominence as Squeak probably thinks hes big enough to challenge Bubbles. And also fighting for their territory, becoz Squeak dragged his bottom along the floor of the hutch and i no this meanings he's spreading his scent.
When i got them together in playtime i managed to calm them down enough to get them to lie down next to eachother and everytime they chatterd at eachother i'd calm them down again.

However 3 nights ago i had them on the sette and they flipped out. Full on fighting, biting eachother, everything. The only thing i cood do was stick my hand in the middle of them and slide one of them off the sette (it was a small fall and on carpet) this was Bubbles that came off.
My dad put Squeak in the box and i grabbhed Bubbles to make sure he was ok. And he started squealing, not squeaking, but squealing really high not as if he was in pain but like he was scared. (keep in mind hes a very gentle cuddly pig) He got bit (as  did i) on his nose and lip, Squeak was fine but once again he started this all.

Now here comes my problem:
I decided to buy a guinea pig cage because i coodnt trust them to be near each other so Bubbles lives in there now which is placed next to the hutch in the garage so they can still talk/argue with eachother without getting hurt.
But Bubbles seems unhappy, hes eating and drinking fine. I understand that the cage is new to him so he might be nervous about that. But when i came home today my mum told me that he was dragging his feet and bum along the floor and i sed dont worry hes jus spreading his scent.
But wen i saw him do it, it wasnt right he was hardly using his back legs at all and jus mainly pulling him self along (as well as his bum) and wen we pick him up he used to squirm until u cuddled him but now he jus relaxes and doesnt struggle at all wen we pick him up. My mum (a nurse so she might no slightly something about this) checked if he was in pain but he wasnt and he CAN move his back legs fine but chooses not to when he walks. I need to no wats rong with him.
I no he must miss Squeak but Squeak is fine and happy without Bubbles now which is a shame. And gets threatening even wen he sees or smells Bubbles.

Bubbles isnt him self, and doesnt seem happy, keep in mind that he is drinking and eating well.But cood u plz plz help me find out wats rong with him.He doesnt even cuddle properly now.

We're thinking of taking him to the vets soon.

I no this is very long but ive tried to give u as much detail as possible so u can guess wat is rong with him more accurately.
I love him very much and wood be devastated if anything happened to him.

Thank u for ur time and help.


Answer -
Hi Kerry

Thanks for all the details.

You might find this hard to believe, but despite the fighting, bubbles is probably just very sad to have been separated from his friend. You did exactly the right thing in doing this as they could have seriously hurt each other.

I think it would be a good idea to take him to a vet that has experience in exotic pets like piggies, but just to see if he is injured in any way. I'm sure he isnt as your mum has checked him but the human body is very different to piggies body as piggies hide injury very well as this is part of their prey animal instincts.

When you have done this we will know what to do next. If he is ok health wise, then we can presume the problem is lonliness. This is when you have to decide whether to spend more time with bubbles to keep him from being sad or whether you decide to try to add a new friend with him.

When you have been to the vet, please let me know what the vet said and I will give some more advice.

Good luck

andy

Answer -
Hi again

I really wish the vet hadnt given bubbles some injections. The shock of this can quite often do more harm than good.

In this situation, perhaps an x-ray is a good idea as there is obviously something wrong with his leg. If the results are negative then together we can explore other possibilities.

Let me know the results please.

andy

Answer
Hi again

I am so sorry to hear your news. However, I see no reason why anti-biotics shouldnt solve the problem if the vet has examined the pig.

Please please please do not give the medecine if it contains penicilin as this is poisenous to piggies. Some vets sadly dont have enough knowledge about small exotic animals such as piggies.

I will heop for a miracle for you too.

andy