Callie can't walk

[Orlaith]

My beautiful and special girl Callie is unable to walk on her back legs. She is still using her back legs to push herself forward but she can't stand up on them. Apart from the leg thing, though, she's really happy and perky and you wouldn't know there was anything wrong with her.

The vet thinks she may have hurt a disc in her back and that a course of steroids will help her come around. On the advice of someone on the facebook page I'm also giving her a calcium supplement as some guinea pigs can get hind leg paralysis due to calcium deficiency. The vet says she has excellent pain response (she was able to pull both legs away from him when he gently pinched her feet) which is a good sign.

I'm quite worried about her. She does seem to be improving a little every day and she's such a cheerful little girl but it's obviously not nice to watch her pull herself along on her front legs.

My wife and I have decided that even if she doesn't regain the ability to walk on her back legs, we're going to keep her for as long as her quality of life is good. At the moment she's still happy and enjoying life and getting around when she needs to. She's not in any distress and she still has control of her bladder and bowels so she's staying nice and clean. If that changes at any point then obviously we'll have to have another talk about what to do.

Here she is tucking into some veggies with her pal Nyxie-pig.

[bunchesofjoy]

Poor baby. I hope things go well for her.

[Orlaith]

Me too. It's been a week and she has only improved very slightly so I'm worried that this is going to be permanent. She's using her left hind leg to push herself along but she's dragging the right hind leg nearly all the time.

She's still happy and bright but I'm disappointed that she hasn't gotten better.

[lisa21264]

I hope Callie gets better soon. Sometimes it takes time for them to recover from a spine injury.

[Orlaith]

Thanks! We were back at the vet and he has changed her from steroids onto anti-inflammatories. She's reacting well to some tests and not others, so she does have feeling and movement in her feet but around her lower back she seems to be not reacting.

Our vet does think, though, that if we're willing to put the time into her care that she'll come around and that the best medicine really is time. We're doing a little bit of physio with her and we're considering doing some hydrotherapy if it doesn't distress her.

[bunchesofjoy]

Good Luck Callie! Hope it gets better!

[juniorsmama]

I just read your post and i'm in a similar situation i think. I wondered if anyone had any advice for me...my guinea pig junior is a 1 year old male,short haired guinea pig, and all of the sudden he has been limping around kind of trying not to use his back right leg. he is still eating and drinking as well as going to the bathroom, but something is going on and i just can't figure out what it is. his leg doesn't look swollen, and when i touch it he moves it, but there are also some other unusual things going on with him. he cries when i hold him even if i'm not anywhere near that leg, and it looks like there's a small amount of blood on his shavings, but i can't see anywhere that it might be coming from. He looks like he's just not feeling good. I can't get him to a vet until next week, but i was wondering if anyone out there had an idea of what is troubling my little junior???

[Orlaith]

That definitely sounds like a vet visit is required. Is your pig pooping and peeing? How is his appetite?