Help for a weak hind leg, please!

[jenforeman7]

6(?) week old Pip is not putting pressure on his right, hind leg. He was fine for a 4am feeding, but was not using his leg when I took him out for 9am feeding. He ate well and was bright-eyed and active. I've only had this guy for 5 days and he is giving me a run for my money! He fell out of a tree onto asphalt, had a minor nose injury (healed), was clicky the first day (rescuer let children feed him so I think he probably aspirated a bit...no clicking for last 3 days), had a gummy eye 2 days ago (cleared up), and now this. I have no idea what has happened. He's on Esbilac. I thought I'd be more in the clear since he was older when I got him...apparently not!

Do I just keep him quiet? This can't be a diet issue after just 5 days, can it? Thanks for your help.

[Shewhosweptforest]

Thanks for caring for the little booger....he's definitely putting you through the hoops :poke No it shouldn't be diet....you're feeding him esbilac anyway:great Have you checked on him recently....maybe he just slept on it wrong in between feedings :dono I would keep an eye on him....is he in a bin or cage? Could he have caught his leg on anything. Hopefully, it's not damaged, just sore :thinking I would continue on, like you've been doing....and see what happens....if he hasn't fell, been in a cage where he could have hung it up somehow...there really isn't a lot he could have done to hurt himself....maybe he's a hypercondriac :eek :grin3 I would limit his activity to his container/cage....or you personally supervising his activity till you see if it improves :thumbsup Good luck, you're doing an amazing job :Love_Icon

[jenforeman7]

Thanks for your response!

I just had him out again and his leg is the same. :( It's weird in that his foot appears completely limp, but he holds the leg up when he's walking. So he has strength in his hip, I guess. There are no visible wounds and he doesn't care too much when I feel around (a lot!) on his leg. At his 9am feeding, it was like he had slept on it wrong, like it was asleep, but I can't imagine that would still be the case. Otherwise, he's fine! He's in a cat carrier until a small cage arrives today and he has fleece and a sock buddy inside. Not a whole lot that he could've done to himself in there. I'll keep an eye on it and keep his activity outside the cage to a minimum and see if we can't fix this!

[Shewhosweptforest]

:thumbsup I hope he's doing better :grin3 I don't see how he could of hurt himself either :thinking Time will tell ...we have some good rehabbers in MD if he ends up needing help :highfive

[stepnstone]

I'm assuming he was not that way when you got him so it kind of makes it obvious he's hurt it somehow.
With the limp foot, lightly pinch his toes and see if there is any reaction. Hopefully so and it just hurts to use it which holding it up indicates. He can be given some liquid infant Ibuprofen to help him with pain.

[jenforeman7]

Pip is better today and is using his foot more. He's still not bearing all of his weight on it, but much more than yesterday and he's using his toes to really grip on to me while I feed him. :) The only thing I've come up with is that he got snagged in the stitched hem of the fleece (baby) blanket I had in the crate, so I cut up a fleece dog crate cover I'd made, and I'll use that instead. No hems!

[Shewhosweptforest]

:thumbsup Good idea :grin3 That could be quite possible...and they will pull, pull and then panic...we've had cases where they broke a toe :eek I typically just cut the hem off my blankets :facepalm the things we do for our babies :Love_Icon That's great news about Pip..I love the name .....now if we could only have some pics :tap :rofl4