Junie is limping

[Mfnusz]

I have (4) 7.5 month old siblings that I’m fostering until spring. Tonight I noticed one of the girls, Junie, is limping. She is not walking on her left front paw. She seems to be getting around ok, but it’s obviously bothering her as they are all usually running around like crazy, and she’s curled up in a ball in her hammock 😢 I’m unable to get a good look at it, but there is no obvious trauma that I can see. I’m unsure of how to proceed and worried; advice and/or words of encouragement are appreciated!

[Mfnusz]

Here is a video of her walking ☹️

https://youtu.be/WSJOaknX-hw

[Mel1959]

She could have fallen and landed wrong. She could have injured the shoulder and not the paw. It could be broken, but is more likely just sprained. Keeping her contained where she can’t use it so much will help it heal. If it’s a shoulder injury it may take several weeks to heal.

If you have vet access they could do an X-ray to give you a definitive diagnosis. If not, you could treat her with some metacam, if you have it. If you have that medicine and want to dose her, we’d need a weight of the squirrel and the strength of the med. Once she’s medicated I’d definitely keep her contained so she doesn’t re-injure it as the meds will remove the pain and any inflammation.

[Mfnusz]

Thank you Mel1959!

I have been keeping a close eye on her. She’s still limping today but she appears to be using that leg a bit more than yesterday. I’m just going to monitor her closely for now.

Thanks for your reply, this is my first time doing this and I tend to freak out a bit if I think someone could be hurt or sick. Fingers crossed it’s a minor sprain and she’ll be as good as new soon.

[Mel1959]

I hope so. Keep us posted.

[Mfnusz]

Here is a pic I was able to get this morning. Junie is getting around fine, eating, all the normal stuff, but her finger is definitely red and swollen. Would this be consistent with a broken finger? From what I understand, there’s not much to be done except to let it heal on it’s not own, correct?

[Mel1959]

You are correct, nothing to be done for a broken finger. A wild in my yard had one on a front paw and wasn’t using it well for a few weeks...it even was positioned at a peculiar angle. But now she’s fine and you’d never know anything had ever happened to it.

Be sure that there isn’t some fine thread wrapped around it that could be causing the inflammation. If not, then it will eventually heal. But do keep an eye on it for any additional swelling or infection.