Did she just break a leg?

[elliottsmama]

I got a new ferret TODAY.  She was doing great.  I have her in a single level cage FN with a shelf, ladder, and hammock.  I was putting her away for the evening and she hulked her way up onto the shelf without using the ladder.  Very strong!  Then she climbed into the hammock.  Two minutes later, I heard the "hurt noise" they do and looked and she was all wet and holding up a paw.  I wasn't in the room, but what I think happened was she decided to go off the hammock on the side opposite the shelf and fell.  It's not far, maybe 8-10", but she fell on the water dish. 

She was holding up the paw and when I picked her up and put her down on the ground, she whimpered briefly.  I examined her paw and leg and she didn't flinch, wince, or make a peep.  However, she is still limping, but very active and is using it.  I sat on the floor with her and she was tugging at my pants which put a lot of pressure on both her front legs. 

I had a ferret break her leg before when she got it stuck, and she was clearly in pain.  This one is confusing me.  Can they just sprain or bruise something?  If I go off of how she is acting, I would say I can wait until tomorrow to get her checked out.  She is running around, doesn't seem to be in pain, isn't after the paw, is trying to climb, etc.  It's just the limp that is concerning and I wasn't sure if I need to take her in.  Why do they always have issues at night and why does she have to have an issue 5hrs after we brought her home?  Ugh.

[LindaM]

Poor baby. I'd say it's probably better if you can get her to calm down, so she doesn't do any more damage to any damage that could have occurred, she clearly did hurt herself. Perhaps try to get her to sleep some instead, and get her checked out by a vet in the morning.

It's quite possible it could just be a bruise or sprain, could also be a crack in the bone, or thin fracture, and lots of movement can aggravate such an injury. I want to lean more to perhaps a sprain or bruise since she doesn't seem to show a lot of pain, but then again, ferrets are very good at hiding pain. So I would definitely get it checked out.

[elliottsmama]

Okay thanks. I already put her back in the cage and lowered the hammock almost to the ground so she doesn't hurt herself again. She isn't holding it up anymore and was digging at my fleece jammie pants when I was holding her to check her out. She also was barely limping after about 10min. She's eating now and then hopefully she'll rest. Ooh, take that back. I just looked over at her and she just pulled herself up on the shelf with no trouble, no limping, and no sounds of pain. Maybe I need to teach her to use the ladder. I know they can be pretty stoic about hiding pain, but I would think she would avoid pulling herself up like that if it hurt much. I'll leave her be for tonight and check on her in the morning. If she's still limping, I'll take her in.

[Heather]

It sounds like a good plan. I use ramps only on some of the ramps. My guys learned to not use the ramps in the old 142's as it was one of the weaknesses of the old cages. It sounds like she fell wrong poor wee mite. See how's she feeling in the morning but it sounds like the leg may be bruised rather than broken
ciao

[elliottsmama]

I stayed up until midnight and got up at 5 to check on her. She is climbing the rungs of the cage wanting to get out, but she is still limping a bit. I examined her and I think I detect a bit of swelling. I'm going to take her in just to make sure she's okay. It really sucks that I got her to be friends with my other ferret and she's very likely on cage rest for at least awhile. Oh well. I wasn't going to introduce them right away anyway and maybe she'll bond with me more with more 1:1 quiet activity. I can't believe the money I'll have to spend after having her less than a day. $$$ Sigh. She seems to be a sweet little thing though so I think she'll be worth it. Last night when I was checking her out, she climbed into my lap and I petted her and she fell asleep.

[abbeytheferret6]

Last night when I was checking her out, she climbed into my lap and I petted her and she fell asleep.

Read more: holisticferret60.proboards.com/thread/22569/break-leg#ixzz4YfXkuHXN

It so sweet when they will sleep on you. None of our ferrets will do that except the girl I got off craigslist last year. Thought I was getting a male at the time to go with my three girls. Transition to the group was rough but hardly any fighting now. It took a few months to get this peaceful.

She has already stolen my heart. She surprises us by jumping on the back of our legs as we walk thru the house. She frolicks happily by herself. So glad I got her.

[elliottsmama]

Hmm, now I'm doubting myself. She is repeatedly climbing up the sides of the FN cage with the leg in question. She is digging with it in the hammock too. Would she do this if it was broken? Maybe it's just sore? I mean, I can certainly take her to the vet to get checked, but is that a bit premature if she is using it to climb straight up? Would it be reasonable to wait a bit and see how it improves, or just take her in? The only reason I would take her in today would be because I have read they hide pain well. If it weren't for that, there is nothing about her behavior that makes me think she has a broken bone. Why would she opt to climb straight up the side of the cage when I lowered everything so she didn't even need a ladder, ya know?

[elliottsmama]

I called the vet and they are suggesting a wait and see sort of thing. Would you agree? Now, I wasn't able to talk to the vet personally, but the tech said that if she is exhibiting the kind of behavior that I was talking about (climbing straight up the sides of the cage), then it doesn't sound like a serious injury.

[Sherry]

It does sound like she either pinched a toe, or has a bit of a sprain. As she isn't showing symptoms of pain, I'd hold off and see how she is doing. If there is obvious swelling take her in. Broken limbs swell fairly quickly.

[elliottsmama]

I have tried looking for swelling and I feel like I see a hint of it, but she is very wiggly and it's hard to really examine. In some positions I feel like it looks a little swollen and then it looks perfectly normal two seconds later. When I palpate each leg, I think I feel slight squishiness on that leg, but again, I can't be totally sure. I'm hoping to catch her dead asleep sometime later and try to get a good look. All I know is that she isn't holding it up, is using it to climb, and doesn't appear to avoid using it in anyway and the only weird thing is the limp. I mean if she fell out of the hammock and hit the water dish just the right way, I suppose it could have broken, but it wasn't very far at all. I'm hoping it's just more of a bruise or other soft tissue injury. I'll watch her for another day or so and keep everything low so there is no need for climbing and no risk of falling again.

Thanks!

[LindaM]

It sounds like it isn't a major deal, it could have just been a sprain, or a really hard bruise when she fell. She might have just hurt some soft tissue instead of bone. Like Sherry said, just keep an eye out for swelling or if her condition worsens.

And try to make sure the wee thing doesn't think she's Superman again, my two often think that, and I swear it's them that will end up giving me gray hair with how much they like to climb things (like climbing shower curtains or the outside of a cage). I run around padding fall spots with pillows and cushions all over the place. The cat tree looks like a fortress now, lol. But a drop out of a hammock is a hard one to prevent, so let's just hope she doesn't do it again. I use one of the upper shelves to place all their food dishes and lock crock water bowls, which keeps mess to a minimum, but also makes them lazy sometimes. Loki will be in the hammock, just leaning over to drink from the nearest water crock, and back when they still ate kibble, that's how he ate it too.

I hope the wee thing heals up quickly and settles in well in her new home.

[elliottsmama]

Thank you. I got a better look when she was sleepy and if there's swelling, it appears to be minimal. I took out her shelf and hung the hammock very low. I'll let her rest a bit and see what happens. Thank you for putting my mind at ease. The hammock hangs right next to the shelf so that they climb the ladder to the shelf and can just go right into the hammock. They're touching. I think what she is was try to get out of the hammock on the other side and fell out onto the edge of the glass water dish. I'm almost certain that's it because she definitely fell in the water since she was soaked.

Now my non-climber has decided he needs to get to his new friend and two minutes ago, I saw him climbing the side of the cage on the outside. ?!?!?! He was at the top on the outside. So I ran to rescue before he fell and put him away until I can figure out how to keep him from doing that. That would have been like a 5ft fall. Right now they are the FN together, but two separate levels.

[LindaM]

Hah.. remember, once they learn to do something.. it is never again forgotten. I have fluffy pillows by my cage (they're lazy in the mornings when their hind legs are still sleeping.. so sometimes they slide down the ramp, and sometimes they just flop down onto the pillow), mine have mostly stopped climbing the cage, though they'll still climb the spare cage I have yet to go put away in storage, luckily it's a smaller Kaytee cage. Athena loves climbing the sides to get on top, so I moved a box on top.. she now still climbs the side and slides down from it, scraping her nails as she goes.. over and over, she knows I hate that.

[elliottsmama]

Stinkers.

[Sherry]

she sounds like she will be fine then There is no mistaking the swelling from a broken limb- it will often be double it's size.