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Bumblefoot and sores on butt

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LikDisDove

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Took my Guinea pig to get checked out at the vet and they said he had bumblefoot. He has had bumblefoot since January 15. And we don't think it's getting any better. Because he keeps chewing it. We started wrapping his foot but he keeps taking it off. Then later on we noticed that he had sores on his butt. We now we think it's ringworms were not really sure. We gotten antibiotics and pain medication. We have been soaking it in betadine. And have been putting antifungal cream, Benadryl cream, and triple A. And every time his foot gets better he chews it again. So we don't know what to do anymore.
 
What antibiotics has been given and how long has he been on it? Which anti inflammatory is he on and what’s the dose? What is he bedded on? What is triple A and the Benadryl cream supposed to be treating?

What antifungal cream has he been given? Was that for the sores on his bum or feet? What did the vet make of the sores on his bum? What do they look like and are they where the grease gland is?

Sorry for the Spanish Inquisition but it helps to know a little more detail.
I’ll tag @Wiebke @PigglePuggle

Meanwhile have a read of the guide below.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

Please can you also try and post clear, well lit photos of your piggy’s affected feet as well as the sores. Does he live alone?
 
Siikibam said:
What antibiotics has been given and how long has he been on it? He was given meloxidyl and SMZ/TMP and he has been on them since January 17th. What is he bedded on? He's on a mat that is soft and fluffy. What is triple A? It helps heal the wound. And the Benadryl cream supposed to be treating? Helps with the swelling.

What antifungal cream has he been given? Clotrimazole. Was that for the sores on his bum or feet? Yes. What did the vet make of the sores on his bum? He had gotten them after his visit with the vet. What do they look like and are they where the grease gland is? Yes they are near the grease gland.

Sorry for the Spanish Inquisition but it helps to know a little more detail.
I’ll tag @Wiebke @PigglePuggle

Meanwhile have a read of the guide below.
New guinea pigs: Sexing, vet checks&customer rights, URI, ringworm and parasites

Please can you also try and post clear, well lit photos of your piggy’s affected feet as well as the sores. Does he live alone?
Click to expand...
Yes until he gets better.
I will post a picture of his foot when we clean it again. Because it bandage up right now.

And about to post butt.
 
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Here's the pictures of everything.
 

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That’s looks really sore.
Is the vet you’ve been to an exotic specialist?
What medication have you been given and what are the dosages?
Did the vet tell you use the anti fungal creams, benadryl? If not, then please do not use them.

Guinea Lynx :: Pododermatitis
 
That all looks extremely sore. And swollen. As above is your vet experienced in treating guinea pigs?

I know there were a lot but please can you answer the questions I posted above as well? I would consider getting a second opinion as soon as possible.
Guinea Lynx :: GL's Vet List

Where did you get him from?
 
First thing is I'm not a vet. But your piggy looks terribly sore - that must hurt a lot. Was Jan 15th the last time he went to the vet? Because he needs to go back - if not to that vet then to another one. Show the vet how bad the foot is and the sores on the butt. Does he have a companion? And is that companion showing symptoms? That can be a clue as to if this is something environmental (eg how they are housed etc) or something contagious, or something else.

'Bumblefoot' is a condition where they get open sores on the soles of the feet. It can be triggered by a few different things such as keeping piggies on wire-bottomed cages, damp bedding which causes feet to soften, 'urine scald' (red, sore soles of feet caused by standing in their own pee-soaked bedding) can easily develop into bumblefoot if the skin breaks open. But saying that some pigs are more prone to it... Older pigs with poor circulation or age-related lumps and bumps on feet, or just pigs with sensitive skin can be more prone to 'scald'. I've just been caught out with a new girl and I've been keeping pigs over 10 years so scald can happen to anyone but it's catching it in time and correcting the problem (for us it was triggered by a change in our bedding - so we changed back)

I've never seen sores on the top of the feet like that described as 'bumblefoot' - I've had a couple of pigs who developed it on one or two of the feet but although it was a battle to heal the sores never spread 'round' the foot.
Also those sores round his rump - that's not 'bumblefoot'. I'm assuming his butt looks 'moist' because of some cream or lotion that has been applied? If he is wet at the back anyway, with a dirty-looking rear end, he is either sitting in his pee too much (and needs cleaning out more often!) or he is dripping urine throughout the day(?), and this incontinence needs to be sorted out... perhaps it is a urinary infection (UTI) which needs antibiotics. I had a sow once who had a stone blocking her urethra (pee tube) and she developed a UTI, dripped pee constantly and ended up with angry red sores on her private parts from urine scald. If he is dripping pee it won't clear up on it's own - you need a prescription.

Is he kept anywhere where there might be flies... there is a condition called 'flystrike' where flies lay eggs around the back-end of rabbits/guinea-pigs etc and they can end up in a real mess. Have you seen any maggots in his cage or hutch? It is more likely if they are kept outside but not impossible inside. I don't know how your weather is at the moment (here in the UK it's too cold for flies!) This is a very serious and potentially fatal condition.

Ringworm is a fungal infection (NOTHING to do with worms!) but people who post about that usually see the first scabbing around the eyes or on the face. It can affect the whole pig with patches of hair loss and intense itching so your guess might be right but there are other reasons for itching too. People can also catch it so if any of you humans have had the tell-tale red 'ring' of itchy skin maybe an inch across he might have caught it from you or vice versa! If you have seen anything like actual worms refer back to 'flystrike' as they may well have been maggots. You need a definite diagnosis.

If he was my pig I would be straight back to the vet as I can't imagine these wounds on my own body without thinking how painful and sore they must be. You need a definite diagnosis and a treatment plan. In the mean time I would be keeping him indoors where I can monitor him - I would keep him on towels or fleece (clean and dry, changing regularly, and yes there will be a lot of washing) not on bedding where the 'bits' can get stuck in the wounds. I personally would not wrap feet because I think you need to get air to those moist wounds. If he is kept with a companion pig bring them in too.

I hope I have not made too many assumptions here. If you could let us know about the antibiotics and painkillers as vets prescribe a wide variety and it really helps to know where you are in the treatment - so for example, how many days of AB you were prescribed and how many days in you are. Advice will be different if you had 5 days of AB from Jan 15th, say, to if you have 10 days but are only 1 day in because you went to the vet yesterday, if you see what I mean. It's not quite clear at which point you went to the vet and if he only saw bumblefoot on the 15th but the top-foot sores and butt sores have developed since then. Some vets are a bit stingy with painkillers too.
 
Just seen this and I'm very sorry but your piggy looks dreadfully ill, I doubt any reputable vet would send a piggy home in that state with just creams and oral antibiotics unless they were living with a very experienced person who had expertise in managing such serious sores.
A piggy in this condition should really be seeing the vet every 2 or 3 days, and the sores being treated and checked by an experienced person every few hours.
I advise you immediately find an expert specialist vet who can appreciate the serious nature of what we're seeing here, or if you can't afford that, surrender the piggy to an experienced rescue.
Piggy must be suffering terribly, he needs either prompt and consistent long term treatment from an experienced vet, or surrendering to an organisation who can provide that :(
 
That looks extremely painful. What kind of bedding are you using for him? Sometimes pigs can get urine scald on their underbellies if they are either sitting in damp bedding (i.e. it's not absorbent enough to soak up all their pee and leaves the skin wet) or if they are leaking urine and thus continually rewetting the patch underneath where they are sitting. That also doesn't look like bumblefoot to me (as bumblefoot is generally a redness/sore/scab/swelling on the underside of the foot only. It doesn't spread around to the top of the foot and up the leg like that. Has he been checked for mites? You've said he's chewing at his foot, which could be a reaction to extreme itchiness, and he could also be chewing up his lower belly if he's itchy or uncomfortable there. Animals can chew to the point of self-injury if an area itches or is painful. Have you noticed him chewing at his nether regions at all? Some of the sores could be self-inflicted from aggressive grooming/chewing.

He definitely needs another vet visit because what the vet has prescribed doesn't seem to be helping and that looks extremely painful. Does he share his space with another pig? Does that pig have any skin symptoms to speak of?
 
Oh gosh, poor little guy! The sore around the top of his foot looks like something has been wrapped too tightly? I could be wrong of course, it just seems clean cut for him to have done it ( if that makes sense).
I agree with the wonderful advice you’ve had above. Definitely another visit to a cavvy savvy vet required. Vet bed will be very useful to help with the urine absorption issue.

sending lots of love and healing vibes to your little man 💕
 
I've literally never seen anything this bad on a piggie. He must be in agony. What pain meds do you have for him? Did they do xrays to see what damage was caused to his bones?
You need a different vet immediately. I would question if that foot can actually be saved? It looks really bad.
Please, get second opinion from exotic vet and take it from there. If you've followed treatment plan and check ups set by your vet s/he should've ensured his condition is improving.

Now, I would be asking my vet if he's chewing the leg because of pain. I've seen this with dogs and it's an issue deeper inside the bone and needs different management. But that would be localised rather than on 3 places.
 
Hath said:
Hi, @LikDisDove.
How are you getting on? How's your piggie? I've been wondering how he's getting on.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the very late response... We took him to the vet and got x-rays. The vet informed us that he had a rare bone disease. And it had spread so we couldn't amputate the leg. So they gave him pain medication. Early on April 22, 2021 Oreo passed away. So sorry for the sad news.
 
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