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Feet turning black and sleeping more?

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GuineaGuy

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Hello All,

Me again! Before I ask for yet more advice I would like to re assure everyone that we always see our vet when we are concerned about our guinea pigs health. We have been hit with one thing after another this year and have spent a lot of money on them and will spend every pound we have to to ensure they are in good health. The reason I ask so much is that I am a person that likes to thoroughly research everything and I am a natural worrier - these pigs will turn me grey before I hit 30 at this rate!

We have recently noticed that one of our pigs is sleeping more than normal - he is still eating, drinking, weeing and pooing as normal, he still gets excited at veg times and eats up. He is breathing normally, has no signs of raspiness or wheezing or heavy breathing and has been like this for a few weeks now. He lives in a 5 x 3 C & C cage with a cage mate. About a month ago we lost his other cagemate. These 2 were very close.

We have also noticed his rear feet have darkened - not just on the bottoms but up through the foot aswell. One of the front claws has darkened slightly They don't appear swollen and don't seem sore as he moves normally on them when he move about. He lives on fleece which sits on top of an incontinence mattress protector. He is 4 years of age.

Has anyone got any ideas on what this could be? Could these 2 things be related?
 
Forgot to add the picture!

guinea-foot.jpg


Sorry it's poor quality, but it's a camera phone picture. We gave him a salt bath yesterday so we know it's not just 'mucky'.
 
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This has happened to a couple of my Eliza's feet a while ago. My vet said it is skin pigmentation. Eliza also has brown patches on her skin on her body and on her ears which is also pigmentation. It is nothing to be concerned about but if you are worried, I would have it checked out by a vet just to double check that's what it is x
 
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I can't help witht the discolouration but my Badger had a swollen crusty toe when he had ringworm/fungal infection. Might be worth looking in to that aspect of things? Hope you get to the bottom of it
 
My Marley's feet have also done this recently. He used to have lovely pink feet, but not they have patches of black on them. I hadn't noticed it before the weekend. His nails also have speckles of black on them too.

Just a complete guess, but could it be triggered by the changing temperatures/time of year?
 
Hi guys! So I know this is late but for anyone seeing this and seeing similar problems in their pig I wanted to share my story...

I have a 4 year old male guinea pig named Emmett. He is a healthy happy boy. Just recently I was clipping his toe nails and noticed one of his front paws (the pad) was completely black. He is a multi colored pig, with white, tan and black spots. He was born with one front paw surrounded by white hair, pink toe nails and a pink pad and the other paw with black hair, black toe nails and and tannish pad. So the one paw has always been darker than the other. It worried me that the pad had completely turned black, and I noticed there were some bumps on the pad as well. I live in OH, in the US. I found a vet that will care for guinea pigs, though they do not specialize in small animals. I did a lot of research and learned a lot on Bumblefoot and seen some cases where the foot had turned completely black and the foot was practically dead. I got myself so worried, to the point where I couldn't sleep or eat. Emmett is so important to me, he has such a personality and is truly my baby! We went to the vet the next day, it was his first time being at the vet and he did so good! He was so sweet to the vet and let them check everything out. The vet said it was for sure not bumble foot. He said the bumps were from his weight and that he had some cracking due to his size. I was worried about that, but was extremely worried about the black pads. The vet said so simply that it was just natural pigment change and was nothing to worry about. Just something that happens when they get older. As well as pigment changes that they can get behind their ears in patches. The vet recommended for him to get a little more exercise. I've moved his food to the lower part of his C&C cage to try and get him moving around more. I hope this helps anyone who was going through the same thing I was. I searched hours online for answers, which I know isn't always the best thing to do because I got myself so worked up! Lol I couldn't find anything about natural pigment which is weird because it seems to be very common in older guinea pigs. Emmett is doing great now! I'm keeping an eye on his feet and have a follow up appointment with his vet in a month! Good luck with your piggies! Go give them kisses! Here is a picture of Emmett relaxing after his vet visit.
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Emily
 
Pleased to hear Emmett is doing well. It is a shame your photo attachment does not work. I hope @guineaguy's guinea pig is OK. It can be such a worrying time when you spot a change in your guinea pig and it is so reassuring to get confirmation that there isn't a problem.

I have just seen your other thread in the Health and Illness where I can now see the photo. My Emmett is one chilled out little guinea pig.
 
Yes, he's doing ok thanks @worried val of york :)

The vet said the skin colour was a natural change. He was diagnosed as having arthritis and it seemed he was in a lot of pain with it and this explained the sleepyness and not wanting to run around as much.

He's getting some painkillers twice daily and a vitamin C tablet very day and is ok for now.

Emmett looks lovely Emily. I'm glad it was nothing serious - we all get very attached to these little guys, and I know only too well how bad we feel when they are sick.
 
Older piggies tend to sleep more. As he has lost his companion, he will also be bored. Here in Britain, you have the possibility to boar date a bereaved piggy at a good guinea pig rescue in order to find a character compatible companion. You'd be amazed how quickly he's getting his sparkle and liveliness back. You can look up our rescue locator on the top bar.

Guinea pig skin can change in pigmentation over time; some piggies chance their fur colour - it often goes duller.
 
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