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Infected feet?

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Zofia

Zofia

Junior Guinea Pig
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Babe's back feet are a little swollen and red (looks like blisters, the skin condition is unchanged). The vet said she's got a skin infection and put her on Baytril.

She hasn't had any injury to her feet that I've noticed and she's housed on megazorb.

Any ideas why this has happened and if the baytril will clear it? Is there anything else I can be doing?
 
My girls feet have gone a little red and sore due to them being lazy and not using their litter trays, two days using perfect paws from gorgeous guineas and they are back to normal. I would take a picture and email it to chrissy and she will tell you which paw ointment you need.

Hope you manage to get their tootsies sorted quickly!
 
Thanks.

I have some perfect paws but the vet told me not to use it at the mo because it softens the skin and she's worried the infected bit will burst.
 
I'm sorry your girl has sore feet. Do you know if there is any pus under the skin, or is it just a "suspected" infection?

Redness on the back feet/hocks is normal, to a degree. Some pigs do develop very dry hocks which can be treated with the Perfect Paws ointment very successfully.

Gorgeous Guineas also sell Happy Soles ointment for pigs with bumblefoot, but the condition is not too common on the hind feet.
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
I'm sorry your girl has sore feet. Do you know if there is any pus under the skin, or is it just a "suspected" infection?

Redness on the back feet/hocks is normal, to a degree. Some pigs do develop very dry hocks which can be treated with the Perfect Paws ointment very successfully.

Gorgeous Guineas also sell Happy Soles ointment for pigs with bumblefoot, but the condition is not too common on the hind feet.
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The vet thinks there is pus. I think I agree from looking at Babe's feet - the skin is soft, perfect foot skin with no dry bits or scabs but there is definite swelling and redness. I don't think the swelling is caused by external aggravation, it looks much more likely that there is something going on underneath.
 
It sounds possible. I had a pig diagnosed with degenerative joint disease, a condition where the joint becomes infected and pus builds up. Her symptoms were much the same as your Babe's, although she had black skin so any redness was undetectable. If I remember rightly, she was put on Baytril and Rimadyl, although due to hyperthyroid problems her medication had to be adjusted and she had other difficulties.

Is she able to walk comfortably?
 
Yes, she's walking fine. Could it be blistering from excessive running about on the megazorb? I introduced a new pig just over a week ago and there was some frantic chasing going on at first.

I'm going back to the vet on Wednesday. It did seem a little better yesterday than on Friday when I took her to the vet - that's after 2 days of baytril.
 
Megazorb has no adverse effect, it is too soft.
Bumblefoot can produce either pus and/or the products of tissue breakdown, as seen in DJD.
The condition is difficult to treat at this stage. If the swelling does burst clean the area with sterile saline solution, as sold for cleaning contact lenses.
 
Continued;

In a case of DJD the bones involved in the joint are destroyed to a greater or lesser extent.
I will xray a joint with this condition but that is more for interest than as an aid to any treatment.
Sometimes small pieces of detached bone can be found in the area of the "abscess".
I have seen pigs where joint has been completely destroyed and the foot is only attached to the leg by the muscles and the skin.
 
The vet said yesterday that the soreness and infection were probably caused by sitting on wet bedding.

I feel awful - I thought I was doing a good job with them all. She does sit in the place where she pees sometimes, but she usually sleeps in her hammock, away from the bedding, and they have hay on top of the megazorb.

I'm wondering if there's a problem with the bag of megazorb I've been using because one of the rabbits has got a sore hock too and we have thought a few times that the megazorb in the bag felt wet but assumed it was just cold because I keep it in the garage.

I fee; terrible that this could be my fault. :(
 
Babe's feet are now better, but Eric's are starting to look bad. :(

I started the new bag of megazorb yesterday and I'm going to keep a really close eye to make sure it's not damp/dirty. I'm hoping it was just a bad batch of megazorb and it will clear up soon.

I'm going to start antiseptic cream on Eric's feet tonight. He had bad feet when he was in the rescue and the cream cleared it up so I'm hoping they'll get better quite quickly.

Do some pigs have a tendency to bad feet? (I don't think it's bumblefoot btw, it's on their back feet)
 
Good to hear Babe's feet are now fine, not so good that poor Eric has sore seet now though!

A degree of redness is normal on the hocks/back feet, and I tend to notice that those pigs with consistently red hocks are not very active pigs; so to a degree, some pigs may be prone to sore feet.

When I adopted Delilah and Sophia from Sophie (GPRN), Sophia had very red, dry hocks. Two weeks of daily Perfect Paws applications and they cleared up and have been just fine ever since. Delilah had a hard, callusy growth on her foot which broke down and came off (and didn't come back) after around 3 weeks of daily applications.
 
Most skin creams, whatever the brand, will have the same effect. I tend to use Aloe Vera ointment on the feet of those pigs with hard skin, it is readily available and cheap to buy.
 
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