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Is this bumblefoot?

Nooberdog

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi! My Hippo has had foot spurs for probably a few years now. They were never too bad and I tried to moisturize his feet as much as I could when I would put coconut oil on him occasionally. Hippos feet *seemed* fine a few weeks ago when I clipped his nails and again when I was holding him a few nights before. His foot was hard but I thought it was just a spur and/or old age making his feet rough. Is this bumblefoot? What should I do for hippo to make him feel better? I have a vet appointment next week but would like something I can do for him in the meantime. It does not seem to be painful for him. I have attached an imagine here (apologies if imgur isn't allowed): Picture
 
Welcome to the Forum :wel:

Unfortunately his foot looks quite bad and as it is an open wound he really needs to see a vet sooner rather than later.
The whole time it is left untreated he is at risk of infection.
Is it possible to reschedule the appointment and have him seen sooner?
A week is really too long to wait.
 
:agr: Your piggy really does need to see a vet as a matter of urgency. That must be incredibly painful for him, remember piggies are prey animals and very good at hiding pain.
 
Welcome to the Forum :wel:

Unfortunately his foot looks quite bad and as it is an open wound he really needs to see a vet sooner rather than later.
The whole time it is left untreated he is at risk of infection.
Is it possible to reschedule the appointment and have him seen sooner?
A week is really too long to wait.
Thank you! I have called another vet and got an appointment for this afternoon. His other foot has a hard spot on it too so I'm scared his other foot gets a big wound like this in a few days. I will post an update on what he/she says after my appointment!
 
That's good news that your piggy is getting to see the vet today. :)
 
That's good news that your piggy is getting to see the vet today. :)
Yes! I wouldn't have considered bumping the appointment up until you guys said it looked really bad and should be considered urgent! Thanks for the advice!
 
Yes! I wouldn't have considered bumping the appointment up until you guys said it looked really bad and should be considered urgent! Thanks for the advice!
Well done - hopefully with the correct treatment it will clear up quickly.
You clearly are a very committed owner and your piggy is lucky to have you.
 
Hi!

Glad your can see a vet promptly! That looks very sore; I assume that a scab has come off. All the best!

Unfortunately overcreaming of feet can make them very soft and more vulnerable to little injuries/rips in the skin than if they had harder skin. It can have the opposite effect to what you intended; you are not the only well-meaning owner falling into this trap.
Unlike us humans, guinea pigs don't wear slippers on their soft feet!
 
Hi!

Glad your can see a vet promptly! That looks very sore; I assume that a scab has come off. All the best!

Unfortunately overcreaming of feet can make them very soft and more vulnerable to little injuries/rips in the skin than if they had harder skin. It can have the opposite effect to what you intended; you are not the only well-meaning owner falling into this trap.
Unlike us humans, guinea pigs don't wear slippers on their soft feet!
I never knew that, thank you! My other pigs feet seem to be fine, he isnt a skinny so I never had the need to give him coconut rubs. Perhaps this caused some issues! I actually rubbed coconut on hippo's grease gland, feet, and ears (they are very dry) on Tuesday, the day before I noticed his feet :hmm::hmm:
 
I thought I would post an update regarding Hippo's vet appointment today. The vet did confirm it is Bumblefoot. She gave his feet a good wash. Last night there was a scabbed part of his foot that peeled off, but it seems to have "glued" itself back into place. The vet didn't want to remove the scabbing as she said it looks like it is trying to heal itself and didn't want the wound exposed.

I was told to give Hippo an Epsom salt bath at least once a day. I have read some conflicting info on this online, any thoughts? I was given baytril and rheumocam until the wounds heal themself for pain management and to prevent infection. I was also given derma gel for his dry ears. She thinks his dry ears are sunburn (their cage is infront ofna window and hippo enjoys sunbathing in the rays). I am going to move the cage away from the window today.
 
Another question, does anybody know of the ratio I should have epsom salt to water? I dont want to put too much or too little.
 
I thought I would post a little update regarding Hippo. His feet are doing well! The foot that I included in my original post looks fabulous. His other foot started scabbing over as well but its looking not too bad. Hippo seems to really enjoy his daily feet soaks. I make sure to rinse his feet off afterwards as I read that epsom salt can irritate the eyes. I will try getting some pictures of his feet tomorrow to show his progress.

Regarding medication prescribed, Hippo also enjoys that. I mix it with some 100% carrot juice as the meds are unflavored. One thing I am concerned about is Hippo's weight. Last Monday he was 870 grams and he is now 850, it seems like a lot to lose and I weigh him at the same time. I have started giving him critical care in hopes to make his weight rise a little. Anything else I can do for his weight?
 
Thank you for updating and it is great to her Hippo is doing better.
It is good you are keeping an eye on his weight, and while he is on medication I would switch to daily weighing to get a better idea of how things are going.
A 20 gram loss in a week is not really concerning though - it is simply the difference between a full and an empty bladder.

However baytril can be a bit tough on their stomachs, so giving a probiotic will help.
Also if he does seem to be consistently loosing weight then topping him up with Critical Care is fine.
 
I have weighed Hippo again and his weight was at 880 grams, I must have weighed him on an empty stomach.

Anywho, I am posting as I would like some more advice regarding Hippo. The scab on his foot (in the original post) fully came off, I am assuming it got loose from the epsom salt baths. With no scab protecting the wound, I am scared it gets infected. Should I wrap his foot? Give him more epsom salt baths to clean it out? I will attach a picture below. Its not really clear and my battery was low so no flash, it looks bad but it personally looks better than it was last week.

When I had Hippo for his bath out tonight he kept making sounds of pain. His feet are really irritating him and he walks quite gingerly. Whenever we touched him he would let out a whimper, which is pretty unusual. I also noticed that he was pooping a lot when I had him out. I would say 15-20 poops in 20 minutes. I know pigs poop a lot but I have never seen this much. The poops looked fine in shape and color, but I noticed a lot of his poops were half-hanging out. They eventually came out, but most of them seemed to have an issue coming out swiftly... any thoughts on this? I am thinking he is in pain and doesn't have the energy to "force" his poops out properly?
 

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Thank you for updating and it is great to her Hippo is doing better.
It is good you are keeping an eye on his weight, and while he is on medication I would switch to daily weighing to get a better idea of how things are going.
A 20 gram loss in a week is not really concerning though - it is simply the difference between a full and an empty bladder.

However baytril can be a bit tough on their stomachs, so giving a probiotic will help.
Also if he does seem to be consistently loosing weight then topping him up with Critical Care is fine.
Thanks for replying! Do you have any recommendations on probiotics?
 
Hippos vet called not too long ago and asked how his foot is doing. I explained to her that the scab fell off and his wound is now exposed. She advised me to stop the feet soaks and see if the foot starts scabbing and to cal her back on Friday if no improvement. I just feel really bad for hippo in the meantime, he is obviously in pain when he walks..
 
I also noticed that he was pooping a lot when I had him out.
1. I once had a girl who drank a very small amount of her Epsom salts footbath and it gave her extremely squishy poops for the next 48 hours - it's a laxative!
2. If you are sure he's not had a little sip it might just be the baytril upsetting his tummy a little bit. We've used a probiotic called bio-lapis but it comes as a powder and the instructions say to put it up in a drinking water bottle... well I don't like to do that but I mix a little bit into some mushed pellets and that seems to go down well enough. You give it at a different time to the antibiotic though. Or some people make a 'poop-soup' with the poops of a healthy cage-mate and a little of this can be added to some mushed pellets instead.
3. My boar occasionally gets a little bit impacted when he is stressed - this is where the soft caecotrophs get kind of bound up with the normal poops and cause a bit of a problem. You can tell if you carefully sit him up ( a bit like a baby) and his anal sack is bulging like he's about to lay an egg... he might be! A bit of manual manipulation to unblock and he's fine again. Worth a check.

I will say too that Daisy was walking quite gingerly after she'd sipped her footbath - it turned out she had a crusty undercarriage (and probably a bit of bellyache) but that would be much easier to spot in a skinny pig! It's proving to be a long road for you - but those feet are looking better, not worse, so you're going in the right direction. Old Daisy was very prone to a bumble on one particular foot and our vet said it might be to do with her arthritis affecting movement and circulation. Good luck ☺
 
@Free Ranger Thanks for your reply! I never knew that epsom salt was a laxative. I will make sure to watch extra carefully next bath! I have never heard of a poop-soup but it sounds pretty neat 😆I will try looking for that product you mentioned though.

His poops seem to be coming out less frequently and aren’t getting stuck anymore today thankfully! I think he was probably stressed like you mentioned with your boar. One plus for sure with skinny pigs is how easy it is to see lumps/scratches/dirt etc for sure 😉
Thanks for sharing stories and experience regarding your piggies!
 
Hello 👋!
I have attached some pictures of Hippo’s front feet. BOTH of them have opened up as of last night but today they are looking pretty OK I would say. The wounds look open but they have a clear scab (maybe not the right word) forming over it. Hippo seems so much more active compared to last night and even this morning. Hopefully they continue to heal at a quick pace!

apologies for the poor image quality! I took the pictures without help haha
 

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I’m unsure how to proceed with Hippo’s feet honestly! His feet scabbed beautifully for a bit, I was so pleased. Today I took him out and the scabs on one of his feet is starting to peel off, and will soon reveal a big wound like there was originally. I was doing the feet soaks every day but am starting to do every other day. I’m wondering if I should be wrapping his feet to prevent the scabs from peeling off and revealing a wound? Now that it is winter months driving on the highway to Hippos vet (that has exotic speciality) is quite undoable, the closest is a cat vet who I’ve been to before and has no idea about pig, so if his feet get bad again I may be out of luck. Does wrapping his feet sound like a good idea?
 
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