Polydactyly questions?

[kellyw1991]

Hello,

I recently posted on the introductions but I thought it would be better to ask in this thread.

One of the rescue girls has what seems to be an extra two on both rear feet. I straight away looked this up and realised its quite common especially in the abyssinian breed but more often than not is a result of inbreeding when the piggy is not of the abyssinian breed.

My questions arn't really about the polydactyly but about the nails on these extra toes, if you can really call them nails. They are actually hard dark blobs that I am assuming are nails. Are these even nails?

The toes are not attached to the foot at all. They freely move around the foot and the poor girl doesn't act like she is in any discomfort. Are these toes at risk of tearing? Would it be kinder to allow the vet to take them off? Are there any other ways?

I have really taken to all three of these guineas and I will do my very best by them. Obviously if I thought they were sick I would take them to the vet straight away but I don't know how to go about things as I have not had any experience with polydactyly and different internet sources give different advice.

Thank you to anyone who replies

 

[Lizzie]

not sure what the smiley is where you've put 'more often a result of...' but it's not a result of in-b***ding, I have a peru sow who has an extra toe, and she certainly wasn't inbred. They are very common in a lot of breeds.

depending on how much skin there is attaching it to the foot you can either snip it off yourself, or tie a piece of thread around and the toe should drop off in a few days. Alternatively you can pay your vet an extortionate amount to do exactly the same thing. If it is quite firmly attached then you can leave it be, she may get it caught on a run or in her hutch and remove it herself.

 

[kellyw1991]

not sure what the smiley is where you've put 'more often a result of...' but it's not a result of in-b***ding, I have a peru sow who has an extra toe, and she certainly wasn't inbred. They are very common in a lot of breeds.

depending on how much skin there is attaching it to the foot you can either snip it off yourself, or tie a piece of thread around and the toe should drop off in a few days. Alternatively you can pay your vet an extortionate amount to do exactly the same thing. If it is quite firmly attached then you can leave it be, she may get it caught on a run or in her hutch and remove it herself.

Ahh yes it was meant to say 'in-b***ding'. I got the information from a website so I will remember now that it can happen.

Would the snipping or thread hurt at all? I used to go to college on a farm and I remember them 'tying' the tails of newborn lambs which didn't hurt.

I will let her settle for a bit and have a look to see how much skin it is attached by. If they are attached by alot of skin I will take her to the vets. I would hate her to tear it off as I would imagine that would hurt quite alot.

 

[Lizzie]

it's essentially the same thing as tying a lamb tail, you're just restricting blood flow to the extra limb which will die over the course of a few days and drop off. Sniping it...I've not done it myself, as the one on my sow is too thick, but I've heard they barely bat an eyelid when it's done - most people normally do it when they're babies.

The one on my sow is about 1-2mm thick, to give you some idea, and is that width all the way round.

 

[kellyw1991]

Ahh I see. I have just checked and the skin holding it on is very thin, so thin that the toe just slops around. I would say it is around 1mm thick but it is thinner on two sides like it has been squashed.

I also found out that the black nail is infact droppings and took them off to reveal a very sharp and rounded nail so I will definately trim those. The rest of the nails look good even on the other two.

 

[Lizzie]

I'd tie it, it'll either drop off or it won't and it definitely won't hurt her.

 

[kellyw1991]

I think that sounds like the best idea as it really is not attached by much and I know it won't hurt her.

What kind of thread should I use? I know enough to tie it tight enough to stop circulation as they do on lambs. Will ordinary sewing thread be okay? Shes going to sleep on my lap now, bless her so shes quite relaxed at the moment.

 

[Lizzie]

Yeah, cotton thread will do the job, you just have to make sure that the cotton comes off when the toe has dropped off. Tie it as tight as you can.

 

[kellyw1991]

I will let her settle tonight and tie it tomorrow morning so that she doesn't associate me holding her with fiddling with her toes

I will keep this thread updated with how it goes. Thank you for all your help

 

[daftscotslass]

Please, please, PLEASE do not advise people to do this at home. This sort of DIY vet advice could go seriously wrong. Some of these toes have live blood vessels and advising people to cut it off could be DEADLY. Tying off may or may not be appropriate - only a vet is qualified to diagnose this, not a member of the forum who has NEVER seen the animal before.

You need to take the pig to the vet who will assess whether or not the toe has a blood supply and what would be the best course of action, extortionate charge or not.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I can only reitterate what Daftscotslass has said. Please do NOT attempt this DIY procedure. Please take your piggie to a vet and get proper advice. You could be endangering the life of your pet by following advice like this from someone off a forum who has no veterinary qualification nor has seen your guinea pig.

 

[piggyfan]

What happened? How is the little one?

 

[kellyw1991]

I took the little girl to the vets yesterday and as I really didn't want him to just snip it off (I know, I know but I was really worried) he tied them for me with some kind of surgical string and gave me loads of advice as well as a free health check for the other two piggies He said it could take anything from a week to 12 days and gave me some kind of iodine (povidone?) to apply every day to keep it clean. Shes looking very happy and alert and even stole all the veggies this morning.

 

[PopcornPigs]

Nice to hear Hope it goes well.

 

[Guinea pig slave]

Ah, good news
Povidine is used to prevent any bacteria on a wound site - we used to use it in the theatres on op sites when I was a scrub nurse, the smell of that stuff brings back memories of a very hot summer, 1981 :x
Your vet sounds very nice giving free health checks too

 

[piggyfan]

That is great news. Sounds like she is doing so well.

 

[Lizzie]

I can only reitterate what Daftscotslass has said. Please do NOT attempt this DIY procedure. Please take your piggie to a vet and get proper advice. You could be endangering the life of your pet by following advice like this from someone off a forum who has no veterinary qualification nor has seen your guinea pig.

no offence, but you don't have any idea what qualifications I do or do not have!

As for the advice, I said that she could snip it off, not that she should, but that it was an option - but the easiest thing to do would be to tie it, oddly enough exactly what the vet did. And as for endangering the animals life...well, if these toes didn't have blood vessels in them then they would have dropped off within days of birth, and the risks are no more than clipping a toe nail too short, and snipping it off is a much better option then allowing it to become caught in a cage and ripped off. I would not advise someone to do something which I myself am not willing to do, nor something which would endanger any animal, and I would have offered to take a look at it and do it had the OP been closer to me.

Regardless, I'm glad that the guinea has now been sorted out.

 

[daftscotslass]

no offence, but you don't have any idea what qualifications I do or do not have!

As for the advice, I said that she could snip it off, not that she should, but that it was an option - but the easiest thing to do would be to tie it, oddly enough exactly what the vet did. And as for endangering the animals life...well, if these toes didn't have blood vessels in them then they would have dropped off within days of birth, and the risks are no more than clipping a toe nail too short, and snipping it off is a much better option then allowing it to become caught in a cage and ripped off. I would not advise someone to do something which I myself am not willing to do, nor something which would endanger any animal, and I would have offered to take a look at it and do it had the OP been closer to me.

Regardless, I'm glad that the guinea has now been sorted out.

Nobody knows what qualifications you have or don't have and to be honest it's irrelevant because anyone can claim to be anything on the internet.

You need to bear in mind that while you might consider what you said to be an idea not an order, someone else with a similar issue but considerably less experience skims what you wrote and decides that on the basis of someone advising "you can snip if off yourself" that it's the thing to do. Nobody suggested leaving it, so I'm not sure what your point is there.

To the OP - glad you've got it sorted.