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Poor Darwin, Never Ending Vet Bills! :(

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Kirsty

Kirsty

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Ok so I no many of you had read all my previous threads on Darwin my guinea pig that after battling with a problem with his gut became all fine again and now has bumble foot, my vet put him on baytril (again) to treat this and said he needs to have a week break of it after his week on baytril! So Darwins been off it for 1 and half weeks now and I have vet appointment booked for Friday, I no my vet is probably just going to put him straight back on baytril as it hasn't cleared at all, I don't really wanna go to another vet because he knows all Darwins history? Just wondering if anyone's got any advice for me, anything I should maybe suggest to my vet on Friday? Anything to help Darwin? he's fine in himself foot just is still bad I'll take a photo tomorrow and post it!
 
Did you take him to Scott's in Bedford to see Natalie? If you don't feel confident in the vet's diagnosis I would try her. Baytril is not the best antibiotic for skin issues & is harsh on their tummies. Tagging @helen105281 & @Pebble as they have more experience re bumblefoot :)
 
A new vet can also request notes from your old vet x
 
It's quite a journey to go to Bedford with a guinea pig in hand! I'm pretty alone when it comes to my guineas pigs no one really helps me out with them and wouldn't drive me there ect! I've changed all there bedding to fleece now though took ages as they live outside, which i was hoping would improve his foot! As I Hoover out there poops everyday and wash the fleece once a week! The vet bills are litrelly leaving me so skint at the moment my last pennies are going on Darwin ever week, not that I'm complaining cos I love my pigs to pieces! Just think the vet prices are rediculous! £25 just for a consultation! argh excuse me I'm just venting some anger lol!
 
I know what you mean, my oldest piggy has cost me around £2000 over the last 18 months :( Unfortunately vet fees are dear & a lot of people think if their pets are small, then their vet bills will be too, sadly untrue lol :) Problem is if your vet is not used to treating GPs then this will be a false economy as you will need to find an exotics vet or one more experienced in GPs as time goes on. Your follow-up consult should be a bit cheaper though :)
 
Wow! £2000 is a lot! I hope it doesn't come to that much with mine! also, do you no the average weight a guinea pig should be? As I see many pictures of pigs and mine look so much bigger! I even ordered large cosies for them and they couldn't fit in them so tend to just sit ontop! These are my three pigs, speckles, max and Darwin image.webpimage.webp image.webp
 
Gorgeous piggies! Not sure what the average weight is, my VEP (Very Expensive Piggy) is a whopping 1.4 kg but she is a Rex breed which are known to be a bit bigger than the average pig lol :)
 
i took on an elderly piggy with bumblefoot & i think hers were caused by possible heart issues & previously not the best hygiene standards for her hutch, but i used Gorgeous guineas foot lotion/ balm- i cant remember the exact name for it but if you telephone them, they will advise you of the correct one to use.

i soaked her foot for about 10mins in (boiled but cooled to) tepid water with about half a teaspoon of epsom salts dissolved into it, i then poured it into a clean lid like a marmite lid (wide but shallow).
The idea was taken from an old peter gurney book i think.... not sure it may have been "piggy potions" by him.

keeinig her occupied with favourite foodstuff in front of her, gently supporting securing her foot in place (with a free but soggy hand) massaging her foot pad when possible in the solution.
i then dried her feet with a clean lint free towel, usually patting dry with kitchen towel & then massaged the gorgeous guineas foot balm in.

it was 2 or 3 times a day i would do this, all according as to time restraints & the pus filled hole seemed to reduce in size &contents when the scab soaked off.
you do however have to make sure the feet are scrupulously cleaning with an open wound &bathe regularly.

After 10/14 days her feet were clearing up nicely (she was kept on shredded paper bedding in her hutch outside-although other soft clean beddings such as fleece,vetbed or towels etc can be used). unfortunately due to her age &other health issues (probably connected with her heart, although its only because f this forum i'm now aware of this) she passed away.

Aww your pigs are gorgeous:love::love::love: ... Boys are often more weighty than the girls with guinea pigs anyway, but my Grace is tipping the scales normally at about 1400g (my Big Honker baby)& Ellie is about 1200g so its all a bit of a personal thing per piggy, the same as us humans.... some of us are chunky(me).... some of us are not- just luck of the draw on genetics generally i think, Small portions of nuggets, variety of daily veg & copious amounts of hay are also the way to go :tu:

Is darwin the piggy at the bottom? might be worth trimming his nails back a little if this is a recent photo? Nails that are quite long can cause piggies to walk a bit awkwardly which doesn't help bumblefoot either.

Its a good job i have to girls or the pignapping jacket would be coming out!

xx
 
My last guinea pig Smokey had a slight bumble foot on his back paw. I soaked his foot in a cholrex solution for 5 min, rinsed with water, and made sure it was dry. When it was an open wound, I wrapped his foot in non-stick gauze and some vet tape. I wrapped it only during the time there was an open wound. He was on baytril for about 5 days, but it took a total of 3 weeks to get better and go away. If he does have gut problems, I gave my piggie a probiotic for guinea pigs. It seemed to help my baby.

I agree with GPTV as well, the epsom salts and nail clipping is a great idea. Good luck and I hope he gets better.

They are very adorable and are definitely larger then any piggie I have had, but that just means more piggie to cuddle :)
 
For Bumblefoot I have used a Hibiscrub soak and a steroid lotion called Zymox which is meant for ears but does help Bumblefoot. The reason to see a better vet though is so you can get to the bottom of what is causing it. Both my pigs who had Bumblefoot (Nigel and Fuzzy) were and are heart pigs.
 
Thank you all for your advice, I have searched a new vet that is local to me and they have more vets that have experience with small animals! and there cheaper for consultations too! Fantastic! with regards to Darwins foot, could I just boil some hot water and let it cool, then add some table salt to it? I'm abit useless when it comes to different types of salts and all that malarkey!

Thank you my piggies are very plump but cute! I like to think there just big boned lol Darwins teo nails have been recently trimmed from this photo :)

Speaking of piggies this is max laying on my lap now lol he doesn't like being held much he's abit scatty but I try to anyway! He has quite a lot of Greece at the back of his bum I no that's because he's a boy but should I get rid of it? And how if so? He has quite a lot of it! could be why he doesn't get alog with my other pigs! image.webp
 
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