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sudden flaky swollen feet

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sammy143

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Hi everyone,

I was hoping you could take a look at these photos of Ruby's feet.
I've had her and her sister for two years. They were about 4 months old when we rescued them, and they both had pneumonia, eye infections, and irritated foot pads from dirty bedding. After a few rounds at the vet and LOTS of foot care, they have both been healthy. They have actually had beautiful feet. After carefully washing and caring for their feet for months, I actually became very used to clipping their nails, washing their feet, and putting coconut oil or lanolin on them. I've been so proud of their beautiful, clean, soft, perfectly "pedicured" feet. You can imagine my horror when I checked Ruby's feet today and found them totally inflamed. I couldn't believe it because I just checked her feet four days ago. This condition came on totally suddenly. If someone showed me these pictures, I would think it was a result of months of neglect. I will be heading for the vet ASAP, but I really am curious if anyone has ever seen anything like this before. Also, has anyone ever seen such a nasty looking foot develop in just four days? I feed her Kaytee Timothy Complete Guinea food and lots of timothy hay and veggies. I keep her on pine shavings with a overnight bed pad folded underneath. This does a great job of absorbing moisture quickly. I'm so worried about her, but she doesn't appear to be in any discomfort. I'd really appreciate any advice/encouragement. Thanks for reading.

Sammy

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Please let us know what the vet thinks - It's odd that it's all her feet rather than just one or two, which suggests a reactive condition rather than an infection.

My first thought is an allergic reaction to the bedding - have you changed anything at all? Lavender/lemon scented shavings have been a problem for pigs, also anything with eucalyptus oil (toxic for piggies).

Has she been free ranging on a recently bleached/waxed floor?

A fungal infection (athlete's foot type) would be my next best guess.

Bacterial infection under the skin - but I would expect a lot more soreness.

Sorry I can't be of more help, if the vet cannot think of a reason I would apply some kamilosan cream to sooth the foot and act as a barrier cream to prevent any bacteria taking hold.

Suzy x
 
try a other sort of shavings on the floor, make sure its really soft and fluffy and not one of those that has added smells(lavender/lemon. then put a really good thick layer of hay on top.
 
My immediate reaction would have been an allergy to the bedding too. Let us know what the vet says!
Good luck
 
Harry gets little tootsie problems like this on megazorb. Not as pronounced as your pigtures obviously but his calluses have worsened as well being on megazorb. I posted previously and nobody seemed to have issues withe dry feet and megasorb so I ruled it out. I changed back recently and its hapenned again. SO a bedding reaction sounds likely to me.
Things is megazorb is so obsorbant and Harry being long haired is much much much more hygenic. Before he frequently had uringe on his belly and was wet at his rear. Everytime I check him daily hes white and floofy and all dry, so I'm inclined to maybe manage the feet issue.
Sorry to hog your thread but if you could advise on how to manage these sort of footsie issues Id be gratefully appreciative
 
Thanks

Thank for all the responses. I appreciate your ideas. I agree that since it's on all four feet and all at once so suddenly, it might be a reaction to something she walked on. Nothing comes to mind right now. I haven't changed anything recently/at all. I will keep thinking about what she might have gotten into. We don't use chemicals on our floors, but she was walking out on our lawn the other day. This is nothing unusual, though. We don't spray or use fertilizers, but maybe she wandered into a plant that irritated her feet. I've been using pine over an absorbent pad for over a year now. But maybe she developed an allergy? Have you seen this happen with pine over time? I will let you know what the vet thinks. I'm just shocked at how quickly this came on. Thanks again for your help! :))

Sammy
 
hazeyg said:
Harry gets little tootsie problems like this on megazorb. Not as pronounced as your pigtures obviously but his calluses have worsened as well being on megazorb. I posted previously and nobody seemed to have issues withe dry feet and megasorb so I ruled it out. I changed back recently and its hapenned again. SO a bedding reaction sounds likely to me.
Things is megazorb is so obsorbant and Harry being long haired is much much much more hygenic. Before he frequently had uringe on his belly and was wet at his rear. Everytime I check him daily hes white and floofy and all dry, so I'm inclined to maybe manage the feet issue.
Sorry to hog your thread but if you could advise on how to manage these sort of footsie issues Id be gratefully appreciative
Click to expand...

I'm no expert on foot issues. I know that wet bedding irritates their feet and allows bacteria to grow. So it's really important to keep the bedding dry. I don't have any experience with megazorb. But if the bedding is too drying, then their feet can get irritated and cracked from that too. So I use a layer of very absorbent material (bed pad) and cover it with something less drying. It is really important to keep whatever you use for bedding really clean to keep your pig's feet happy. Also, it's great to moisturize their feet a couple times a week. I love using coconut oil because it keeps their feet soft and it also discourages bacteria. Hope that helps. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone whos pig's feet are flaking off in chunks ?/
 
update

So, here's the update on Ruby's feet. The vet has never seen this foot problem before. But since Ruby doesn't appear to be in pain and her feet aren't infected, we are just planning to keep them very clean and let her body heal. The sudden onset probably means that she came in contact with something that really irritated her poor feet....maybe something in the yard? But the good news is that they are looking much better tonight. The swelling and redness are much better, and much of the skin is just coming off to reveal healthy skin underneath. I sure hope she keeps getting better. I'll post some pics soon to show her progress. Thanks again, everyone, for your concern.
 
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