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Toe problem

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piglet_and_rogers_mama

piglet_and_rogers_mama

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hello everyone,
I know it's been quite a long time since last the last time I have posted; I hope everyone, and their pigs are doing well! My three have been doing good, until this evening when we went to clip George's nails, and we discovered a problem with a nail and toe-but I'm not sure what exactly it is. The nail itself is turned in more than usual, and it looks black; on closer inspection I think it is blood in the nail. Right below where the nail starts is either a small spur that got torn, or a little cut, not sure what it is (he has had spurs in the past, but not where this is). The toe that it is attached to is swollen, which makes me nervous about an infection. I had him on my lap last night, and I didn't notice this then, so I'm not sure when it happened, or what even caused it. The pictures below are kind of blurry, but hopefully they will kind of show what I mean. I cleaned it up with veterinary antiseptic solution that I had leftover from another pig problem, but I don't know what to do from here. Should he be seen? Anyone else have any similar experiences? Thanks!




 
Hmm, it sounds as though he might have got it caught in something and he's pulled it out. My Ruby, one of her toes is like this and has been since we got her- it doesn't cause her any pain and the vet thought it might have been a birth defect or an old injury .
It doesn't look that red which is what I would expect if it was infected. I would definitely get it checked over at the vets and see what they say. He might need some pain/anti-inflammatory medication to help bring the swelling down.
Hope you get to the bottom of it. X
 
Basil pulled the nail right off in a bizarre accident no one can explain a couple of weeks ago. The vet has prescribed baytril to deal with any infection but it is similarly swollen, not red, just puffy. I have been bathing it in saline (salt added to boiled water and then cooled) once a day. I'd just pop him along to the vet to get it looked at just to be on the safe side ^_^

Hope it gets better soon

~ Amy
 
I checked on him when I woke up, and it looks exactly the same as it did last night. He was walking on it fine, showing no signs of a limp. I'm going to give it a good clean again tonight, and be extra careful about how clean his bedding is. Since i currently am unemployed, my dad is the one who will shell out the money for a vet, he said to give it a day and see how it goes. I guess we'll make a decision on what to do tomorrow. Not an ideal solution, but since it doesn't seem infected, I don't think it will be a huge deal to wait a day. I'll update tomorrow :)
 
Got to the bottom of it, and it's a splinter from their bedding. We pulled it out with tweezers (i HOPE we got it all, but not sure) but I think he's going to need antibiotics. I feel so bad for him. I know it's not a major injury or anything, but I would hate to see him suffer. To the vet I guess...
 
got an appointment for fatty tomorrow evening at a new vet. they have good reviews online, so hopefully it will be a good experience.
p.s. (we call george fatty affectionately, he is just a big boy. not trying to be mean lol, lord knows someone could easily call me fatty too :))
 
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