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Billie's paw

Viennese Furbabies

Viennese Furbabies

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At the moment the piggies really keep me busy. Unfortunatley, Billie has got a sore paw. And since things like these take a long time to heal (or to prevent them from getting worse), we are facing a marathon treatment.
Billie had a sore spot for quite a while but I always had the impression that it was a rather stable condition. Billie hated the cream being applied to her paw twice a day, but that seemed to work all right.

But then it got worse pretty quickly (or I missed something :soz:) and when I noticed the extend I wasn't only shocked and blamed myself for missing this - it was also the time not only my usual vet, but also the specialist vet was on holiday. So I had to decide between going to a vet I didn't know or to start treating according to the text book. That's something I don't do under normal circumstances. But I was really afraid of what would happen if I waited another week before starting the treatment. So I did it.

Last Wednesday Billie had her vet appointement and I was really relieved that my vet said that I had done the right thing and I should continue with this treatment.
Billie isn't very pleased. She hated the cream, now she hates her paw baths even more. But she is a sweet little angel at home (the vet said that she was quite furious when being checked through). ;)
billie_bad.webp

I also had to change the bedding to fleece which I really hate. :eek: But it can't be helped.
Here you can see our 'new' cage.
fleecebedding.webp
I spent a small fortune on 'Pipi-Pads' (made of fleece and an absorbant layer) and my washing machine seems to run all the time that I'm home, because 5 piggies really do their best to keep everything moist and full of beans. :blink:
And everything has to be clean and dry for Billie's paw.

Apart from all the work cleaning and washing and Billie's treatment it is hard to live with the fact that I could have prevented this from happening if I had been more observant. But it is really hard to check the underside of the paw, even using a mirrow. It probaly took the turn for the worse when I let it slip a little bit in the days after my second covid shot, but of course that's no excuse. :(

So I really hope that Billie's paw won't take a turn for the worse.
She is quite happy by the way, except during bath time. Just watching her, you would't notice anything, no limping, no signs of pain or eating less or anything.
 
Sorry to hear that, I hope Billie's paw gets better sooner than you expect.
The photo of her with her paw in the paw bath is one of the cutest guinea pig photos I've ever seen 😍🤕
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
At the moment the piggies really keep me busy. Unfortunatley, Billie has got a sore paw. And since things like these take a long time to heal (or to prevent them from getting worse), we are facing a marathon treatment.
Billie had a sore spot for quite a while but I always had the impression that it was a rather stable condition. Billie hated the cream being applied to her paw twice a day, but that seemed to work all right.

But then it got worse pretty quickly (or I missed something :soz:) and when I noticed the extend I wasn't only shocked and blamed myself for missing this - it was also the time not only my usual vet, but also the specialist vet was on holiday. So I had to decide between going to a vet I didn't know or to start treating according to the text book. That's something I don't do under normal circumstances. But I was really afraid of what would happen if I waited another week before starting the treatment. So I did it.

Last Wednesday Billie had her vet appointement and I was really relieved that my vet said that I had done the right thing and I should continue with this treatment.
Billie isn't very pleased. She hated the cream, now she hates her paw baths even more. But she is a sweet little angel at home (the vet said that she was quite furious when being checked through). ;)
View attachment 183705

I also had to change the bedding to fleece which I really hate. :eek: But it can't be helped.
Here you can see our 'new' cage.
View attachment 183707
I spent a small fortune on 'Pipi-Pads' (made of fleece and an absorbant layer) and my washing machine seems to run all the time that I'm home, because 5 piggies really do their best to keep everything moist and full of beans. :blink:
And everything has to be clean and dry for Billie's paw.

Apart from all the work cleaning and washing and Billie's treatment it is hard to live with the fact that I could have prevented this from happening if I had been more observant. But it is really hard to check the underside of the paw, even using a mirrow. It probaly took the turn for the worse when I let it slip a little bit in the days after my second covid shot, but of course that's no excuse. :(

So I really hope that Billie's paw won't take a turn for the worse.
She is quite happy by the way, except during bath time. Just watching her, you would't notice anything, no limping, no signs of pain or eating less or anything.
Click to expand...

All the best!

Bumblefoot (pododermatitis) can quickly develop from a small sore to an open infection. Because it depends on what bug or germ has got into the skin, there is no single treatment that will work for all cases but there is a range of treatment options.

Guinea Lynx :: Pododermatitis
 
Hope it clears up soon Billie. Tell your slave not to blame themselves. We are all just doing our very best. Sometimes life gets busy.
 
Aw poor little Billie, I hope her foot gets better soon. Please don’t be so hard on yourself, you are very caring and your piggies have a lovely life x
Just out of curiosity what is the treatment in the bowl?
 
Poor Billie. Please don’t blame yourself. I doubt very much if we all check our piggies’ feet daily. I tend to do it when claw clipping or if there’s an issue (like someone starts limping) so I’m sure you have picked up whatever the problem is as soon as you could really be expected to do so. Hugs to you both.
 
Thank you all!
If Billie would have been limping, I would have noticed sooner. :blink:

The paw bath is with Betaisodona solution, diluted 1:10 approx.
I don't know if this is used in the UK. It's an antiseptic solution that covers a number of different pathogens.
I'm not sure if it would work with a piggy less patient than Billie.
 
I hope the foot baths help. My elderly pig, Hadley (in my avatar picture) developed bumblefoot in her older age. It kind of cropped up seemingly out of nowhere. We also treated with foot soaks and antibiotic cream and although it never completely cleared, it did improve noticeably before she passed at 6.5 years for seemingly unrelated reasons. At any rate, she never limped and seemed to go about a normal piggie life the whole time, although she also hated foot soaks and cream!
 
Freela said:
I hope the foot baths help. My elderly pig, Hadley (in my avatar picture) developed bumblefoot in her older age. It kind of cropped up seemingly out of nowhere. We also treated with foot soaks and antibiotic cream and although it never completely cleared, it did improve noticeably before she passed at 6.5 years for seemingly unrelated reasons. At any rate, she never limped and seemed to go about a normal piggie life the whole time, although she also hated foot soaks and cream!
Click to expand...
Did you have to continue the foot soaks for the rest of Hadley's live?
Billie is really not going to be amused. :no:
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
Thank you all!
If Billie would have been limping, I would have noticed sooner. :blink:

The paw bath is with Betaisodona solution, diluted 1:10 approx.
I don't know if this is used in the UK. It's an antiseptic solution that covers a number of different pathogens.
I'm not sure if it would work with a piggy less patient than Billie.
Click to expand...
Hope lovely Billie gets better soon. He is a good boy isn’t he :wub:
 
Billie's paw was getting a little better with all the treatment, not great, but I felt it was stable. My vet checked it two weeks ago, said that I did everything I could do. She did suggest a different cream that I use(d) ... and now the paw is getting worse again. :(
I know that there is no easy cure for bumblefoot but I'm really down at the moment. 😖

Billie still seems to be totally uneffected by the situation. She lost a little weight at the beginning but after the first four weeks I switched from bath + cream to cream alone which she tolerates much better - and the weight loss has stopped.
Her appetite ist perfect and she moves around as usual (she never was the sporty type). The paw doesn't seem to hurt her but she is on a low dose of metacam due to arthose in the knees.
 
Seems ages you've been doing the treatment, no wonder you're feeling fed up 😕 I hope the end is in sight with her recovery. Glad beautiful Billie is keeping her spirits and weight up.
 
Sorry to hear that Billie’s paw isn’t as good as it could be.
Maybe one of the health experts who has experienced bumble foot may be able to help.
@Wiebke

Holding you in my thoughts
 
I remember someone used Epsom Salts? Hope Billie’s little paws gets better soon x
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
Billie's paw was getting a little better with all the treatment, not great, but I felt it was stable. My vet checked it two weeks ago, said that I did everything I could do. She did suggest a different cream that I use(d) ... and now the paw is getting worse again. :(
I know that there is no easy cure for bumblefoot but I'm really down at the moment. 😖

Billie still seems to be totally uneffected by the situation. She lost a little weight at the beginning but after the first four weeks I switched from bath + cream to cream alone which she tolerates much better - and the weight loss has stopped.
Her appetite ist perfect and she moves around as usual (she never was the sporty type). The paw doesn't seem to hurt her but she is on a low dose of metacam due to arthose in the knees.
Click to expand...

I am ever so sorry; bumblefoot depends very much upon what bug has got into the skin and also how strong the immune system and blood circulation is as the worst affected piggies in good care tend to be very often the older citizens with mobility issues and weakening defences. :(

Has your vet tried antibiotics and/or Epsom salts?

Here is a link to possible bumblefoots treatments, which you may want to discuss with your vet. Guinea Lynx :: Pododermatitis
 
Thank you all!
It's just so frustrating that nothing really seems to work. I don't mind long term treatment, but if it doesn't get better I'm really scared of loosing Billie. And I feel that I'm letting her down in the big way.

The specialist vet I usually turn to for advice just says that Billie should loose weight and to bath with mallow tea (I hope that's the right translation for the ever so much loved by Austrian vets Käspappeltee - I can't even smell it any more). But I feel that the bathing isn't really working and it stresses Billie so much.
And my usual vet says that nothing will work really and there isn't much more that I can do.
I know there is no miracle cure and I read everything I could find about it, also talked to friends who are experienced keepers, but I really wish for the magical wand (don't we all sometimes).

Sorry to go on about it. I know there are many piggies on the forum who are much sicker than Billie. Just needed to let off a bit of steam...
Now I'll look after Billie's paw again and start with the weekly full service cage cleaning.
 
When Pretty Patsy had bumblefoot I gave her foot spa treatment twice a day until it cleared up. This was a tablespoon of Epsom salts in 300ml of water for 5 minutes then 3 minutes in plain water to wash the salt off then towel dried her and rubbed F10 cream into her feet. The vet also prescribed Metacam. I put vetbed in the hutch so that she was walking on soft shag pile carpet.
 
Käspappel for wild mallow (malva silvestris) is a new one for me but my roots are in very different parts of the German speaking area where there are major regional differences in vocabulary.

I would go back to the first cream and then try others from there. Treating bumblefoot can be very much a process of trial and error finding the things that work best, if necessary in combination.
It can be very dispiriting when you hit a dead end.

HUGS
 
Wiebke said:
Käspappel for wild mallow (malva silvestris) is a new one for me but my roots are in very different parts of the German speaking area where there are major regional differences in vocabulary.

I would go back to the first cream and then try others from there. Treating bumblefoot can be very much a process of trial and error finding the things that work best, if necessary in combination.
It can be very dispiriting when you hit a dead end.

HUGS
Click to expand...
Thank you, I will do that.
 
So today we had another shocking moment with Billie's paw. :(
It started to bleed really bad.

This has happened before a few times, but only with tiny drops of blood to be found in the cage. It seemed to bleed more at the end of summer, before I switched from bathing twice a day to cleaning alone. Last week was the first time it started to bleed more heavily, but nothing compared to today.
Luckily I got it to stop after what felt like an hour (didn't take this long of course). But what to do about it on a Sunday when you only go to a vet with a guinea pig in Vienna if there is no other option?
I reached the specialist vet via WhatsApp and he encouraged me to put a bandage on Billie's paw. So I gave it a try. I had watched a video by Saskia a few days ago and found a German Website with a step to step tutorial. And it really worked. I would have preferred being shown by a vet, but since that never happened (even though I asked about it), I had to try it in my own. Luckily my mum came around to help with holding Billie.
20211205_224554.webp
Billie is a real sweetheart. The bandage is still in place 5 hours later and Billie moves around without showing any signs of distress.
20211205_224613.webp
I really hope that I didn't do it too tight, but I hope that she would show this by trying to get rid of it. If you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't guess just watching her. Hopefully, that's a good sign.
 
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