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Billie's paw

Today Billie had her checkup appointment ... finally. We had to pospone it three times. 🙈

But the specialist vet was extremely pleased with the look of Billie's paw and leg.
Of course it is still swollen, but it doesn't look like the beginning of desaster. The missing nail didn't bother him at all.
Billie is still on long term baytril, but I should try to reduce the metacam. We will see what Billie has to say about that. Though at the moment we are using Loxicom ... and Billie doesn't like it much.

I could even try to switch back to our usual bedding. That would be phantastic. But I'm not sure if I should really risk it ... or if it will make Billie's paw worse again.

But for now I'm just happy that my sweet red girl is doing good. 🥳:D:wub:
 
Thank you!
Since the leg looks a bit more swollen than last weekend, Billie is on "Metacam" again. At the moment it's the Loxicom version. Unfortunately Billie isn't too keen on Loxicom.
But Bonny would have volunteered to help. ;)
 
StayGold86 said:
What kinda of bedding is she on? Should be fleece no matter what. How often do you sweep it in a single day?
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Fleece is one option of bedding but doesn't work for everyone or every pig. There is no one right way to line piggies cages. Also this member is very experienced and clearly says in the first post that they are on fleece. Please make sure you read threads to ensure you have all the information already provided before asking questions and dishing out further advice
 
Lady Kelly said:
Fleece is one option of bedding but doesn't work for everyone or every pig. There is no one right way to line piggies cages. Also this member is very experienced and clearly says in the first post that they are on fleece. Please make sure you read threads to ensure you have all the information already provided before asking questions and dishing out further advice
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:agr:
 
Poor Billie, hope your little foot is better soon.
My rainbow 🌈bridge piggy Angel also had a lost for nail. It never grew back, but it didn't seem to bother him.
Sending hugs.xx
 
Lady Kelly said:
Fleece is one option of bedding but doesn't work for everyone or every pig. There is no one right way to line piggies cages. Also this member is very experienced and clearly says in the first post that they are on fleece. Please make sure you read threads to ensure you have all the information already provided before asking questions and dishing out further advice
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:agr: This is a long standing thread by a very experienced owner about a particularly difficult condition to manage. @StayGold86 if you are going to step in and offer advice on any thread please ensure that you have read the thread in its entirety otherwise your post will at best risk being irrelevant and at worst risk causing offence to an extremely attentive owner.
 
Sorry, did not mean to be confrontational. I did read the thread and I thought the owner had switched back and forth between fleece and something else. I wasn't sure if she was still on fleece. Either way though, I'll be more careful. Hope Billie gets better. Owner is doing a great job!
 
Whenever Billie's paw got better in the last months, there always came the point when it started to get worse again with the same kind of treatment. And I'm afraid we are starting to go down this road again. So far not much has happened, but I think the paw is gradually getting worse again. :(

I must confess that I'm pretty worried about Billie at the moment though there isn't anything that I can put my finger on.
After cutting back on the metacam on my vet's advice Billie started to loose a bit of weight. Her leg also looked more swollen. So Billie was put back on Metacam and her weight is stable at the moment. The leg is less swollen, but I'm not sure if the remaining swelling doesn't feel harder than it used to.
Billie is back at the vet for a checkup on the 24th.

Her appetite is fine and she is running around with the rest of the group at feeding times. But she does smell stronger than I like her to smell. If she would be still living on our usual bedding I would be able to tell if this smell comes from her laying too long in the same spot or if there is more to it. With the fleece bedding I'm not sure because they smell stronger overall.
And Billie sleeps a lot, laying in the same place most of the time.

But I think what worries me most (apart from paw and leg) is her overall appearence around the back. She doesn't clean herself good enough any more (like Muffin did in his last months) and she looks so boney around the back if that makes any sense to you. I know that's because of her arthrosis but Muffin was much older when he started to look this way. Billie isn't 5.5 yet. :(

Concerning the paw I switched the cream I use yesterday. And I'm sure the vet will tell me to starting bathing with mallow tea again (that's his usual first answer anytime), but bathing hasn't worked before without the bandage. And we stopped with the bandaging because the vet didn't like the look of Biliie's leg. :blink:
Also I just don't know how I can find the time to bath the paw and still be able to keep the cage clean enough. Changing the pee pads twice a day (if they are too wet, once a day at least) and spot cleaning takes so much time. And I won't start talking about all the washing. :yikes:
I'll be buying more pee pads, so I don't run out of clean pee pads as easily as I do at the moment. But I noticed the first signs of spring in my girls already, so I have to think about giving them more cage space (I reduced the cage space when I put them on fleece. They were not happy about it at first, but during winter they got used to it. But now...). I don't want Tessy to suffer because of living on less space and Bonny is very energetic at the moment.
But more cage space means more pee pads and more washing. I really wish I could go back to the usual bedding. But I know that there is a chance, it would be bad for Billie's paw and I don't what to do anything to make it worse. :mal:

Sorry to go on like this...
 
You and Billie have been through a lot with her poorly paw. It must be so frustrating. You are doing your best and that is all you can do. Piggies measure their time in todays. Her todays are happy and that's all you can ask for.
 
Oh Billie. I’m very sorry, this has been such a long stressful rollercoaster for you both.

I apologise if this was hashed out already, I remember it mentioned a while back but cannot find it on my phone for the life of me; when do you and your vets think is the point a part of Billie’s paw should be amputated? My non-vet, never-before-experienced-this mind fears this gnarly infection could start/continue spreading?
 
RosieLily said:
Oh Billie. I’m very sorry, this has been such a long stressful rollercoaster for you both.

I apologise if this was hashed out already, I remember it mentioned a while back but cannot find it on my phone for the life of me; when do you and your vets think is the point a part of Billie’s paw should be amputated? My non-vet, never-before-experienced-this mind fears this gnarly infection could start/continue spreading?
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I had a piggy, many years ago, who had part of her paw amputated, due to an infection causing it to bleed, sometimes quite alarmingly. She recovered quickly and never had a problem with it again.
 
Unfortunately in Billie's case it would have to be the whole paw and probably part of the leg as well - and the vet doesn't believe it would be a good option.
Since Billie's spine and knees are badly effected by arthrosis, I'm sure that an amputation would have a really bad effect on Biliie's overall condition. :(
 
Merab's Slave said:
I wish there was an easy solution to Billie’s paw.
She is so lucky to have such a dedicated owner.
It’s been such a rollercoaster for you.
Holding you in my heart ♥️
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Thank you! :love:
Today I spent a small fortune on more pee pads.
This way I've got the feeling that I'm doing something.
 
You really are doing all you can. It sounds like it is a difficult thing to cure. Sending healing vibes Billies way. ❤️
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
And Billie sleeps a lot, laying in the same place most of the time.

But I think what worries me most (apart from paw and leg) is her overall appearence around the back. She doesn't clean herself good enough any more (like Muffin did in his last months) and she looks so boney around the back if that makes any sense to you. I know that's because of her arthrosis but Muffin was much older when he started to look this way. Billie isn't 5.5 yet. :(
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I don't think I've posted any comments on this thread before, @Viennese Furbabies , but I thought I'd mention my experience with Winifred as a lot seems similar. I've linked the 2 threads I made about her problems in case they're of any use, but basically, 6 year old Winifred was diagnosed with arthritis last summer and quite quickly lost a fair amount of weight (=/- 200g) . She also ended up feeling very bony at the back end particularly, which my vet said was due to loss of muscle mass as she was moving around very little. She also had matted fur round the back end and underneath, as she couldn't reach round to clean herself comfortably. To deal with the matted fur the vet prescribed Clorexyderm foam spray applied to her bottom etc. In conjunction with extra pain relief this did work to make her fur clean and smooth again.
Unfortunately she also then got bumblefoot, fortunatley my vet didn't suggest baths or bandages. She had baytril for the infection and CLX wipes to clean the feet before applying barrier cream (F10 to start with, Flamazine cream - which has antibacterial properties too- later). The vet thought that had at least stopped the condition getting worse, though there was still a scab on her foot. In fact twice on the way to see the vet, part of the scab came off - there was bleeding but the vet thought the flesh visible under where the scab had been looked clean and uninfected. I was continuing with the wipes and barrier cream until she went to Rainbow Bridge this morning.

I don't know if any of this is of use to you, but I'm sending Billie healing vibes xx💓

Arthritic senior pig - alfalfa & baths?
Is this bumblefoot?
 
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Qualcast&Flymo said:
I don't think I've posted any comments on this thread before, @Viennese Furbabies , but I thought I'd mention my experience with Winifred as a lot seems similar. I've linked the 2 threads I made about her problems in case they're of any use, but basically, 6 year old Winifred was diagnosed with arthritis last summer and quite quickly lost a fair amount of weight (=/- 200g) . She also ended up feeling very bony at the back end particularly, which my vet said was due to loss of muscle mass as she was moving around very little. She also had matted fur round the back end and underneath, as she couldn't reach round to clean herself comfortably. To deal with the matted fur the vet prescribed Clorexyderm foam spray applied to her bottom etc. In conjunction with extra pain relief this did work to make her fur clean and smooth again.
Unfortunately she also then got bumblefoot, fortunatley my vet didn't suggest baths or bandages. She had baytril for the infection and CLX wipes to clean the feet before applying barrier cream (F10 to start with, Flamazine cream - which has antibacterial properties too- later). The vet thought that had at least stopped the condition getting worse, though there was still a scab on her foot. In fact twice on the way to see the vet, part of the scab came off - there was bleeding but the vet thought the flesh visible under where the scab had been looked clean and uninfected. I was continuing with the wipes and barrier cream until she went to Rainbow Bridge this morning.

I don't know if any of this is of use to you, but I'm sending Billie healing vibes xx💓

Arthritic senior pig - alfalfa & baths?
Is this bumblefoot?
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Thank you for sharing your experience. Unfortunately some of the medication available in the UK isn't available in Austria (and the other way around), but I will have a closer look.
We did use flammazine last summer. It worked for a while, then the paw got worse again. It's always the same story. :eek:
 
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