Bumble Foot

[autumn_falls]

Hello, I’m reaching out to get some advice on my sick Guinea pig. I have a 1 1/2-year-old female, American bred named pepper. Pepper cohabitates with her sister who is the same age as her. I took Pepper to the vet suspecting she had bumblefoot and the vet confirmed this. Pepper's vet prescribed her antibiotics (sulfa/trimel 48 mg) and an anti-inflammatory (meloxicam 1.5mg).

I was directed to give Pepper 0.6 ml of her antibiotic oral solution twice a day and 0.2 ml of her anti-inflammatory oral solution twice a day as well. I’ve been giving her this combination for the past week and it seems like her front right paw has just gotten worse. She has further experienced hair loss and skin peeling on that specific paw. On top of her oral medication, I soak Pepper's paw in an Epsom saltwater mix and an antiseptic solution twice a day.

In regards to her behaviour, she still walks around her cage and runs about when I let her out. However, she does seem to have less energy compared to before she had her injury. Also, she’s been squinting just her right eye lately, I don’t understand it.

Pepper's appetite seems normal, she eats her Oxbow brand Timothy hay, oxbow brand pellets and any veggies/fruits I give her. She urinates (clear/yellowish liquid) and poops (solid stools) regularly. Also, her cage is padded with baby blankets, which I replace/clean daily.

I do plan on updating her vet about her condition, however, I wanted to get a second opinion.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my message.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

Good that you are planning to contact your vet; that would have been my first step advice.
With a large open sore, your piggy may need bandaging in between daily soaking treatments and any other appropriate treatments to prevent more germs getting into the sore. Hopefully, a nurse can show you how to do it to keep the right tension and avoid the bandage coming off quickly again.

Unfortunately, there is no one single perfect treatment for bumblefoot, as it depends on what kind of germ has got into the skin through a tiny crack. Antibiotics only work for bacteria but not for fungal spores or even nastier bugs. In view of the hair loss; it could be pain or fungal but sight unseen and without direct access to your piggy, it is impossible to for me to say.

Since I have been lucky to never have had to deal with a bumblefoot piggy myself, I don't have any personal practical experiences to add. Some other members may be able to help you more.

Here are a couple of helpful links:
Guinea Lynx :: Pododermatitis
Guinea Lynx :: Bandaging

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

Billie has been suffering from bumble foot for many months now. It's a condition that doesn't go away easily.
Billie is on long term antibiotics (since December) and Metacam. She also gets extra Vitamin C. Before I started bandaging the paw nothing really worked, it just got worse and worse no matter what I tried.
Since December I've been soaking the paw twice daily in mallow tea, put on Bepanthen plus and then bandaged it. At first it still got worse, but then it slowly started to get better.
I did a YouTube-Video about it, but sorry it's in German. Don't know if looking at it without the text will help you:

But Saskia from LA Guinea Pig Rescue has got a video that helped me a lot when I first started bandaging. I do it a little bit different, but you can only find out what works best for you and your piggy once you've tried it. Just search for Saskia, LA Guinea Pig Rescue and bumble foot and you shouldn't have any trouble finding it.
If you don't find it, give me a shout.

When first trying to bandage, don't do it too tight.
But I would consult the vet about the hair loss. If it's fungal, you probably need a different treatment.
All the best!

 

[autumn_falls]

Thanks guys for responding to my message.
In regards to bandaging, I actually started doing that before taking her to the vet due to information that I got in a video from LA Guinea Pig Rescue (Saskia). I soaked her paw in Epsom salt and an antiseptic solution, then rubbed manuka honey and Neosporin on her paw, and lastly bandaged it up with gauze and vet wrap. When I didn't see any positive results on her paw from that method of treatment, that's when I decided to take her to the vet and was instructed to just do foot soaks and oral medication.
Do you think vet wrap can cause her hair to get ripped off the skin?

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m so sorry your piggy has a poorly foot. I hope the treatment works soon.

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

My vet wasn't too keen on the bandage at first as well (neither was I ). You have to make sure that the bandage isn't too tight and doesn't close off the wound completely. It is better for wounds to heal if they are not covered up completely, but since your piggy walks on it, the bandage is the only way to keep it protected.
Vet wrap can damaged the fur, but if it keeps the paw too moist, this could also lead to fungus. So you have to dry the paw carefully before wraping it up.

Billie also has to take oral antibiotics, without them you won't be able to manage the situation. In Billie's case I don't use vet wrap from the whole bandage, just to secure it, because the vet wrap was too air tight. I also use very little gauze and switched from a honey cream (which didn't work for Billie at all, but maybe she is the odd one out) to a betaiodine cream at the beginning and then to Bepanthen plus (don't know if this is only available in Europe).




The problem with bumble foot is that their isn't a fool proofed cure to it. Something works for one piggy, something else for another one.

Do you know how your girl injured her foot?
She is pretty young to develop bumble foot. There are risk factors like over weight, mobilty problems or just lazy pigs. The bedding can also be part of the problem. Or it could have been bad luck and your girl is just one of the piggies who are prone to it.

 

[autumn_falls]

I'm not sure how she injured her foot, to my knowledge she has never been dropped or taken a fall, so I don't understand how it developed.
I've included images of the most recent state of her right front paw. She has what looks to be an excessive amount of detached skin protruding off her leg, and there is an open lesion underneath the skin.
Also, my piggy continues to run and walk around normally on her paws. She is still very playful with her sister and has an appetite.

 

[Siikibam]

That toe on her right looks swollen. Has the vet mentioned it or what could be done about it?

 

[autumn_falls]

I suspected her whole paw was swollen when I went to the vet and was given antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory. Also, I was told to soak/clean the foot with an antiseptic.
Do you have an idea of what the excess amount of skin peel running up her foot is due to?

 

[Siikibam]

I’m afraid I’ve no B idea. It’s best to speak to the vet. Was she booked B in for a review at all?

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

It doesn't really look like bumble foot to me. If the whole paw was swollen and the swelling has gone down so much, that's a good sign, but I would get her checked for parasites as well.
Has she been nibbling at her paw or groomed/scratched herself more than usual?

 

[autumn_falls]

She has been licking at her paw yes. If it is not bumblefoot, it's odd that her vet would misdiagnose her.

 

[Viennese Furbabies]

Since the whole paw was swollen and the swelling has gone down, the treatment worked. But with bumblefoot you usually see cracked skin on the sole of the paw or around the toes.
In your piggy's case it looks like there is a scab on the leg. Like she nibbled or licks her paw because it hurts or itches. That's why I'm thinking about parasites. Maybe this wasn't visibel at first because everything was swollen.
Have you seen the vet again?