Do ALL cases of bumblefoot require oral antibiotics?

[MorskoPrase]

Backstory: I adopted/rescued a 3-4 year old guinea pig named Harvey. When I got him, I did a quick health check and noticed his nails were horribly long and some curved almost to a complete circle. I trimmed them up and noticed upon further inspection that his front two paws looked like mild bumblefoot. There's yellow callouses and the pads and fingers are swollen. I took him to the vet and the vet first said it was just a callous, then confirmed it was pododermatitis and says it was obvious his previous owners did not have him in sanitary conditions. I asked if he needed to take oral antibiotics and she said no because it didn't look infected enough. She prescribed a topical antibiotic cream. She also said to cut off the calloused part with nail clippers but I worry about causing a wound. I did lose some faith in this vet because she said she had a single guinea pig and when my husband recommended she get him a friend because they love to socialize she said "He's fine alone because he socializes with the dog." Vets in my country (Serbia) aren't always great with animals outside of dogs/cats so I'm trying to do more research to advocate better for my guinea pigs. There's a big guinea pig community through Facebook and their files say because bumblefoot is caused by staph, the guinea pigs need oral antibiotics. Some other sources say they've had success with epsom salt or diluted iodine soaks and just topical solutions.

Question: Do ALL cases of bumblefoot require oral antibiotics? I've been soaking his feet and making sure his fleece is frequently clean and dry. I've been giving him a lot of vitamin C as well as I don't think his previous family did. I will also attach 3 pictures in an album below.

https://imgur.com/a/17rWtv9

Thanks for reading and any input

 

[Engel]

I can only see a foot spur? If it's just a foot spur it's nothing to worry about and can just be trimmed if it gets long and starts to catch on things. It's just like a callous. My one boy Jupiter has a foot spur on both front paws too. For the most part I think it's genetic.

 

[EJMA82]

Hi I’ve got no personal experience with bumble foot but In my experience, guinea pigs need to live in pairs to thrive. Not sure about the dog for company….Someone will be along to talk about the bumble foot shortly I’m sure. I wish you healing wheeks for your piggy x

 

[MorskoPrase]

I can only see a foot spur? If it's just a foot spur it's nothing to worry about and can just be trimmed if it gets long and starts to catch on things. It's just like a callous. My one boy Jupiter has a foot spur on both front paws too. For the most part I think it's genetic.

Maybe it is just a foot spur. His front paws just seemed more swollen looking especially compared to how my other pigs feet look and some pics on google labelled bumblefoot looked kind of similar. Given his previous conditions, I could just be overly anxious as I've never had a pig with foot issues. Thanks for the input!

 

[Wiebke]

Backstory: I adopted/rescued a 3-4 year old guinea pig named Harvey. When I got him, I did a quick health check and noticed his nails were horribly long and some curved almost to a complete circle. I trimmed them up and noticed upon further inspection that his front two paws looked like mild bumblefoot. There's yellow callouses and the pads and fingers are swollen. I took him to the vet and the vet first said it was just a callous, then confirmed it was pododermatitis and says it was obvious his previous owners did not have him in sanitary conditions. I asked if he needed to take oral antibiotics and she said no because it didn't look infected enough. She prescribed a topical antibiotic cream. She also said to cut off the calloused part with nail clippers but I worry about causing a wound. I did lose some faith in this vet because she said she had a single guinea pig and when my husband recommended she get him a friend because they love to socialize she said "He's fine alone because he socializes with the dog." Vets in my country (Serbia) aren't always great with animals outside of dogs/cats so I'm trying to do more research to advocate better for my guinea pigs. There's a big guinea pig community through Facebook and their files say because bumblefoot is caused by staph, the guinea pigs need oral antibiotics. Some other sources say they've had success with epsom salt or diluted iodine soaks and just topical solutions.

Question: Do ALL cases of bumblefoot require oral antibiotics? I've been soaking his feet and making sure his fleece is frequently clean and dry. I've been giving him a lot of vitamin C as well as I don't think his previous family did. I will also attach 3 pictures in an album below.

https://imgur.com/a/17rWtv9

Thanks for reading and any input

Hi and welcome

Please take a deep breath; your piggy doesn't show any sign of bumblefoot, just harmless dead skin grows on the sides of the pads called spurs. They are very common in guinea pigs (about a quarter of piggies will develop them) and are best left alone unless they pose a real risk of catching and ripping open the skin, in which case they are best dealt with by a vet because cutting to close to or into live skin can be extremely painful and crippling. Thankfully that is only a small minority of piggies develop spurs that can be problematic. Yours are not.
Guinea Lynx :: Guinea Pig Feet and Foot Problems

 

[Freela]

All I see there is foot spurs, which are harmless. Some pigs just get them. One of mine has spurs and we honestly just leave them alone, as they are not catching on anything.