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Maple has a very swollen and sore foot

Danielle Smith

Danielle Smith

Teenage Guinea Pig
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*** I have the vet booked for this afternoon, and have given some Metacam. ***

Maple was bonded with Blackjack a little under 2 weeks ago, and it was a very frantic bonding. She was limping a little throughout but I thought this was because she had sprained her leg in the act of chasing. She's been limping much less when in her cage, bedded on fleece.

I picked her up this morning after I noticed she was not putting weight on her leg, to be greeted with a rather swollen, hot, and painful foot and leg. While running my fingers over her paw and limb to see if she'd wrapped a hair around the leg, I accidentally partially deroofed a tiny scab to be greeted with a large amount of pus. I've replaced the scab and will leave the wound for the vet to clean. I immediately gave her some Metacam and she is still relatively bright and eating hay.

I suspect we'll at least get Baytril from the vet, but I'm now thinking the worst will happen, that she has a bone infection and the leg will need to be amputated. I lost 2 piggies in 4 days last week, both unexpected, and this has really taken a toll on me emotionally but I know I need to give her the best care possible. Hope passed after she got catastrophic bloat after being given Baytril, so I'm going to be really on the ball with probiotics this time.

She currently is on fleece, with a hay tray at one end of the cage and a hay rack at the other. She needs to jump a little to get into the hay tray, should I just put hay on the floor for just now? I can imagine I'll need to change the fleece every day or two so it's as clean as possible (even though her leg will likely be bandaged). Any tips on looking after a pig with bumblefoot are much appreciated!

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Oh, dear! That looks very swollen indeed! :(

Glad that you have got a vet appointment to check whether it is pododermatitis (bumblefoot). All the best! These things tend to happen at the worst time...
 
Sending you big hugs, you are having such a rotten time at the moment. Whatever the vet visit turns up I know you will be able to give your girl the very best of care you are such a wonderful piggie Mum.
 
Thank you all so much for the kind words, it honestly lessens the burden on my heart and makes me feel a little calmer.

Nothing much special from the vet, though she did find a large linear cut across the bottom of the pad of foot which is where the infection may have gotten in; upon my inspection it has some slough which isn't great. We've been given baytril and loxicom, with additional instructions to do physiotherapy to the leg to ensure it doesn't freeze up or the muscles waste away. No bandaging as vet thinks she'd just pull it off, and no X-ray yet either as we are to see if the swelling reduces with the Baytril.

I feel sorry for Maple as even with the loxicom it's clearly uncomfortable when I gently manipulate it :no: I'm trying not to worry about osteomyelitis and degenerative joint disease but it's hard as she's just not her usual chirpy self.
 
Danielle Smith said:
Thank you all so much for the kind words, it honestly lessens the burden on my heart and makes me feel a little calmer.

Nothing much special from the vet, though she did find a large linear cut across the bottom of the pad of foot which is where the infection may have gotten in; upon my inspection it has some slough which isn't great. We've been given baytril and loxicom, with additional instructions to do physiotherapy to the leg to ensure it doesn't freeze up or the muscles waste away. No bandaging as vet thinks she'd just pull it off, and no X-ray yet either as we are to see if the swelling reduces with the Baytril.

I feel sorry for Maple as even with the loxicom it's clearly uncomfortable when I gently manipulate it :no: I'm trying not to worry about osteomyelitis and degenerative joint disease but it's hard as she's just not her usual chirpy self.
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Hang on in there and concentrate on what you can actually do and not the maybes that out of your control and may hopefully never come to pass! All the best!
 
Sorry to hear Maple isn’t her usual self. Healing wheeks and hope the meds work.
 
Piggies do have such fast metabolisms so hopefully the metacam will soon help reduce the swelling and make her feel more comfy, and the antibiotic will kill the infection off. Sending her healing vibes. And sending you some, too.
 
Maple is taking her top up syringe feed like a champ, and I think her foot feels less hot too. So glad I managed to request dog loxicom from the vet, like all other pigs she loves the honey taste.

First day of oral Baytril, hoping the top up syringe feed and Avipro I'm picking up from the vets later will ensure her gut keeps functioning. :nod:
 
Good to hear she is cooperating. Always makes it less stressful, for sure. Hope things keep moving in the right direction.
 
Danielle Smith said:
Maple is taking her top up syringe feed like a champ, and I think her foot feels less hot too. So glad I managed to request dog loxicom from the vet, like all other pigs she loves the honey taste.

First day of oral Baytril, hoping the top up syringe feed and Avipro I'm picking up from the vets later will ensure her gut keeps functioning. :nod:
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Fingers crossed that you can get on top of the infection quickly. If it is a shallow cut instead of a punctual sore, then it is more likely to blow up over a larger area more quickly, but not penetrate as far down before it does so, so your chances of the infection sitting more on the surface of the foot are actually greater. I hope that this helps to ease your mind. You are also hopefully more likely to see more dramatic results quickly over the next 2-3 days once the antibiotic builds up and becomes more effective. ;)
 
She's such a little sweetheart, wants nothing more than a cuddle. Can you believe this sweet face wee'd all over me after I did some gentle physiotherapy on her foot and leg?! Tempted to bandage the foot with some padding and vetwrap tomorrow, she's still reluctant to put any weight on it at all!

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Danielle Smith said:
She's such a little sweetheart, wants nothing more than a cuddle. Can you believe this sweet face wee'd all over me after I did some gentle physiotherapy on her foot and leg?! Tempted to bandage the foot with some padding and vetwrap tomorrow, she's still reluctant to put any weight on it at all!

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That should teach you... :D

Poor baby; her foot must be soo sore and painful!
 
I am seriously doubting my plan to become a nurse (I'm currently retraining to be one)... Maple was worrying her foot last night so after soaking the foot in Hibiscrub I had a go at bandaging her today:

First attempt, she could hardly walk with her "stookie".

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Second attempt, a bit better as she can weight bear a tiny bit but she's already started worrying her foot through the vetwrap and padding :( She has a tiny non-adhesive pad with Dermisol on her original wound.

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Vibes recieved! :wub:

Maple's foot is less red and slightly less swollen-hot so the Baytril is doing it's job. I've let her run about without a bandage tonight and all seems okay on that end.

However, she has stopped what little eating she was doing and is now having a minor episode of bloat -- she has squishy sides still and some gut sounds, but she is swelling up a bit, craving cardboard and is eating 9/10 of her poos (which I'm pretty sure is unusual). She's had lots of probiotics and Fibreplex at the appropriate times, I'm quite upset this has happened despite my best efforts. Vet booked for 0930 tomorrow for gut meds, and I might ask if we can discontinue ABx (or at least have the remainder of the course injected)...
 
I feel like such an awful owner. I am so tired and emotionally exhausted of having poorly piggies. I just want to have time to concentrate on lectures and assignments, but all my mindspace is taken up with when the next syringe feed is going to be. It's only been just over two weeks since Hope got poorly and I only have a single pig I need to care for in this way right now.

I love my pigs so much but I don't like having them right at this moment. :(
 
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