Serious problem with feet

I'm posting for a friend.....
Her vet can't figure out what is wrong with her chinchillas feet... He's been on antibiotics for 10 days and it's not clearing up. Bumblefoot? She's really worried so any help would be great. She said his feet were swollen and black spots formed.

I haven't posted here so I don't know how to post pictures. She sent me two. Can someone help?

I believe you posted the pics all over fb. The feet look normal. Black spots on feet are not uncommon for a mosaic to develop. They are also older chins so having slight pressure marks from being in wire bottomed cages for yrs and yrs can make the feet look wider and have calluses. There is no sign of swelling or crusting which is typical of bumble foot.

I can't see the pictures you posted on FB, but from what Dreamlite says it sounds like normal feet. If your friend is that worried, get them off wire bottomed cages. I would never use wire bottom cages for any animal. It is just bound to create pressure spots. Also, get some Bag Balm or some Vitamin E capsules and spread it on the feet. If they are dry and cracked, it will help clear it up.

Yes I did post them in 4 groups and on my page because my friend is very worried about her chin. We have a lot of people telling us it looks like bumble foot. I would post them here as well but I don't know how. She has a wire cage but has wall to wall fleece so he doesn't have contact with the wire. She is using Bag Balm and I'll tell her about the vitamin E capsules. Thank you!

The chin is on a double thickness of sheep skin blankets (cotton fabric) from wall to wall in his cage, except for his marble cooling plate. The blankets are changed daily and washed with a special soap. He has low leaping ledges, no wheel, very large cage, no other chin with him, and all this came on in 3 days. The vet said that it looked like possible internal infection with redness and swelling from a lot of inflammation. No idea about the black spots. Stopped eating 2 days ago, and is getting CC by syringe, but not pooping. Feeding little bits at a time, but he is getting very full.

If you could post the pictures here, that would be helpful. Since I can't see them, I'm in the dark a bit. From what you describe though, I don't know how he could have bumblefoot. It sounds like his cage is very clean and that is a big part of bumblefoot - cracks in the foot get pee and poop in it and it goes from there. Are there cracks in his feet at all that you can see?

What kind of antibiotic did he give you? If it's Baytril, that may have caused him to stop eating.

Chins Feet

His feet were white, not swollen, and just find until a couple of weeks ago when they got this way in 3 days. I put Bag Balm on for a couple days to help with the crusty part, but then the black spots and swelling came. On the first trip to the vet, I got Sulfamethoxazole (Septra) which is very good for skin infections and Chlorhexidine for foot soaks. No change, after a week. Then the vet gave Baytril as the cause was probably internal, and he is to take that for a week. The Baytril makes him feel bad and not eat of course, so ......... Still using the Bag Balm twice a day, but stopped the foot soaks as his feet were dry crusty, peeling, and flaking off tiny pieces of skin. We did not want the swollen feet to split open. Limiting dusting time.

Working on pics but having a hard time and I'm pretty good at pics...

Okay so here are the pics I was sent on the 9th...according to owner 10 days AFTER she "noticed symptoms"

And here are pictures sent today after several weeks, owner feels that his condition is worsening...

And here is a photo for comparison. First, I know the pics aren't great quality...they're all we have. Second, if you can't see the pics, click on the wording where the pic SHOULD be and it seems to work...

Anybody? Send out some thoughts?

Is there any pus leaking out? Don't you usually see pus in bumblefoot cases?

In early stages there doesn't have to be I don't believe though am not 100% positive on this myself There is no puss from what I understand.

It does not look like classic bumblefoot to me, though I've only dealt with it twice in rescue chins and they were fairly advanced. I've seen it on rats, but it's usually like open ulcers. This looks more irritated than infected in the pictures. I think ClaireD has had experience with some pretty bad bumblefoot in chins. I'll shoot her a pm and have her take a look.

I'm sorry I didn't respond to this sooner. For whatever reason it was not showing up in my new posts.

Apologies, I've not been online for a while - is there any update on this chinny?