Bleeding foot! again...

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JaeTea

Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2009
Messages
24
Location
NJ
My one chin "Lilly" had a problem a month ago where her one pad was bleeding pretty badly.

It eventually stopped bleeding after a few days and she's been fine ever since.

This morning I woke up to see the wood shelves covered in blood spots again.:(

From the suggestion of the wonderful people on this board I bought some bag balm because her pads tend to be dry. I applied it once a day for a few days. Is it something I have to keep up for a few weeks?

I don't have a wire bottomed cage so I'm not sure how she is even injuring herself.:confused:
 
Is it red and swollen or just cracked. If this continues I would bring her to the vet to be sure it isn't an infection under the pad.
 
Is it red and swollen or just cracked. If this continues I would bring her to the vet to be sure it isn't an infection under the pad.

Definetly not red or swollen. It looks like if you had dry, cracked knuckles from the cold weather.

I'll get a photo today of the foot.
 
It sounds like bumblefoot which is an infection behind the callouses on the foot. Treatment requires a visit to the vet and should include oral antibiotic and chlorhexadine soaks.

Sanitation is the issue. Bacteria gets into the cracks in the foot and causes abscesses. Keep the cage scrupulously clean, put in a variety of resting surfaces and replace any shavings or litter with white paper towels during treatment.
 
Have you checked the shelves to make sure she's not cutting her feet on it. I had a mother and daughter (2 yrs old) in the same cage. I saw blood on the shelves and the house. I checked them over to see where the blood was coming from and couldn't see anything. I sanded the shelves down and it seem to work for 1 month then blood again. I decided to move them into another spare cage where everything was new and no blood. They didn't have bumble foot either. My husband replaced all the shelves and house in the old cage and I ended up putting 3 chins in there with no problems so far. It has been about 5 months now.
 
Have you checked the shelves to make sure she's not cutting her feet on it.

I have an appt with the Vet tomorrow, better safe than sorry.

It could be the ledges since Lilly has them completely chewed up.

Its weird because her sister Chinchy doesn't have the same problems.
 
I hope all goes well at the vet, I agree it's better to be safe than sorry. I have a chin with ongoing Bumblefoot, I really hope that's not what it is for your chin. A lot of Bumblefoot cases can not be totally treated, but need regular maintainance.
Do her feet have any heat in them? It's good they don't look swollen or red, sometimes you can see the pus under the skin and the foot is hoter than the other due to the infection.
 
it does sound like it could be Bumblefoot. Either way a vet is a good idea to prevent infection if any kind happening. you may want to get some smoother surfaces if the wood is a bit rough too. There are some tiled type ledges that might work if the wood is what is bothering her. I would suggest (especially if you find out it is bumblefoot) to clean the cage and shelves with vinegar and 1/10 bleach and water solution. Make sure to get all of the bleach off. This is what I used when I had a girl with an infection-cleaned it up really well!!!! (the cage not the eye:winkers:)
 
Virus a member on here from I think New Zealand had this same continuous problem with her two girls and her vet told her that she should remove (I think it was her vet it may not have been?) all her smooth shelves and replace them with something that would offer more variability for their feet. Well any how she replaced all of her smooth shelves with branches and such what not and her problem cleared up. I've never experienced bumble foot so I can't really advise you on that but you should probably have it checked if it is a reoccurring problem. I just thought that this would be worth mentioning
 
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