calcaneus
Active member
A bit over a week ago I thought I noticed Biscuit behaving oddly on his feet - just being a bit more tentative than usual. After a few days when it seemed fine again, he was really limping on one foot, so I made an appointment with the vet I've been seeing (Pet Care in Virginia Beach). Up until the day I took him I thought it was a problem with the foot he'd been avoiding, but the morning I took him I noticed that both of his feet looked red and irritated.
Anyhow, I took him in last Monday and the vet said they didn't look terrible but that he seemed to react when they were touched, it could be irritation from him sitting in urine or something. He didn't sound convinced that they were already infected, but prescribed me an antibiotic 'just in case,' and said he thought they might be vulnerable to infection (? that seemed odd to me).
He prescribed:
-HEALx Soother Plus cream, which I've been applying twice a day
-Enrofloxacin Suspension 20mg/ml Small (0.3 ml/day)
-Metacam 0.5mg/ml (0.2 ml/day) (I'm a little worried that this dosage is over-enthusiastic based on other posts here, so I gave it him once or twice but haven't been giving it to him every day. He was eating fine before the vet visit, so I wasn't sure if his feet were hurting him enough to justify the dosage - he only weighs 450g!)
I didn't realize that the antibiotic was the same thing as Baytril, or I would have asked for a weaker one, but you guys can imagine what happened next. I did give him Lifeline the same night I gave him Baytril, but though he was eating right after I gave him his meds he stopped eating in the night much. He's been eating only 1/4-1/2 of his normal hay intake and almost none of his pellets. After realizing that this was happening, I took him off the antibiotic so he hasn't had any of it since last Tuesday, and spent most of last week trying to get him to eat again (he was always eating small amounts of hay, and I continued giving him Lifeline). He was never in stasis, as he produced droppings every day, but at one point they were very, very small. I was about to go to the vet again with him when he started improving. So, now he seems to be back to normal again in terms of droppings and food consumption, and I've been weighing him daily and he hasn't lost weight.
But now I go back to the feet... I've attached a photo, so what does this look like to you guys? I would believe the irritation suggestion that the vet made - he tends to pee a lot right by his food bowl and then sit in it and munch on his pellets. I definitely haven't noticed his feet this colour until I noticed these problems, and he's never seemed cautious on his feet before. He has no wire platforms or cage bottom - he's on aspen shavings with wood, lave ledge, and fleece surfaces.
Since the foot issue started I've washed his fleece elements, cleaned his cage out, and have been selectively scooping up soiled shavings so he can't sit on them for ages. I was also worried about the bumblefoot syndrome that has been in a few threads lately - his feet don't look bad compared to them, but could it be in early stages? The photo makes the feet look more alarmingly red than they appear in regular light, but they definitely are inflamed looking.
Any suggestions? Opinions about the metacam dose and use of antibiotics? Experience with foot infections? Experience with the soother cream?
Also - does he have a runt-sized tail or what?! I included a full-body shot of him too. He looks so inadequate in the tail department compared to his sister, and it's got a bit of a kink in it too!
Anyhow, I took him in last Monday and the vet said they didn't look terrible but that he seemed to react when they were touched, it could be irritation from him sitting in urine or something. He didn't sound convinced that they were already infected, but prescribed me an antibiotic 'just in case,' and said he thought they might be vulnerable to infection (? that seemed odd to me).
He prescribed:
-HEALx Soother Plus cream, which I've been applying twice a day
-Enrofloxacin Suspension 20mg/ml Small (0.3 ml/day)
-Metacam 0.5mg/ml (0.2 ml/day) (I'm a little worried that this dosage is over-enthusiastic based on other posts here, so I gave it him once or twice but haven't been giving it to him every day. He was eating fine before the vet visit, so I wasn't sure if his feet were hurting him enough to justify the dosage - he only weighs 450g!)
I didn't realize that the antibiotic was the same thing as Baytril, or I would have asked for a weaker one, but you guys can imagine what happened next. I did give him Lifeline the same night I gave him Baytril, but though he was eating right after I gave him his meds he stopped eating in the night much. He's been eating only 1/4-1/2 of his normal hay intake and almost none of his pellets. After realizing that this was happening, I took him off the antibiotic so he hasn't had any of it since last Tuesday, and spent most of last week trying to get him to eat again (he was always eating small amounts of hay, and I continued giving him Lifeline). He was never in stasis, as he produced droppings every day, but at one point they were very, very small. I was about to go to the vet again with him when he started improving. So, now he seems to be back to normal again in terms of droppings and food consumption, and I've been weighing him daily and he hasn't lost weight.
But now I go back to the feet... I've attached a photo, so what does this look like to you guys? I would believe the irritation suggestion that the vet made - he tends to pee a lot right by his food bowl and then sit in it and munch on his pellets. I definitely haven't noticed his feet this colour until I noticed these problems, and he's never seemed cautious on his feet before. He has no wire platforms or cage bottom - he's on aspen shavings with wood, lave ledge, and fleece surfaces.
Since the foot issue started I've washed his fleece elements, cleaned his cage out, and have been selectively scooping up soiled shavings so he can't sit on them for ages. I was also worried about the bumblefoot syndrome that has been in a few threads lately - his feet don't look bad compared to them, but could it be in early stages? The photo makes the feet look more alarmingly red than they appear in regular light, but they definitely are inflamed looking.
Any suggestions? Opinions about the metacam dose and use of antibiotics? Experience with foot infections? Experience with the soother cream?
Also - does he have a runt-sized tail or what?! I included a full-body shot of him too. He looks so inadequate in the tail department compared to his sister, and it's got a bit of a kink in it too!