bitten toe

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Lisa

Lisa

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
87
Location
Lynnwood, WA
Baz got his toe bitten tonight by Digit. The e-vet put him under and snipped part of his toe off and stitched it up. Baz immediately started gnawing on his paw so a make-shift e-collar was put on him. Of course now that I'm home, I have tons of questions.

-Baz is in a smaller cage now with the bare essentials in it. How long should I keep him in there?
-What can I do to help the foot stay covered/stitched/un-bleeding? I'll have blu-kote in a couple of hours.
-Is there anything else I can do help him heal quickly?

He's got Baytril and Metacam. I wasn't impressed with the emergency vet and would feel better getting advice from you guys! I know toes are lost and amputated and the injury truly is minor. I just want to be able to do what I can for him. Advice and input appreciated!
 
Chins often get their toes bitten, I got a case here too not too long ago. Was it that big an injury? Cause I doubt he would have needed stitches.

What do you have at the bottom of the cage? Put only towels that you change every day, that is to prevent any infection. Before 2 weeks it's gonna be healed up almost completely you'll see!
 
Put him on paper towels instead of bedding, to keep the toe clean. Keep him in the smaller cage for a couple days, now that you have him separated, just to make sure he's eating, drinking, etc. after anesthesia.

I'm not understanding why he had to have his toe clipped and stitched though. Was there bone sticking out? I have chins get toes bitten off every now and again, and they don't go to the vet. They just heal.
 
Hey Lisa, I know we talked in chat last night about the situation, just wanted to say I hope Basil is doing okay this morning!
 
Anne-Lise & Peggy: I don't know why it was a clip and stitch thing. It seemed odd to me too. From what I could tell, there wasn't bone sticking out, and she said there was significant damage to the pad of his toe. It looked like there was a large flap of skin hanging from his toe when I looked at it after it happened. I'm half tempted to make an appointment with the vet that has seen my other two chins.

About how long do injuries like these take to heal (on average)?
 
In 2006, Reepicheep got his toe bit by another chin during playtime. He was exploring around Pericles' (another male) cage and when Reep peered in his cage, Peri bit most of the tissue off of Reep's toe. The bone was bare and sticking out so my vet had to snip the bone. We also had to do epsom salt soaks for his toe twice a day. He was put on Metacam for pain and I believe he was given TMZ (AKA Bactrim or trimethoprim-sulfa) for preventing infection. It healed pretty quickly from what I remember - I think it only took a little over a week to be completely healed.
 
I have several missing toes. it happens often with cages side by side. Usually they take care of it themselves
 
In a couple weeks it'll be all better don't worry.

I guess an inexperienced with chins vet would do that. Although mine only gave my baytril because of the swelling. It's gonna be even more tempting to 'play' with the injury with stitches on it. But I do understand your reaction, we are SO worried the first time it happens. It's going to be swollen a bit, then it will be gone in no time.

HOWEVER, I strongly suggest you keep a close eye on the chin because you're giving baytril. That med is SUCH a mess. There is a big chance your little buddy will stop eating, you'll have to handfeed him. Once he stops taking treats, start worrying about food intake.
 
Anne-Lise said:
HOWEVER, I strongly suggest you keep a close eye on the chin because you're giving baytril. That med is SUCH a mess.
Click to expand...

I know. I tried hand feeding him this morning and last night and he was not having it. I have everything I need for it, but UGH. He still has a bit of an appetite, so I'm just waiting and watching. I may ask for something else when he sees the vet on Tuesday. The e-vet wouldn't give me anything injectable, but man, that would be so much easier all the way around.

Chantel: He seems to be doing ok today. He looks alternately dejected and pissed off. He slipped out of the collar this morning while he was burritoed and immediately started gnawing on his foot, so it went back on. He got a saline rinse and a nice coating of blu-kote (as did I).
 
I moved Basil back into his cage today hoping that he would eat. He's eaten a little bit of oat hay, some oats and a piece of rosehip. That's it. He hasn't really touched his timothy hay or pellets. His poops are very small and few. I did give him some Critical Care earlier. Right now I'm unsure of whether or not to hand feed more or if that's not necessary because he's still eating some things. What the heck is causing his appetite loss? His only had 1.5 mL of Baytril over three days.
 
Are you still giving him the baytril? That is known to put chins off their feed, especially the oral. They say they just do not like the taste of it and don't want to eat.
 
Megan said:
Are you still giving him the baytril? That is known to put chins off their feed, especially the oral. They say they just do not like the taste of it and don't want to eat.
Click to expand...

Nope, he's off the Baytril. He was only on it for three days and I got TMS from the vet.
 
Morning update

No poos anywhere. Basil dug through his food, but I don't know if he ate any. I will empty his dish and weigh the pellets this time. It looks like he picked through some hay, but I don't know if any made it in his mouth. He sat on his hide house, let me give him scritches, made what I call his "cheeping" noise (decoy sound), and then tried to hump my hand.

Input would be appreciated.
 
If it were me, I would give CC just so I know he is getting something into his system. I was handfeeding a chin a few weeks ago after he was attacked by his mate and I fed him CC even though he was eating a bit on his own. His appetite had definitely decreased and I didn't feel he was eating enough on his own accord. Probiotics will be helpful as well.
 
He got about 10 mL of CC in this evening in addition to his antibiotic and Propulsid, which I picked up from the vet today. He's on his own for the evening and will be fed again tomorrow.

As a side note, he'll chow down on his oat hay, but not timmy, and I gave him some feed left over from transitioning Digit and Murhpy and he ate three pellets, but turned his nose up at his own food. :huh:
 
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