Bloody Foot - Me: 0 Foot: 2

[JaeTea]

Tonite I went to take Lilly out of her cage to put some bag balm on her feet.

I noticed a couple of drops of blood near her feet. Great.

I took her out and sure enough her foot had dried blood on it. Then when cleaning it, some white puss came out. So now she's going on the baytril.
I soaked her feet in salt water solution (which she hated) and put some vitamin E on them.

I'm not sure what else to do at this point. I've been applying vitamin E, got rid of the saucer, bought a humidifier and switched over to carefresh.
Her pads are still extremely dry. Maybe the dust baths are drying her feet out?

I'm totally at a loss as to what to do to cure this problem. So I'm hoping someone has some good suggestions.

This little ball of fur is stressing me out:banghead:

 

[Dolyphinm]

I know someone on here redid their cage to be very natural with all sorts of branches and rock perches to help with dry feet. It helped because the chin's weight shifted on the feet all the time. I can't remember who it was that did it or if they made it over from C-n-Q yet or not. It was a guy though.

 

[alli713]

That's too bad that it hasn't gotten better. I don't really have any advice because I've never dealt with feet issues, but just make sure and monitor his eating, because many chins will stop eating when given oral baytril.

 

[starleomach]

I know the dreded raisin... this is a case when you can give a raisin. as was recomended by chin vet at the MCBA shindig when she gave her talk.


It is not that baytril upsets the stomach the proble is it is so nast tasting the can taste it when they eat their food. she recomended giving a raisin or crasin after the dose of baytril to get rid of the taste.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

I would start the course of antibiotics, watch for appetite loss, get some Critical Care to have on hand in case you need to start hand-feeding, keep track of what she eats and I would also track weight just to be sure you don't miss the loss of weight by visual inspection. Keep up with the soaks since some really experienced people advised that and keep the cage really clean. I would also find a more chin-savvy vet if possible and if you don't see improvement call and make an appointment. Don't get frustrated, I have read that Bumblefoot can sometimes take a while to take care of. Best of luck to your chinnie!

 

[Eric4144]

I'm the guy that made my cage all natural b/c I have a senior citizen with very dry skin. I didn't have bleeding and puss yet but Virus another member on here did she did this and that's why I switched from flat shelves. Apparently her vet recommended it b/c it helped birds with the same problems. I would definitely ask Virus about it. Being that this is a recurring problem and all I would definitely switch. Here is a link to a thread with pics of hers and my cage http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101&page=4
(I've added a lot of things since this picture.) Also Virus nor I have those problems anymore they have completely gone away.

 

[JaeTea]

I'm the guy that made my cage all natural b/c I have a senior citizen with very dry skin. I didn't have bleeding and puss yet but Virus another member on here did she did this and that's why I switched from flat shelves.

So where do I go about buying some of that stuff?

 

[LostRealist]

So where do I go about buying some of that stuff?

Basically all you need are some branches of chin-safe food that has been prepared properly so that there's nothing growing on it... I think there's a thread about how to prepare wood. I assume it's a similar process for larger branches too?

 

[Virus]

I PM'ed with JaeTea about the situation, and it's perfectly true that removing shelves and replacing them with branches and tree trunks really helped our girls A LOT!

I haven't bought anything of these for the cage - it's mostly collected from forests (without harming any living trees, of course!) and some from my mother-in-law's garden (in Finland we don't use toxic pesticides in our gardens). Therefore I'm unfortunately unable to advice where to get some similar decorations. Also cutting down dust baths is a way to speed up the start of the healing process.

In my humble opinion, I wouldn't be too hasty with antibiotics - as with humans, there's no need to start it with every bruise or cut. When I took the girls to see a good chin doctor, her as many of her collagues' advice was and is to avoid antibiotics for just in case. First there should be unmistakeable signs of inflammation (throbbing, very swollen and weeping red heel etc.). Taken for just in case, antibiotics may do more harm than help upsetting stomach and resulting resistent bacteria.

There's some pictures of their heels:

Odelma at her worst:

Looks bad but there's no inflammation (no antibiotics needed).


After two weeks of replacing the bedding with a grate:

Better, but still irritated (sorry for her dirty toes ).


After two weeks of shelf-free living:

Still dry but HEALTHY!:heart3:

 

[Virus]

JaeTea, how is Lilly doing - any update? I hope she's better already!

As I remember, I must share another piece of advice I got from the chin doctor. She said you should never use any balms or lotions on chins' feet. It'll only upset their stomach and it won't help with the very reason itself. Instead of using them, try to find the factor that damages their heels and get rid of it.

I found some more pictures - here's Nana's heels at worst:

There weren't any swelling but instead she occasionally bled a little.


Soon after I got rid of the shelves:

There's already good scabs indicating healing.

 

[heymom32000]

I found with one of my chins if I gave her too many dusts baths her feet started getting really dried out. I hope your chin gets better soon.

 

[JaeTea]

JaeTea, how is Lilly doing - any update? I hope she's better already!

Funny you should ask.

I came home today to find blood in the cage. I took her about and sure enough its the right foot, it actually started bleeding all over my hands when I took her out and she started flailing her legs.

I got my chlorahexadine solution and blue kote today so I'm starting that. I took the double hammock I have and used it to cover the one shelf.

I'm trying to find someone who sells or can make me those applewood ledges you have.

 

[Virus]

I'm so sorry to hear that No doubt covering the shelves are a good solution for now, and if it's difficult to find branches etc. to redecorate the cage, I guess fleece is as good for permanent use, too!