Could this turn ugly? (bumble foot??)

[Olallie]

His feet looked better today, but looking at these pictures makes me cringe. What do I do? He is biting off the edges of his foot, that's why it looks splintery.

 

[AZChins]

It doesn't look that bad to me. Did he poke his foot on something? Chinnie feet can get very dry and cracked but still be just fine. I'd use some jojoba oil on it, but I've heard of people using some bag balm...maybe a little corn oil could help to moisturize a bit and clean it up? I'm trying to think of something you may already have in the house! With anything you put on it...make sure to wipe up the excess. I put a little jojoba oil on it and let it soak in for a bit and then wipe down the foot. That way the oil helps but it doesn't get everywhere or, even more important, the chin doesn't eat it.

 

[Olallie]

HMmm good idea. I've been trying Vitamin E. I wasn't wiping away the excess tho. I'm so happy it doesn't look that bad, i was afraid it was really bad. But i've been cleaning his cage more frequently anyway. I don't think he poked his foot on something, i think its just really dry, and peggy said it could be his aspen bedding drying him out. I just want to get it taken care of. I think tho the sore got slightly bigger than when i took him to the vet, she looked at his feet, said they were healing. But now its a little worse. What else can I do? Thanks for the comment.

 

[starleomach]

I would try bagbalm on it for a week before panicking

 

[Olallie]

Okay, i gotta pick up some water bottles soon so I'll get some when im at the store. He's just my little baby, and i'd kick myself if i didn't prevent something like this.

 

[AZChins]

You know, sometimes little sores on the feet take a long time to heal. They have to even out with the rest of the callous on the feet. Chin feet are made to be really tough, but when they get a cut sometimes they just take forever to get back to normal.

My little Buddy chin (I love him...just typing his name makes me smile) got a cut smack dab in the middle of his back right foot paw pad. It has taken six months for it to heal up. It was never infected, it wasn't a bad cut...it was just right in the middle and getting the callous to look normal took so long. It's so strange because it seems like every other part of a chin heals so quickly and perfectly. I've had this happen a couple times over the years with wounds to the paw pads...they can take so long to heal up.

I'd give it some time, check it often and maybe put on the vitamin E when it looks dry. There's not much anyone can do but wait on it to heal. His wound isn't so bad, it doesn't look like anything to really worry about...just keep it in the back of your mind.

 

[Olallie]

Thanks for that, it makes me feel so much better. I also have his eye issue to deal with, so now we wait and see.
I love this forum!

 

[ann1]

It kind of looks like a mild form of bumblefoot to me

 

[Claire D]

From looking at your photos he has slight ulceration of his feet (initial stages of bumblefoot). The darker red patches are dried blood and he is probably pulling off the hard skin around the wounds.

He needs monitoring for clinical signs of infection (redness, swelling, pus etc) and you can use a little bag balm but be careful not to make the skin too soft or it is likely to continue to break down.

What type of cage is he in? What type of flooring does it have?


There are several reasons why it takes such a long time for foot ulcers to heal, including continuous pressure being put on the wounds and healing tissue as the chin rests it's weight and moves about and also the teeny blood supply to the feet in general. Add to that the higher risk of infection ( because a chin is always walking on bacteria, no matter how clean one keeps the environment) and the build up of callus and you're looking at a longer healing time.