fenshae
Well-Known Member
Noticed Beryl was acting a little out of sorts during out time, he was exhibiting some pain symptoms so I scooped him up and discovered a fairly small lesion on his heel, probably/definitely bumblefoot.
Anyway, problem is that I was trying to start treatment and he freaked out . He's one of my two remaining hoarding rescue boys and they're all still kind of spazzy about being handled, but not normally this bad. He'll happily sit on the bed and let me pet him, but when I picked him up and tried get to his paw/tail he started thrashing and gasping. He doesn't seem to have any breathing problems normally -- I haven't witnessed him with any poryphin, he doesn't sneeze or have any URI symptoms when he's on the bed/in the cage -- but as soon as he gets stressed he starts open-mouth gasping (it makes a little "pop" noise when he does it) and after a little bit of thrashing he goes totally still except for the gasping. I left him in a quiet room in a carrier at that point and he recovered from the gasping attack, but I was too scared to try again with getting at the bumble.
This is exactly what Locke acted like before he died (I was cleaning out an abscess and Locke thrashed, did the open-mouth gasping thing, went still and then died, I'm thinking it was a heart attack). I'm scared if I push it that he might have a heart attack also, but I don't think the bumble is going to go away on its own.
Any suggestions on non-invasive ways to go about treating this? He's a champ about taking meds so I've been giving him ibuprofen to manage pain/swelling, and I've got him in a cage with bedding I'm changing twice a day, but I don't know what to do with the lesion itself.
Anyway, problem is that I was trying to start treatment and he freaked out . He's one of my two remaining hoarding rescue boys and they're all still kind of spazzy about being handled, but not normally this bad. He'll happily sit on the bed and let me pet him, but when I picked him up and tried get to his paw/tail he started thrashing and gasping. He doesn't seem to have any breathing problems normally -- I haven't witnessed him with any poryphin, he doesn't sneeze or have any URI symptoms when he's on the bed/in the cage -- but as soon as he gets stressed he starts open-mouth gasping (it makes a little "pop" noise when he does it) and after a little bit of thrashing he goes totally still except for the gasping. I left him in a quiet room in a carrier at that point and he recovered from the gasping attack, but I was too scared to try again with getting at the bumble.
This is exactly what Locke acted like before he died (I was cleaning out an abscess and Locke thrashed, did the open-mouth gasping thing, went still and then died, I'm thinking it was a heart attack). I'm scared if I push it that he might have a heart attack also, but I don't think the bumble is going to go away on its own.
Any suggestions on non-invasive ways to go about treating this? He's a champ about taking meds so I've been giving him ibuprofen to manage pain/swelling, and I've got him in a cage with bedding I'm changing twice a day, but I don't know what to do with the lesion itself.
Poor Beryl. I had him out for cuddles for just a few minutes today but being held was stressing him out majorly so I put him back. I read somewhere that having their movement restricted when they have a hard time breathing causes them to panic even more so I think that's what's going on there. I'll put up the cats later and let him chill on the couch with us tonight I think. Poor darling. All my doubts about it being CHF are gone -- he's doing the water retention thing now, where he's thin but also feeling kind of...squishy?...especially around the face area. that's classic heart problem stuff right? 
