bumblefoot

[victoria]

I think one of my girls has bumblefoot

She is 2 1/2 and weights 500g and for the past 2 years (since I adopted her) she has lived in cages with flat floors and a combination of old shirts and Carefresh for bedding. Although she is pudgy (she's heavy but also quite long) I had never considered her to be at risk because I have always been so careful about her habitat.

We take her to the vet regularly and no one has noticed anything previously (she even had a lump removed near her left hip three weeks ago) but last night she started bleeding quite a bit from her left heel/ankle (joint above her foot.) When I took a look it almost seems like there's a sore or a blister that burst. Her other foot has a bit of a bump on the corresponding area but it doesn't look like a sore or a blister.

Has anyone had a similar experience? What are my options here? She quite old and on antibiotics frequently for respiratory infections I'm hesitant to give her even more for a variety of reasons, but I will discuss it with my vet. Has anyone tried Blu-Kote? Is it through prescription? How effective is it?

I'm located in Montreal, Quebec, so if you know of what's available in Canada that would be even better

Thanks,

Vic

 

[jorats]

It sounds like your typical bumblefoot. I don't know if I would do much at her age. You can't make her lose weight, it could be detrimental to her health... you can pad the cage and keep her on Baytril. Some have had success doing soaks but only do that if you don't think it will stress her out too much.

 

[victoria]

Thanks Joanne. I was also thinking that there probably wasn't much sense in taking drastic measures this late in life, even though I did have a lump removed a couple of weeks back. She's started sniffling again so we'll be going to the vet soon anyway to get some Batryl and Doxycyclin. I put Polysporin on it the first two days and it seems to have formed a healthy scab and I haven't seen any more signs of bleeding Truthfully, I am feeling incredibly guilty that I did not notice an issue sooner, likely in part because I've spent the last month feeding Lizzie by hand and bathing her daily. I just hope she is not in pain and that her right foot stays normal. On the upside, she is now a lot more active nowadays, chasing her two much younger, very mischievous sisters about

Vic.

 

[victoria]

(I'm sorry the post is so incredibly long...)

So, it's been a month and I've taken Cloud to the vet twice.

The first time was to take a look at her foot and for a checkup and my vet discovered she had a slight pneumonia (I was truly surprised by this - she's been sniffling a little bit but I actually thought it had improved a lot on it's own) and confirmed my bumblefoot 'diagnosis'. She prescribed only Batryl for the pneumonia (because it was caught so early), Metacam for the swelling from the bumblefoot and gave an antiseptic because she was covered in scabs on her right side. At the time I thought the sores were from excessive grooming by her new cage mates but later I realized she was the one doing the excessive grooming, probably because of the stress and pain associated with her foot as well as the passing of Lizzie. The reason they were only on her right side was that she has limited use of her left hind leg because of the bumblefoot. I used the antiseptic twice and stopped, because I noticed it was only making her groom herself more. :doh:

After two weeks on Batryl and Metacam I took her back in for a recheck. She still wasn't showing symptoms of a respiratory infection but she hasn't seemed herself and I was worried about her. She rarely gets off the bed and onto the floor during playtime (it may be because she is becoming inactive in her old age) and she's been unusually affectionate - Cloud tolerates but has never been overly fond of humans. (I know that seems strange but I've had a couple of rescues that were never very fond of being held or sitting in my lap that really changed their demeanour when they knew they didn't have much time left.) On top of everything else, we've noticed that she eating with only one paw and I was concerned that her balance was being compromised by early PT or an inner ear infection.

At the recheck yesterday, the vet listened to both her lungs really carefully and said there was nothing off with her breathing; no gurgling, even and rhythmic breath sounds, and since there were no other clinical signs of a respiratory infection she doesn't need to take the Batryl anymore. :thumbup: He said she is likely in a lot of pain :sad3: because of the bumblefoot and that she is trying not to bear weight on that foot, which is why she is eating with only one paw. Whereas when I first noticed the bumblefoot it was a blister that was scabbed over and burst every few days (ouch!), he explained that there are no longer active skin cells in centre of the lesion and that the tissue underneath is constantly exposed and will not heal on it's own. He prescribed her Metacam (the dosage was lowered from the original .16cc to .8cc to avoid stomach ulcers) and he gave me Soother Plus ointment and Booster dietary supplement, both manufactured by Heal-x.

Soother Plus is an aloe vera based ointment with vitamin E and fatty acids to promote healing and synthetic urea to provide pain relief. Booster is red palm oil and it also contains vitamin E as well as A (both factors in healthy skin), omega fatty acids, and co-enzyme Q10 and has antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. My vet said that there are some vets in the States that are recommending it for use in colonies with respiratory problems to boost the immune system in addition to or in place of antibiotics with some success.

After all that, my questions are:

Is there anything else I can do to alleviate Cloud's pain? The Metacam didn't seem to be doing much when I was giving her .16cc 2x daily, I'm worried she'll be in even more pain now. (Note: I have stopped using old towels/shirts on the cage floors and now have fleece liners instead.)

What else can I do to help her bumblefoot? I tried an Epsom compress but she struggled too much and the scab fell off, making her bleed. I also doubt that bandaging is an option, I think she would just rip it off.

Has anyone tried Booster or Soother Plus? (Or any of the companies other products? See http://www.heal-x.com)

 

[Maple]

Oh victoria your hands are so full. I don't know how your keeping up.
I hope the little "bumble baby" start to heal and feel better soon. :heart:

 

[victoria]

It helps that I'm currently unemployed :wink2: (Doesn't pay the vet bills though.) I have no idea what I'll do when I get a job... whenever that happens.

 

[jorats]

The scabs to me would indicate mites/lice. I would do a treatment just in case, this would also cause the rat to be less active and more sickly looking.
As for the bumbles, you can pad down the cage really good so to avoid pressure points.

 

[lj]

Also, I think (may want to double check) that 0.16cc's twice a day of Medicam is a lot. I think I give mine like 0.05 once a day...

Did you restart the antiseptic that you originally had?

 

[Maple]

It helps that I'm currently unemployed :wink2: (Doesn't pay the vet bills though.) I have no idea what I'll do when I get a job... whenever that happens.

OMG, when I read this I thought I was looking into a mirror! In any case your doing a great job. Lots of time & effort gone into your furry family.