Foot Injury- Swollen, black?

[Licious]

Hi everyone,

We just discovered a swollen foot with black crud on it on the newest addition to our house. Cupcake is 4 months old, active and overall healthy.

Today I noticed she had some black stuff on her foot, and I thought it was smooshed poo, but when I went to check it out I discovered that her toe has swelled up HUGE, and the black stuff definitely isn't poo. This seems to have come out of nowhere...and though she did have a scuffle during intros with our other girls, that was 4 or 5 days ago.

I am attaching a picture so everyone can see what I mean. I am trying not to panic, but we have never dealt with any major injuries before. We are trying to keep a warm compress on it, but she is VERY high energy and won't stay still. Does anyone have any ideas on what we should do?

 

[mamarat]

Toe injuries are very common in ratties. The black stuff looks like dried blood. They usually heal very fast from that.

 

[jorats]

:yeah:

 

[Licious]

I know that toe injuries are common, and I am trying to keep calm about it.
We've been able to take a bit of a closer look, and it appears as though shes ripped the whole nail out. Obviously, this has happened to other rats in our lives, but I have never seen this degree of swelling before. The picture really doesn't do it justice. Looking down, it almost looks like her whole paw is just one big toe!

We cleaned out her cage to make sure we minimized bacteria, and found a whack load or blood, so it obviously wasn't a bite that we missed.

Is there anything we can do for now, or that we should be on the look out for? She does use the paw, although gingerly, and she isn't using it to climb. But she will put wait on it, and hold treats in both paws, so I figure thats a good sign!

 

[mamarat]

It is a good sign. The toe will heal on its own. It actually looks worse than it is. If the swelling doesn't go down in about a week you could take her to a vet or if you're terribly worried about her.

 

[lilspaz68]

If you are really concerned about the swelling, you could try hot saline soaks in the sink...just fill it up an inch or so, so she can stand in it.

 

[Licious]

Thanks everyone. We will give her little foot a soak and wait it out!

 

[*Rebel_Angel*]

Poor kid!

 

[temblabamomo]

Looking any better yet?

 

[Licious]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the very delayed update. I'm a graduate student and its a busy time of year with marking, and talking to students about their grades. I've barely been on the computer!

I am happy to report that Cupcake is doing better. Her toe isn't back to normal yet, but it no longer looks like she has a club for a foot, and we've managed to avoid infection. Its still somewhat swollen, and we still haven't figured out what happened. It almost looks like part of her toe is missing. I think we will have a better idea when the swelling is gone completely.

She has been in excellent spirits and acting like her completely normal goofball self this whole time. This sometimes means its a pain in the butt to clean her foot up, but it makes me happy to know that it isn't bothering her too much!

Thanks to everyone who just reminded me to stay calm and keep an eye on it at first!

 

[mamarat]

Glad your little one is doing better.