[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Pododermititis (Bumblefoot)

[Debbie Jones]

I am ashamed to confess that my SCAMP, ex-LAPS piggie Scrabble, is still
suffering from pododermititis, or bumblefoot, as is much easier to spell!
You may remember I did mention it some weeks back in relation to LAPS, as
I feel Scrabble's weight contributed to his foot problems. I don't know
if his weight made him less mobile, or his lack of mobility made him fat,
and I am well aware that there is a strong possibility that he has heart
problems as well, which will have made him less mobile. I am also very
well aware that this is a disease primarily associated with negligence,
poor housing/bedding/care, so feel terribly responsible, although I have
always tried to give him optimal care, as all the other Dolly Mixtures.
The feet first became a worry to me soon after his cagemate, Fidget,
died, I think back in February/March. I rang Cavies Castle, Penny's
rodentologists, who suggested Intrafungal, but that has done nothing. I
took him to the local vet, who prescribed Marbocyl (a drug from the
Baytril family), but a month on that had had no effect. I started giving
him 0.5ml liquid Vitamin C as soon as I identified the problem, and still
do. I also put him on Vetbed or thick acrylic blankets instead of hay,
which I change morning and evening. He is sharing with Zebra now, and
they are good friends, I have seen Zebra licking Scrabble's eyes.
Scrabble also has anal impaction problems, which I deal with as required.
A new French piggie website, a kind of spin-off from Guinealynx,
recommended I bathe the feet in chlorohexine then apply Preparation H, so
I have been faithfully doing that for about a month. But the feet are
just getting worse and worse. Initially they were just very swollen, but
gradually they have developed open sores, which are growing in size
daily. I am currently bathing in warm salt water and applying Preparation
H afterwards, but to no avail. I am seeing the vet with him tomorrow - a
different vet this time, my usual one,who was on holiday last time I
went. She is not piggie-savvy, as you know, but is more willing to try
things I suggest that I have seen on the Net or wherever. The locum vet
seemed to want me to believe he knew what he was doing. Scrabble can
hardly walk now. He does get around, but it is by walking on the sides of
his feet rather than the actual pads, and in fact it is these sides,
rather than his pads, that have the open sores. These sores are not
scabbed over, they are just raw skin. I don't think there is pus. He is,
amazingly, still eating well, and really enjoying the Indian summer we
are having here in France, stumbling out of his hutch to a sunny spot and
sunbathing there most of the day. He takes his treaments very well, but
must wonder why I am doing all this to him yet not curing his poor feet.
I know Peter Gurney said he'd never had a piggie die from this condition,
and the rodentologists said the only way he could die from it would be if
he bled to death. There doesn't seem to be a lot of bleeding at present,
although the evening I noticed it was when I removed a bit of hay caught
up in his foot and somehow ripped it open and it bled profusely. That was
back in April, and there were no open sores then, and little swelling. It
has been gradually getting worse since then. Of course, I have read how
the condition can spread to kidneys, spleen, liver and other organs and
cause a painful death, which I dread happening. I think I can honestly
say that the sores are very clean now, with all the soaking and bedding
changes. But they are not in any way healing. I don't suppose many people
here have experienced this with their own, very well cared for piggies,
but you may have come across it in rescued piggies. I would be REALLY
grateful to hear of any successful treatments slaves have used, and any
additional management strategies. I have read about injecting antibiotics
straight into the sores, but as my vet is really not piggie savvy at all,
I am loathe to suggest it to her. But are there any ointments people have
successfully used? Would covering the sores improve the situation, and if
so, what's the best way to cover them? If you can give me generic names
for any treatments, so much the better, as trade names are different here
in France. I feel terribly guilty and inadequate, and would be grateful
for any advice.
Debbie (slave to 11 Dolly Mixtures)

"We patronize them for their incompleteness, 
for their tragic fate of having taken a form so far below ourselves. 
And therein we err, and greatly err. 
For the animal shall not be measured by man. 
In a world older and more complete than ours 
they move finished and complete, gifted 
with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, 
living by voices we shall never hear. 
They are not brethren, they are not underlings; 
they are other nations, caught with ourselves 
in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners 
of the splendour and travail of the earth". 
Henry Beston

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