Need advise!

[zoe-gee]

Hi!
One of my guinea-pigs (Buttons) has a small "thing" on his foot. It is sort of like another nail At first I thought it was just a piece of dried poop but now it has been there for a few days and seems to be stuck on and I dont no wot it is. He is definatly NOT in pain because he also lets me touch it.

What do you think????

[krittercrazy]

Where on the foot is it? Do you have a picture? It could be spurs. See this link Guinea Lynx :: Cavy Feet and Foot Problems

[zoe-gee]

thank you soo much that has helped!
It kind of looks like that but it is on the side of his foot.
Should I take him to the vets about it do you think or not because I dont no what to do?
And no I do not have a pic at the moment but will try to get 1 2moro.

[krittercrazy]

I don't think a vet visit for spurs would be needed. You can trim them much like toe nails, being careful not to clip to close to the skin. Personally if it is not bothering the pig, I wouldn't mess with it. Of course, keeping the pig and its home clean is important to prevent infection. Watch for him catching it on something and tearing it.

[zoe-gee]

ok thank you. I think i will just leave it for now but i am not sure how he got it as their cage is always clean because i clean it every 4 days!!!!
I have not managed to get a piccy yet but it doesnt matter tho.

And thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!! I would hav never of known any of this myself!!!
Zoe.x

[babybunny]

My Sammy had a spur when I adopted him. It freaked me out as well! However, I trimmed it off with some nail scissors, making sure not to cut to far to the live skin. That did the trick and seemed to improve his mobility.

[krittercrazy]

zoe-gee I did't mean to imply that your cage was dirty. The spurs are not necessarily caused by a dirty cage. If the spur rips off on its own so that it goes into the quick, a sore would be there for infection to get into. It is kind of like you getting a hang nail and ripping it off so that it goes into the quick.

[OSUCavies]

I found a spur on one of my pig's feet and was able to clip it without a problem and it did not return. Not sure if I would recommend this to someone who is not familiar with a piggy's feet and know what is okay and what is not. I just got lucky and did not manage to hurt the piggy in any way during the spur clipping.

I would take him to a vet.

[zoe-gee]

ok thank you everyone. It is still there but it is not causing him pain.
Krittercrazy - I no you did not mean to say that my cage could be dirty I was just making it clear so that everyone could know as I did not know if this was a cause of spurs.
Thank you everyone and I am going to take him 2 the vets next week as I am not confident in doing it myself.

[aqh88]

It's not a nail with a quick. It's more like a skin callous that gets out of hand. I would think it's somewhat uncomfortable and if it rips off it could lead to an open wound and infection so best to clip it. You don't need a vet. I usually remove spurs as best I can when I trim nails. Sometimes they go away after being clipped a few times and some are there everytime. Noone is sure what causes them since pigs get them on any kind of bedding and some pigs will always have them worse than others.