Swollen feet? Possible mites?

[moose]

Our 2 year old female guinea had a pronounced limp about a week ago. Noticed a rear foot was swollen nearest the toes. Took her to the vet, xrays show no fractures or breaks just soft tissue swelling, no puncture or open wound to indicate bumblefoot, no other symptoms, etc. The vet put her on a course of antibiots and Metacam for pain. We've been hand feeding her to make sure she gets water and food in. Two weeks of anti-biotics later, the swelling near the toes has gone down but is now more pronounced in the back of the foot. In addition, the other foot is also now swollen near the "heel". She's still eating and drinking but is not as active as she would be and obviously, it's uncomfortable to put weight on her back legs.

She's in a cage with no grate, using the right bedding, keeping the cage extra clean, lots of water, daily pellets, lots of hay and greens.

Any suggestions?

On a separate note but possibly related, I thought I became allergic to her because every time I picked her up, my arms and neck were itchy. Now my daughter is complaining of the same thing. The vet says no mites but how do we explain the sudden itchiness when handling her?

[rabbitsncavyluv]

It wouldn't hurt to treat for mites. Some people become allergic and break out when they handle pigs with mites.

What kind of bedding and what size cage do you have? Poor circulation due to lack of exercise may be a factor.

This page may help you Guinea Lynx :: Cavy Feet and Foot Problems

Bumblefoot isn't necessarily open wounds. It can be a swollen foot pad or infection.

You may want to switch to towels/fleece and see if that helps. May be softer on her feet. Sometimes a longer course of ABs is needed.

[moose]

I can't think of the name of the bedding but it's the organic stuff that looks like torn newspaper with no metal grate in the bottom of the cage. It's the larger size that's sold in the pet store (more like a rabbit hutch then a hamster cage). We do take her out for playtime on a regular basis.

We've been cleaning her cage more often and placed folded towels on one side to give her a softer place to lie.

We're on round two of anti-biotics and still no improvement. The vet has no suggestions and doesn't know what could be causing the swelling which hasn't improved. Her next suggested course of action is take tissue samples and send them out for testing (she's had 3 xrays with no damage to the bone, only soft tissue swelling).

I'm at a loss as to what to do. She will not put weight on her backend now since both feet are swollen. She is eating very well (we're giving her lots of hay, greens and a piece of apple here and there for a treat and she's devouring it) and seems to be pottying just fine (no diarrhea, etc).

I hate to see her obviously uncomfortable like this.

[piggly wiggly]

Try making a c&c cage so she has lots of room to play, this may help. As rabbitsandcavylove mentioned, it may be bad circulation. Hopefully it's nothing too serious. Good luck!

[Weatherlight]

What a/bs have been tried?