Conditions 7 Year Old Pig with Arthritis and Bumblefoot

NicholsS10 · Feb 5, 2015

It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I want some advice from other guinea pig lovers.

I only have one guinea pig left from my herd, my 7 year old sow, BoJangles (Bo).

Over the summer she was diagnosed with arthritis, and to make a long story short, she's on 2 different medications daily to control her arthritis symptoms: 0.35cc of Metacam every night and 0.10cc of Gabapentin every morning. Recently I started her on a physical therapy regiment every 3 to 4 days to help strengthen her legs (walking/swimming in the bathtub for about 10 to 15 minutes). Her arthritis is pretty well controlled now, as long as I can keep her strength up.

Because of her age, her nails don't grow much anymore, so it was only a few days ago that I noticed what I believe to be bumblefoot developing on her front 2 paws. Since I give regular updates to her vet via e-mail (her vet is 90 minutes away since I'm in college, and the local vets are terrible with guinea pigs), I took pictures of her feet, and sent them to my vet. She confirmed my diagnosis and started her on Trimeth Sulfa 0.35cc twice a day (I had a decent amount leftover from November that was being kept in the refrigerator just in case I needed it). She has also recommended doing epsom salt soaks. I called the vet this evening since I have more questions, but she won't be in until tomorrow.

I looked up and read the page on bumblefoot on guinealynx.info which was quite informative; however, I was wondering if anyone had personal experience with bumblefoot that can give me tips and tricks for dealing with it?

Has anyone tried and/or had success with diluted betadine soak? If so, how much do you dilute and how often do you do them?
Should I apply cold pressed virgin organic coconut oil after epsom salt soaks to prevent drying?
What about chlorhexidine solution soaks? How much do you dilute? How often do you soak? Is this better than betadine? Would I use the coconut oil after this as well?

SHOULD I wrap her feet? This is something I keep asking myself...Even with everything I do for her arthritis, she still stumbles from time to time, I wonder if wrapping her feet are going to make it too difficult for her to move properly, and I CANNOT allow her to stop moving less than she is now, she would weaken further. If I wrap her feet, is there something I can wrap her feet with that won't effect her mobility too much? I read on guinealynx that someone recommended new skin wound and blister and band-aid brand corn relief cushion...if I soak her feet twice a day, putting those on and off may be irritating...What about something waterproof so I can continue her physical therapy (it's not something I can really stop while her bumblefoot heals...)

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you everyone in advance! (Below is a picture of her bad paws)

bpatters · Feb 5, 2015

Soaks are a good idea. I don't think it makes any difference whether you use betadine or chlorhexadine. With either one, you need to dilute it (at least 10 parts water to 1 part medicine), keep the pig from drinking it, and rinse the feet well when you're done. The coconut oil will also help, and itself has some antibiotic properties.

Several people have recommended an upside-down bottle cap as a good soaking vessel. If you stick one (or two, in your case) down to something, you can sit with the pig, feet in the bottle caps, and feed her goodies while she's soaking.

As far as how long, that'll probably depend more on the pig than on you. You should aim for 10 minutes twice a day. Since she's an older pig and not as active as a pup, you might be able to get that. If not, come as close as you can.

I think most people find that wraps don't work too well. But a few pigs will leave them alone, and they work fine in that case. They help keep the feet clean, and you can put a bit of antibiotic cream on the feet if she doesn't remove the bandages. Just don't use the cream if the bandages won't stay on, as she'll lick her feet and ingest the medicine. That's not good at any age, but you surely don't want a digestive upset with a pig as old as she is.

If she's bedded on fleece with soft pads underneath, and if you keep the fleece very clean, you can probably get by without the wraps.

Good luck with her, and let us know how she gets along.

NicholsS10 · Feb 5, 2015

bpatters said:
If she's bedded on fleece with soft pads underneath, and if you keep the fleece very clean, you can probably get by without the wraps.

She's in a very large C&C with 3 layers of folded towels and a layer of fleece. I keep my apartment in the upper 70's to help keep her warm, but she likes to spend most of her time underneath an upside down cuddle cup to help keep her warm. I move the location of it every 12 hours since she likes to do her business under there. Since her arthritis has improved, it's not nearly as messy, but still gets more messy than if she were a young pig.

Thanks for the tips and advice though. I'll keep an update of her bumblefoot...I just kind of feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't with wrapping her feet...

ClemmyOddieIndy · Feb 5, 2015

This past summer I adopted a pig around 7ish years old with severe bumblefoot. I did the Epsom salt soaks. I tried the betadine and chlorhexadine and both times she jumped a mile like it hurt really bad. She was immobile because of a large tumor on her leg, so when she moved that fast I knew it must've hurt. I soaked her feet for at least 10 minutes in the morning, and 10 at night. Then I would use Silvadene (I think that's how you spell it) which I think was a sulfa based topical cream. The combo of the two really made a drastic improvement in her feet over the 3 months I had her before she passed away from the cancer.

ETA: The only time we wrapped her feet was when they would remove the excess skin off them and it would make them bleed. We would wrap them for a day or two, and then I would take the wraps off.

bpatters · Feb 5, 2015

I think silvadene is a silver sulfadiazene compound. Using it would probably help, and is a better idea than a topical antibiotic.

I haven't used betadine or chlorhexadine on my pigs, but I have on myself. I never noticed that a dilute solution hurt at all, but a strong one can not only sting, but is very strong smelling, in the case of chlorhexadine.

NicholsS10 · Feb 5, 2015

Do you think that using a topical antibiotic AND doing soaks with either betadine or chlorhexadine would be too much? Or does that really depend on the pig? I worry that she'll have a harder time fighting off the infection because of her age.

I also don't know if I should have mentioned this or not, but her other health issue is that she has systemic ovaries (I think that's what they are called). One of her ovaries is the size of mine, the vet said she would recommend a spay, but at her age the risk of putting her under is enormous.

bpatters · Feb 6, 2015

I don't know whether a two-pronged approach would be better or not. It probably wouldn't hurt to try.

Did the vet mention giving her hormone injections for the ovarian cyst? Sows sometimes get a very good response from that. I'd worry about the possibility of the cyst rupturing, plus it may be painful. Having had one myself, I know that they can be.

ClemmyOddieIndy · Feb 6, 2015

bpatters said:
I think silvadene is a silver sulfadiazene compound. Using it would probably help, and is a better idea than a topical antibiotic.

I haven't used betadine or chlorhexadine on my pigs, but I have on myself. I never noticed that a dilute solution hurt at all, but a strong one can not only sting, but is very strong smelling, in the case of chlorhexadine.

I don't know, I over-diluted both and she acted like it hurt. I've never used chlorhexadine myself, but I use betadine and we use it on our horses all the time. I've never diluted betadine in my own use and I do agree i stings.

Your right about the Silvadene. I was so tired last night I couldn't think about it beyond the name. Too many late nights of grading students papers, and preping for my own classes caught up with me last night. :-(

To the OP, the pig I adopted was 7ish years old, suffering from cystic ovaries, a cystic kidney, one agressive cancer that manifested in a tumor that took over her entire leg and another non-cancerous but growing tumor on her back that was bigger than a golf ball. All in addition to bumble foot that had not been treated for years. Her feet were each 2-3x the normal size of guinea pig feet. With the treatment of Epsome salt soaks, changing the bedding every 12 hours, and Silvadene her feet were back down to almost a normal size (actually about how yours look.. it was a drastically better than when I got her) when she passed away after 3 months.

For the cysts talk to your vet about Lupron or hCG. With Daisy, because she was 7ish years old, we did Lupron injections. She didn't really live long enough for me to gauge if it helped, but I've read stories that it can. I used hCG with another pig who had an ovary and uterus removed in a previous surgery. The remaining ovary turned cystic a few months later, and instead of doing surgery again we used the hCG and in her case we did see improvements and her symptoms went away.

Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Conditions 7 Year Old Pig with Arthritis and Bumblefoot

NicholsS10

Well-known Member

bpatters

Moderator

NicholsS10

Well-known Member

ClemmyOddieIndy

Well-known Member

bpatters

Moderator

NicholsS10

Well-known Member

bpatters

Moderator

ClemmyOddieIndy

Well-known Member

Similar threads

Share this Page

Newest members

Online statistics

Key Resources

Members online