Skin Problems red feet

[muddygrl]

one of my guinea pigs, has pinkish/white feet normally and I was checking him over last sunday and noticed his two back feet seemed pinker than normal on the bottom of them ONLY. I was thinking maybe from sitting in his pee. I clean their cage once a week (they are on pine bedding) but they tend to pee in their huts a lot which isn't good. So today I was checking again and they look redder/pinker, not quite right, but NOT swollen and no cracks or open sores, just the reddish area. I can try to get pictures tomorrow. What should I do other than just clean out the huts more often or take away the huts so he won't sit in the same spot all the time?

 

[bpatters]

It's a good idea to move the huts every day so they're not sitting in the same place, and to make sure to keep the cage clean.

But you also need to prevent bumblefoot. If there are no breaks in the skin, then soak the feet in warm water (upside down bottle caps make good pig foot baths) for a few minutes, then dry well. Rub with cold pressed virgin coconut oil (available at pharmacies and some grocery stores, but don't get regular coconut oil). Do this for several days and see if they improve.

If there are breaks in the skin, do the same treatment except soak the feet in a dilute (very pale blue) solution of chlorhexidine instead of water.

Also see http://www.guinealynx.info/feet.html.

 

[muddygrl]

Thank you. I will try that. When you say cold pressed coconut oil, will it hurt them if it's not? I have a big jar of coconut oil, but it doesn't say if it's cold pressed or not. Its extra virgin organ by vitacost. I don't want this to turn into bumblefoot.

 

[bpatters]

If this is what you have, it's cold pressed http://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-extra-virgin-certified-organic-coconut-oil-non-gmo-54-fl-oz

If it's not cold pressed, it's been heated enough to kill some of the beneficial elements in it.