A cavy with bomblefoot can not be mistaken for anything else. Usually it is one of the cavy's front feet that swells up to about ten times bigger than normal. When it comes to bumblefoot the key word is an enlarged (or swollen) foot. In guinea pigs it is usually the front feet that are affected, in rats it is the back feet. Usually only one of the feet, sometimes two.
Bumblefoot is also called pododermatitis in the veterinary litterature... The infectious agent causing this problem is often the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, but there might also (rarely) be a fungus involved.
Bumblefoot is dangerous to the guinea pig if not treated (contrary to bumblefoot in the rat), since it is known to affect the liver, spleen, kidneys and adrenal glands in severe cases. Since that happens a while later it is usually not noticed that there is a connection.
The Harkness/Wagner book The Biology and Medicine
of Rabbits and Rodents states that the inflammation
infiltrates joints, tendon sheats and connective tissue,
and easily progress to arthritis. This book defines
bumblefoot as cronic. Happily I have seen piggies that
have recovered, like my pet Fnistan, but the
treatment will mean hard work on your part...
Fnistan got totally cured!
Here you can see more photos of my pet Fnistan. She was a black curly (a curly is a shorthaired lunkarya) with some golden in her face.
The Richardson book Deseases of Domestic Guinea Pigs states that bumblefoot in guinea pigs is often caused by rough flooring of the cage and not cleaning the cage enough. From other sorces I have been advised that bumblefoot in piggies is associated with inaction, but I personnally have a hard time believing that since my pet Fnistan was - like all my piggies - a freeroamer (meaning that she was never locked up in any cage) and she was for certain the most active of all my female I've ever owned! And it was Fnistan that developed bumblefoot.
My advice is: Visit the vet urgently if your piggie gets bumblefoot! Be sure to contact a vet that is experienced with piggies.
Also never keep your piggies on wire or abrasive
floor or rough bedding...
Copyright Eva Johansson.
Last update: 12th of February 2006.