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[sjeanguess]

Hello!

I have a question I've read many posts on this site and It's always helped me out with any questions. So now i have a question to actually ask this time. Ok i noticed in the last week of July this year that there were a few blood spots not big spots just small sized like the size of a pea sometimes maybe an almond. I decided to take Ham (my male 1yr old chin) out of his cage to do an inspection literally looking everywhere i could. I found a cut on his Left back foot and I cleaned out his cage of anything that he would've cut himself on. Also i cleaned his cage to keep an eye on the bleeding. It was a small cut I didn't feel the need to panic. So the next day there was maybe 1 small drop of blood and I checked him through out the week just to make sure and it seemed to heal on its own so I kinda brushed it off. But today i found some more fresh spots of blood and I'm not really sure on what to do. I'm beginning to panic and my Husband said not to worry so much that he probably opened his cut up again. But I can't help to worry he's my little buddy. So and I only have in his cage the bedding, a box he sleeps and plays in and his levels in his cage, his food dish, water bottle and this carrot sitting ledge rest. I'm not sure what to do Its not a big cut but it worries me that he was fine for almost 2 weeks with no visible blood or anything and now there is!! Help! Any Advice will be deeply appreciated.

-Stephanie

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

I would clean the foot and put a salve on it 3 times a day for a few days. I've mixed together neosporin and cortisone ointments, and that's worked well as a foot moisturizer for my chins. After the foot pad's healed, make it part of your weekly routine to check the foot, clean it if neccessary and apply the ointment. That will act as a preventative, and keep the cut from getting infected, resulting in bumblefoot(which is not easily cured).
My other suggestion is that if you have wire flooring in your cage, pad the floors with polarfleece fabric. This really helps ease the wear and tear on chinchilla feet. Fleece fabric is inexpensive - buy some by the yard and cut it up into  smaller pieces. Use a double thickness and you won't need to anchor it down. The neat thing about fleece is that it has no loose threads for chins to get caught up in or digest.The fleece will need to be changed daily, as it is polyester and will smell when it gets peed on.
You are right to be proactive about this. It's easy to address this now, and keep it under control.
Lori

[sjeanguess]

Thank you so much!! I've been worrying about my little guy and I wasn't really sure on where to begin or how to help him! I'll take your advice and try that out I appreciate it so very much for your response. And I've been doing my research on how to clean wounds for Chinchillas and what to keep on hand for a "Chinchilla First Aid Kit" I'm a pediatric nurse and I'm used to working with small fingers but my question is how can I keep this little cast on him with out him trying to chew it off. I've already had to replace it four times today lol he's a smart little guy any tips on how to keep it on him or how to make an E-cone I've usually seen them on dogs and cats but never for small pets. Also what is a bumble foot? and is that caused by continuous opening of the same wound? Because when we first rescued him i did notice when we first got him he had almost like callus like heels and I thought it was odd since our last Chinchilla didn't have those but i figured maybe he's different because he's our first Standard Grey Chin. Is that normal for them to have that? Thank you so much again for your advice and your time. I truly appreciate it! Have a wonderful day!

~ Stephanie

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

Hi,
So sorry for the late response, it's been such a busy week. If the cut is fairly superficial, you don't need to bandage or cast the foot. Frankly, there's really no way you'd ever be able to keep it on - chins chew stuff like that off as quick as you put it on. Once when we had a chin with a broken leg, my vet split a 3cc plastic syringe and then wrapped that with fabric tape - that did hold for 6 weeks.But of course that's overkill for the situation you have here.So apply an antibiotic ointment faithfully for a few days, keep the floors clean and covered, and then check the foot bi weekly or so to see if you need to keep moisturizing the footpad.
I wrote an article for the Chin Club Magazine on bumblefoot - you can access it from the archives if you're a member. If you can't find it, let me know and I can email it to you. Here's a paragraph from that article:
"Bumblefoot is defined as an infection and/or inflammation of the footpad and connective tissues of the foot. Often a callous will grow on the bottom of the feet, and a crack will form or ulcerate. Feet are particularly vulnerable to bacterial contamination (with bumblefoot, this is usually Staphylococcus aureus) and can invade this area, causing the inflammation and a resulting infection."
I'm still short on time here, but let us know if you have more questions. How is your chin doing?
Best wishes, Lori

[sjeanguess]

I understand time seems to always fly by without us knowing you responded at the perfect time!
I have been applying the ointment and he doesn't have a wired bottom cage its the kind that has him roaming around in the bedding. I have been cleaning his cage more then I usually do and we replaced his levels that were old thick plastic to poplar wood and its been a few day with out any blood spots but, literally about an hour ago (8:30pm) I noticed fresh blood and also I noticed there was some blood spots by his mouth and upper left paw. I took him out immediately to examine him and i noticed he chewed off his scab again! I don't understand it always goes about 2.5 days without any blood and then more blood and he keeps chewing off his scab. I'm not sure on what to do exactly in this case? Any tips would be very appreciated. Overall he's been acting as if nothing is out of the normal and not in any pain.Thank you so much for all of your help and advice I will look for your article on the website.
 
I appreciated your time and once again Thank you so much for your advice!

-Stephanie

[Lori Ramsey Earle]

Chins are such nibblers! Maybe after a couple of days, the scab becomes more noticable to your chin, maybe it itches a bit...hard to say. You could try brushing on some liquid bandage on the scab to see if that discourages the nibbling.
You might want to consider getting a cage that has a different floor situation. Even tho you're being diligent about cleaning the shavings, it's still more healthful to have a chin off the shavings completely.
Hope all works out for you with this.
Lori

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I have had a few that over groom their pads One caused such a bleed I thought she had a miscarriage .