[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Flaco Paco's swollen toe

[Ginger Hoffman]

Hi Everyone!

I know you haven't heard from us in a while, but whee are still here  
and enjoying the digest a lot.
Poor little Flaco Paco has a toe problem, and I'd love to get some  
advice (and to have you listen to the saga of my ridiculous day).   
Yesterday my boyfriend and I noticed Flaco's big toe on his right back  
paw was *really* swollen, and took him to a new vet today (our usual  
vet doesn't work on the weekends).  This vet had been recommended by a  
guinea pig lover (and was recommended as a good exotics vet from the  
house rabbit society), so I felt pretty confident.  However, the visit  
didn't go as ideally as I had hoped.  They were running very late, and  
managed to see us at 2 (our appt. was at 1:30), which was their  
closing time.  So there was an air of hurry, which didn't bode well  
for my questions.  Basically, little Flaco had somehow managed to get  
a hair wrapped very tightly around his toe, and it was cutting off his  
circulation.  The vet managed to remove it, had the tech put ointment  
on it, and bandage it nicely.  The tech told me that, if the bandage  
came off, I could just put some bacitracin on it and re-bandage it  
(which involved 5 different layers of different kinds of bandage).  I  
was a little worried, because I knew that some antibiotics are bad for  
piggies, but I couldn't remember which ones.  So I asked the vet (not  
the tech), and she told the tech to go get me some topical sulfatrim.   
But she also said they had put bacitracin on Flaco, and when I asked  
if that was safe, she said something pretty indirect, like "it's fine  
if animals lick it off," and then I tried to ask if it was safe for  
GUINEA PIGS, and I think she said it was fine, but it didn't seem like  
she was listening (she was doing a million things at once).

Anyway, then we get home and I look up the list of dangerous meds on  
guinealynx (http://www.guinealynx.info/dangerous_medications.html),  
and see bacitracin, and start trying to cut the bandage off as fast as  
humanly possible while my boyfriend calls Angell memorial (in Boston,  
where we are) to ask what to do.  By the time the bandage is off (it  
took *forever* to get it off) and I've already started rinsing his  
foot in water, the person at Angell says topical is okay.  So now I've  
taken off the bandage and exposed his poor foot to tap water, which  
I'm sure is full of bacteria (I was really rushed and I was convinced  
he was going to die from the bacitracin and figured tap water was  
worth the risk--I didn't have anything else).  Then I put the topical  
sulfatrim on and re-bandaged, which was extremely difficult and I'm  
sure I did an awful job.  I don't *think* it's too tight--I tried to  
be really careful about that.

So, I feel completely stupid for putting his foot under tap water.  I  
have a vet that makes housecalls, and I will try to get him out Monday  
to look at it.  I could go back to the first vet, but I'm not really  
sure how to feel about her.  I suppose she didn't do anything wrong by  
putting the bacitracin on topically, but why not use sulfatrim?  I  
think what happened is that the vet tech took over and didn't know,  
but that's not cool!

We have another issue too, which is how much metacam, if any, to  
give.  Flaco seems totally fine--is eating, hopping, chutting around-- 
it doesn't *seem* like he's in pain.  And I remember reading that  
metacam may make some piggies lose their appetite.  So my boyfriend  
doesn't want to give him any, and I want to give him maybe a half dose  
and see how he does.  Does anyone have any opinions about metacam?

Thanks for reading such a long post.  I just really had to get that  
off my chest.  I feel horrible in the first place for not noticing the  
toe sooner, and I'm just so worried it will get infected now!  (also,  
I forgot to mention he's on oral sulfatrim too, so hopefully that will  
be helpful (although we haven't given him the first dose yet)).  I  
also don't know whether to give this vet a second chance (clearly, I  
will use my visiting vet when I can schedule him, but I need a place  
open on Saturdays (or ideally, 24 hours)).  I know I can always go to  
Angell but I also know they are about 5 times more expensive than  
other places (and I don't think that's an exaggeration).  So if anyone  
in the area (Boston, MA) has a vet recommendation, that would be  
wonderful too.

Thank you so much for listening.  I'm sending healing thoughts to all  
ailing piggies, and to those slaves who recently lost a piggie.  You  
are in our prayers.

love,
Ginger (and Flaco Paco and Nosophoros)