Hermes - boar bite

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:45 am


Chlorhex is drying. It was my understanding that povidone iodine is less drying (this is from Vicki of JPGPR). It took me a while to work out a method of protecting the foot.

It might also work to soak, dry the foot thoroughly, and apply a small amount of a triple antibiotic ointment as that might seal up the puncture from dirt entry.

I'd also bed on towels.

pinta

Post   » Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:07 pm


Wrapping in a figure 8 usually works well: wrap bandage(or gauze) a couple of times around end of foot, Cross over front of ankle, wrap around back of ankle and cross back over front of ankle returning to base of foot. Repeat figure 8 if necessary.

Repeat with trimmed strip of vetwrap. Place tape around the top of ankle making sure you contact the hair and skin as well as the vetwrap. This guarantees the bandage stays on. There will be hair loss when the bandage is changed(and a pissed pig) but it's a small price to pay to prevent infection from contamination.

Place piece of waterproof bandage tape on base of foot. I put two strips on going slightly up the sides, and cut small slits in the ends so I can taper them over the toe tips. This is to protect the bandage from poops and pee on the ground. Check bandage every few hours to make sure it's still dry.

My bandages stay on my pigs' feet.

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Brimstone
For Rocky

Post   » Mon Dec 26, 2005 7:52 pm


Pinta - thanks for that detailed explanation. We'll try the figure 8 this evening.

I think I'm pretty well stocked-up for bandaging now. Today I went out and bought vet wrap, gauze pads, non-stick gauze pads, Qtips, cotton pads (for cleaning), and liquid bandage. I don't want to use the liquid bandage though, because I'm afraid if I haven't cleaned the wound enough then I'll just be sealing bacteria into the wound. There's one scab or dried blood that's been tough to get off. I'll keep working at it.

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Brimstone
For Rocky

Post   » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:27 pm


Now Hermes has what appears to be bumblefoot on both his back feet. The feet have bright pink/red spots and are just a little bit scabbed. They're not swollen or oozing anything. Don't seem sensitive to touch. It's like he wore new shoes and got hot spots or blisters.

I've been washing his feet with diluted povidone iodine solution and tried soaking his feet yesterday. But how should I soak his feet? Is soaking both back feet at the same time recommended? What does that do to his genitals to be soaking in an antiseptic solution?

I think this came about from Hermes hiding in one corner of the cage for hours at a time. We've since taken away his hidey spot, which feels a bit mean but we need to force this pig to move more. We also leave more of the cage covered during the day so he feels less need to just hide in one spot.

Hermes lives alone. After Graham and Rocky died we tried to pair Hermes with his brother Apollo again. That resulted in nasty bloody wounds to both of them. We've decided that Hermes just can't be trusted to live with anyone. So he sits in the corner of his loney little cage and gets sores on his feet. He spends floortime everyday running up and down the divider wall yelling at the other pigs. Gets plenty of exercise while he's on the floor. I just wish he moved more in the cage.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:37 pm


Check Nina's pic:
https://www.guinealynx.info/antiseptic_solutions.html

Maybe you could use a small bowl? Hard to do both at one time. You could soak with a dilute salt solution which might be fine for his genitals.

I would do this, thoroughly dry them off, wrap with gauze and bandage. See the bandaging page for more info.

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Brimstone
For Rocky

Post   » Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:43 pm


Thanks, Lynx. I had looked at that page earlier tonight and remembered Nina's pic. I used a plastic Tupperware-type container that was just big enough to fit Hermes' back half. I could probably use the same container and just stick one foot in at a time. His left foot is more scabbed than his right.

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Brimstone
For Rocky

Post   » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:34 pm


The good news is I haven't had to update this thread in almost 5 years. The further good news is that as of sometime this month Hermes is 7 years old.

The bad news is that he's had a few health problems in the past few months. Most troublesome is a fractured lower incisor. It's cracked all the way down to the gumline and we can wiggle the splintered piece. The vets Dremeled his teeth even a few weeks ago in hopes of helping him eat (his molars are fine) and letting his tooth grow out unfractured. No luck. His lower incisors are now jagged and at an angle:
Image
Image

The crack extends to the gumline, which looks a bit swollen:
Image

He's been on tramadol for pain and he's been eating better and looking more perky. Spouse talked to the vet on the phone the other day and the vet said if the splintered piece is loose and doesn't seem to be causing Hermes pain we could try to pull it out. We tried that tonight but he cried out so I think pulling on it hurts. The wiggling didn't seem to bother him though.

I'm going to email these pics to the vet. We need to at least get more pain killers for him. He's still eating, so that's good. Given his age I'm thinking of him a palliative patient at this point and focusing on meds and procedures that will keep him comfortable and give him quality of life. I'm very hesitant to put him under and have the whole tooth extracted.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:19 pm


It may be growing in split rather than cracked (not easy to explain but the two look wider together than the one that is okay). But I do hope it starts growing in okay.

Your pics are great. Let me know if you'd like them permanently added.

I would do minor corrections and level them. Then watch closely and see if he is able to close his mouth evenly. What I wonder is if something is wrong/muscles week/ on one side. Maybe the chin sling might help him?

www.guinealynx.info/.html

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Brimstone
For Rocky

Post   » Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:39 pm


Lynx - feel free to add them to the thread permanently.

The teeth were leveled up 2 weeks ago. Just goes to show how quickly their teeth can grow.

I hadn't thought about a jaw problem. The vets did say he seems to have some arthritis (not surprising given his age). One vet also thought maybe there was something wrong with the root of the tooth that was causing it to grow out cracked.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:36 am


"One vet also thought maybe there was something wrong with the root of the tooth that was causing it to grow out cracked."

In my experience -- this one.

We had a boar who chewed his bars incessantly. And I do mean incessantly. He was fairly mellow otherwise, so ??? but I do mean incessantly.

He developed the same problem on an upper incisor. No indication of an abscess but the vet said there was some infection present, so we were given Bactrim and metronidazole. The vet referred us to an exotics specialist here in town.

She extracted the tooth. I was in her office for four (4) hours. MacchuPiggu was under for one hour and forty-five minutes (1.75 hours). I was firmly convinced I would be taking home a dead pig.

He recovered, with Baytril and handfeeding. The root, however, is very very very difficult to get out completely, so after a while he had a thing sticking out of his mouth that looked a little like a sea anemone. We just clipped the 'fangs' ourselves at home.

He recovered well, maintained weight on his own pretty well, ate normally and passed quite a bit later of an unrelated tumor.

I would NOT NOT NOT have the tooth removed. Pain med is good; of course he needs to continue to eat, and watch for "shards" forming (such as the little piece at the bottom of his lower gum). You'll need to take those out/off if at all possible.

He may need regular dental trim-ups; the molars may or may not become seriously involved (MacchuPiggu's didn't require more than the occasional trim). The main thing is that he remain able to eat on his own.

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Brimstone
For Rocky

Post   » Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:33 pm


Thanks for sharing MacchuPiggu's (cute name) story. In his younger days Hermes was quite the bar chewer. I wonder if that continual percussion causes some sort of trauma to the tooth?

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:02 am


My husband and I think that's exactly what happens. No way to prove it, but that's our best theory.

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