So I noticed that my leghorn had a really swelled foot the other day. She wasn't even limping on it so I didn't catch it at first, and don't know how long it's been like this. I finally got all the tools to do Bumblefoot surgery, and started in on it tonight. I soaked her feet in Epsom salt water for just a minute or so to wash her dirty feet off. Then I put her under a towel on her side and started.
I watched a YouTube video of a guy just picking the scab off and then working the other gunk out by messaging it out. So I peeled the scab off, which wasn't all that big (about as big as an unpopped popcorn kernel.). It started bleeding, which made seeing in there a bit tricky. I dug I little bit with my tweezers and scalpel, but nothing much more than blood came out for a while.
I was hesitant to make the hole any bigger, since it was good tissue and it would just start bleeding more. I tried just cutting a little bit of the good skin off at a time, then I'd try to work the infection out. Finally, some bloody puss came out. Not much, but some. I worked a little more, when suddenly a big, yellow plug popped out. It was a little less than centimeter long, and about as wide as a pencil, maybe less. I kept trying to work more out after, since my gut told me there was still some in there based on the stiffness of the foot at that point. Then there was this stringy looking white stuff. I would grab onto it with my paper towel or tweezers, and it would tear inside the foot and not pull all the way out. She didn't squirm at all while doing this to her. The bigger part of this stringy stuff had more of a tendon feel. I felt weird pulling on this. Though it was right in huge, middle of the pad, I thought maybe it could have been some sort of ligament or tendon. I stopped pulling and ended the surgery.
At one point, I noticed on the top of her foot, inbetween her toes, the infection was pretty bad, and I could see darkness through the thin skin. I made a small slice and there was a big of bloody puss that came out of there, too.
After stopping with that foot, I realized the other foot had a black scab on it. Other than the black scab, it looks completely normal. I peeled it off but didn't see much under it. There was a yellow hint under the scab, which I poked and scraped at with the scalpel, but it started to bleed healthy blood so I stopped and bandaged both feet up.
I have pictures from before and after, but I'm house sitting and can't get to my desktop computer, and this iPad won't accept my phones pictures. Bah, technology.
Any advice? This is my first surgery and I was very nervous, and I could tell the leghorn was, too.
I watched a YouTube video of a guy just picking the scab off and then working the other gunk out by messaging it out. So I peeled the scab off, which wasn't all that big (about as big as an unpopped popcorn kernel.). It started bleeding, which made seeing in there a bit tricky. I dug I little bit with my tweezers and scalpel, but nothing much more than blood came out for a while.
I was hesitant to make the hole any bigger, since it was good tissue and it would just start bleeding more. I tried just cutting a little bit of the good skin off at a time, then I'd try to work the infection out. Finally, some bloody puss came out. Not much, but some. I worked a little more, when suddenly a big, yellow plug popped out. It was a little less than centimeter long, and about as wide as a pencil, maybe less. I kept trying to work more out after, since my gut told me there was still some in there based on the stiffness of the foot at that point. Then there was this stringy looking white stuff. I would grab onto it with my paper towel or tweezers, and it would tear inside the foot and not pull all the way out. She didn't squirm at all while doing this to her. The bigger part of this stringy stuff had more of a tendon feel. I felt weird pulling on this. Though it was right in huge, middle of the pad, I thought maybe it could have been some sort of ligament or tendon. I stopped pulling and ended the surgery.
At one point, I noticed on the top of her foot, inbetween her toes, the infection was pretty bad, and I could see darkness through the thin skin. I made a small slice and there was a big of bloody puss that came out of there, too.
After stopping with that foot, I realized the other foot had a black scab on it. Other than the black scab, it looks completely normal. I peeled it off but didn't see much under it. There was a yellow hint under the scab, which I poked and scraped at with the scalpel, but it started to bleed healthy blood so I stopped and bandaged both feet up.
I have pictures from before and after, but I'm house sitting and can't get to my desktop computer, and this iPad won't accept my phones pictures. Bah, technology.
Any advice? This is my first surgery and I was very nervous, and I could tell the leghorn was, too.
