Here's what my little Igor's foot looked like before we took him to the vet:
The doctor was feeling around his foot and said she could feel a hard lump. I asked if it was Bumblefoot, and she said yes, and that it's caused by walking on hard surfaces like cement, putting more weight on one foot if they hurt themselves, and getting things stuck in their foot. If something's stuck in their foot, the infection is caused by wet bedding and poop getting into the puncture. She said his foot needed to be lanced. If he was put under Anastasia, it would have costed $220 including the exam. I asked if there was a cheaper option, and the doctor said that she could try to numb his foot to get the pus out, and not include some things so it would cost $160. But if he doesn't hold still, he'd need to be put under Anastasia. So we went with the later. The doctor asked us if we would rather wait in the other room, or stay and watch. She said there would be a lot of blood and pus, but we were ready for it. The guy held Igor against his chest and and held his feet for the doctor. She cleaned his foot with chlorhexadine, and poked a needle in a couple different places on his foot to numb it. She picked the scab off, and went into the hole that was already there on the bottom of his foot with surgery scissors, or whatever you call them, and stretched it out a little. She pulled out a couple balls of pus. She then cut into the top of his foot with a scalpel knife, and fished out MOUNDS of pus with some sort of tool with two small metal things sticking out or something like that. There was a LOT of blood and pus. She cut a hole all the way through his foot. she flushed it out with saline using a big syringe with a long thin hose piece attached to it, and the saline would come out the other side of his foot. She flushed, fished some pus out with the tool, flushed, and fished some pus out until it was all out. She stretched the skin a little whenever she needed to. She used about 2 big syringe fulls of saline.
The pus is different than human pus:
After the surgery, she cut two squares of sterile antibacterial non-stick pads and put them on each wound, then rapped his foot with gauze pad going in between his toes, vet rap that can stick to itself, and some duck tape to water proof. She cut smaller pieces of duck tape to go in between his toes. She said not to rap it tight. I asked if we could use triple antibiotic ointment, and she said it was fine. She said to change the bandage every 2-3 days and keep his foot dry. When I change the bandage, I have to use a wet cloth and make sure both wounds stay open. If there's a scab, it needs to come off so that it doesn't get infected again. She said to use deluted betadine solution to flush it out. She said to keep the bandage on until new skin is under the scabs. I have to give him pain medication that's grape flavored (Meloxicam) that also reduces swelling for a week, and antibiotics for 2 weeks. The dosage for Igor is 0.5 ML. Dosage is based on weight. The guy showed me how to give them both to Igor. I asked if the infection can spread to humans, and he said you could get the pus all over you and it wouldn't spread, but that he didn't recommend it lol. The antibiotics they gave us is Trimethoprim Sulfa broken into 1/4 tablets, dosage is also based on weight. Igor weighs 3.5 pounds, and he's 10 weeks old. I have to give him the antibiotics every 12 hours. He has to be kept away from water and needs lots of rest. I've been keeping him in a big storage bin in the house so he can heal.
All rapped up:
These are the care instructions for him:
This is what we got from CVS pharmacy to rap his foot:
Igor was such a good boy the entire time! Here's the original thread with tons of pics, and lots of useful information from some amazing people that helped me figure this out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1066081/duck-with-bumblefoot-warning-viewer-discretion-is-advised
The doctor was feeling around his foot and said she could feel a hard lump. I asked if it was Bumblefoot, and she said yes, and that it's caused by walking on hard surfaces like cement, putting more weight on one foot if they hurt themselves, and getting things stuck in their foot. If something's stuck in their foot, the infection is caused by wet bedding and poop getting into the puncture. She said his foot needed to be lanced. If he was put under Anastasia, it would have costed $220 including the exam. I asked if there was a cheaper option, and the doctor said that she could try to numb his foot to get the pus out, and not include some things so it would cost $160. But if he doesn't hold still, he'd need to be put under Anastasia. So we went with the later. The doctor asked us if we would rather wait in the other room, or stay and watch. She said there would be a lot of blood and pus, but we were ready for it. The guy held Igor against his chest and and held his feet for the doctor. She cleaned his foot with chlorhexadine, and poked a needle in a couple different places on his foot to numb it. She picked the scab off, and went into the hole that was already there on the bottom of his foot with surgery scissors, or whatever you call them, and stretched it out a little. She pulled out a couple balls of pus. She then cut into the top of his foot with a scalpel knife, and fished out MOUNDS of pus with some sort of tool with two small metal things sticking out or something like that. There was a LOT of blood and pus. She cut a hole all the way through his foot. she flushed it out with saline using a big syringe with a long thin hose piece attached to it, and the saline would come out the other side of his foot. She flushed, fished some pus out with the tool, flushed, and fished some pus out until it was all out. She stretched the skin a little whenever she needed to. She used about 2 big syringe fulls of saline.
The pus is different than human pus:
After the surgery, she cut two squares of sterile antibacterial non-stick pads and put them on each wound, then rapped his foot with gauze pad going in between his toes, vet rap that can stick to itself, and some duck tape to water proof. She cut smaller pieces of duck tape to go in between his toes. She said not to rap it tight. I asked if we could use triple antibiotic ointment, and she said it was fine. She said to change the bandage every 2-3 days and keep his foot dry. When I change the bandage, I have to use a wet cloth and make sure both wounds stay open. If there's a scab, it needs to come off so that it doesn't get infected again. She said to use deluted betadine solution to flush it out. She said to keep the bandage on until new skin is under the scabs. I have to give him pain medication that's grape flavored (Meloxicam) that also reduces swelling for a week, and antibiotics for 2 weeks. The dosage for Igor is 0.5 ML. Dosage is based on weight. The guy showed me how to give them both to Igor. I asked if the infection can spread to humans, and he said you could get the pus all over you and it wouldn't spread, but that he didn't recommend it lol. The antibiotics they gave us is Trimethoprim Sulfa broken into 1/4 tablets, dosage is also based on weight. Igor weighs 3.5 pounds, and he's 10 weeks old. I have to give him the antibiotics every 12 hours. He has to be kept away from water and needs lots of rest. I've been keeping him in a big storage bin in the house so he can heal.
All rapped up:
These are the care instructions for him:
This is what we got from CVS pharmacy to rap his foot:
Igor was such a good boy the entire time! Here's the original thread with tons of pics, and lots of useful information from some amazing people that helped me figure this out:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1066081/duck-with-bumblefoot-warning-viewer-discretion-is-advised
Last edited:
My LGD puppy was playing too rough with him during training and killed him. But he recovered well after surgery, and lived a year afterwards. Thanks for asking. 
so sorry!
