Early bumblefoot

[austroberta]

My Welsh Harlequin Duck, Solrikka, started limping around 5 days ago. I picked her up and noticed what looks like the beginnings of bumblefoot. We've been doing twice daily soaks with Espsom Salt for 8 minutes at a time and then slathering the affected area with neosporin. We're also confining her to the duck run.

I've taken a really bad picture. You can somewhat see a raised, swollen are with a dark dot in the middle. The swollen area is not soft and squishy, but firm. She doesn't seem to be improving, so I'm wondering if there is anything else I should be doing. I'm adverse to cutting it out now, especially since I don't see that dark scab yet.

She's eating, drinking pooping and laying well, however, I can definitely see that foot doesn't feel good.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[CoriM]

That looks just like the bumblefoot I've been dealing with on my welsh over the last few weeks. I have a post up on BYC titled "is this bumblefoot" that you can look at and see a very similar picture. She had hard lump with teeny spot in the middle and was limping badly. Soaks weren't doing it. I started to pick at the scab with a scalpel (actually a sharp paper cutter cleaned with alcohol) and still continuing with soaks and bandaging - vetericyn and neosporing. I was getting tiny bits of crusty yellow stuff out. Eventually I just picked away more around the edge and the hole got larger. I was feeling frustrated that I wasn't figuring out how to take care of it when a couple days ago the scabby area around the edge of the hole was getting quite large and I just picked it all off. A chunk of stuff was attached and came out with that. I assume it was the kernel. I then packed it with neosporin and bandaged. The swelling has now gone down quite a bit and the scab is more flat and black. She walks quite a bit better too. I plan to continue soaking and bandaging until the final scab is gone. I saw this blog post the other day about a welsh with bumblefoot -scroll down for photos - and it looked just like my duck's when I started with her: https://afarmgirlinthemaking.com/naturally-treating-bumblefoot/
Hope this helps. You might need to just start picking at the scab and getting out what you can.

 

[Isaac 0]

Thanks! Right now, the scab looks really small. There's not much to pick at. I'm hesitant to take a scalpel to it a) because I'm not confident about what I am doing and b) it's been raining lately and the ground is moist. It does feel like a hard 'kernel' has formed, but I the little dot in the middle of the swelling isn't really a big enough gateway for me to get at it without doing more harm than good. I'm hoping that eventually the 'scab' will get larger and I will be able to soak it and take it off.

Don't force it, I like to soak the core for a few days in warm Epsom salt water to loosen it up, it usually comes off pretty easy with a pair of tweezers, after that, put a ointment or vetericyn on the wound and bandage the foot right up.

 

[Isaac 0]

That's the part that has me frustrated. I've been soaking it for about five days...twice a day. It's not getting big enough for me to pull it off. Maybe I'm not soaking it for long enough? I usually soak for 8 minutes.

Have you tried massaging the core each time? Eight minutes is plenty long .

 

[austroberta]

Have you tried massaging the core each time? Eight minutes is plenty long .

No, I haven't. Would a massage with the tip of my finger work?

 

[Miss Lydia]

My Runners bumble never did get a scab I ended up taking her to the vet since I wasn’t even sure it was bumble since it wasn’t like any I had seen. I did take the scalpel to it after she had been on antibiotic and meloxicam for 7 days I managed to pop the kernel out packed it with triple and bandaged her foot. I’d just keep what you doing up until it comes to a head. I had a splinter in my foot last week ( old wood floors) and I used a drawing salve to pull it out maybe try something like that on it after soaks. Eventually

your going to have to go in an get it out either with something very sharp or tweezers rarely does bumble just up an go away.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I agree with @Miss Lydia about needing to get it out. My Pekin duck has been dealing with a bone/joint infection for over a month now and we're still tending to her multiple times a day, every single day. This all escalated quickly and I truly believe she was hiding her suffering from bumblefoot for a while before she could barely get around. She lost over 2lbs in a very short time. It was bad. Ducks hide any discomfort for a long time, so I've found that I need to treat quickly and aggressively (I wouldn't want to do surgery either unless all other options were unsuccessful). You've got some amazing and knowledgeable folks here that have quite a bit of experience treating this, plus support from your vet. I wish you all the very best

 

[CoriM]

Wow, that sounds great. I just received some prid in the mail and will try that next time. When I had my first case of bumble last spring same thing happened to me, I got all geared up for the dreaded surgery and the scab came off revealing perfectly healthy tissue. So happy for you!

 

[austroberta]

Thanks! Right now, the scab looks really small. There's not much to pick at. I'm hesitant to take a scalpel to it a) because I'm not confident about what I am doing and b) it's been raining lately and the ground is moist. It does feel like a hard 'kernel' has formed, but I the little dot in the middle of the swelling isn't really a big enough gateway for me to get at it without doing more harm than good. I'm hoping that eventually the 'scab' will get larger and I will be able to soak it and take it off.

 

[austroberta]

Don't force it, I like to soak the core for a few days in warm Epsom salt water to loosen it up, it usually comes off pretty easy with a pair of tweezers, after that, put a ointment or vetericyn on the wound and bandage the foot right up.

That's the part that has me frustrated. I've been soaking it for about five days...twice a day. It's not getting big enough for me to pull it off. Maybe I'm not soaking it for long enough? I usually soak for 8 minutes.