Infected middle toe

[Livinsimple]

Initially my chick was bitten on her foot by my dog. No major bleeding just a nick. Dog was just warning chick, that ham bine was hers, no sharing. Anyway, I soaked foot and put Neosporin on it and hen limped away. I kept my eye on it, looked like it was getting infected, red and warm. Initial wound was on bottom, but abcessed on top. Opened abcess, lots of pus, and a cottage cheese type substance came out. Soaked foot, cleaned out with peroxide and betadine, applied Neosporin and bandaged open wound. Chick seemed to be walking, all the while doing daily soakings, and the dressing change. On 12-20 wasnt getting better took chick to vet. They gave her 5 doses of metacam snd 14 days of SMZTMP. Called back on Tuesday 12-26 said wasnt getting better looked worse was told to continue meds. Here is what it looks like this am. Any suggestions or ideas are welcomed. Thanks

 

[azygous]

First of all, your chick's body is actually fighting the infection as we speak, even though it doesn't appear so. Bite wounds will almost always get infected because bacteria is injected into the tissue. Therefore topical treatment with antibiotic ointment is ineffective.

However, you've been doing everything right, including running up a vet bill. What will likely happen next shouldn't alarm you. The toe will probably turn black and fall off. This is the remarkable way chickens deal with infection at their extremities. They wall off the infected toe tip, blocking circulation to that compromised tissue, and that protects them from the bacteria getting into the rest of the foot.

Just continue to do what you've been doing. Just prepare yourself for a bit of gross drama as your chick's body prepares to eject the damaged toe.

 

[PirateGirl]

Mention to the vet that the infection is not improving as expected. It's possible that the bacteria causing the infection is resistant to the antibiotic you have. A change in antibiotic can make a world of difference. Different bacteria respond to different antibiotics. Sometimes a vet will do a culture to pinpoint exactly what is needed, sometimes they will try switching to something else broad-spectrum. A phone call to the vet won't hurt or cost anything. Good luck. I'm sure your chick will be fine in the end.

 

[azygous]

Could you repost your photo, only this time select "full-size image". This will allow us to zoom in on the foot. Even better, take a new photo and get as close to the wound as possible while still getting sharp focus. Select "full-size" all images at the top.