Two trips to a vet- a three month battle with bumble foot..

[#lovemychickens]

I knew my poor girl had bumble foot so I tried treating it on my own. I’ve tried soaking in Epsom salt, applying Prid, using Manuka honey, an iodine sugar paste, squeezing what I could out, even tried cutting it out and I still couldn’t eliminate it. First trip to a vet- a pain reliever and an antibiotic- a month and a half later she still has bumble foot. I continued to soak every night in Epsom salt water, applied antibiotic ointment, wrapped her foot and it just wouldn’t go away. Second trip to a new vet- they lightly sedated her, cut out some of the dead tissue as they didn’t want to do too much as it could make it worse. They flushed it out and prescribed a topical- Silver Sulfadiazine. I’ve been soaking her feet and reapplying this cream. I’m on day three with this treatment. Tonight when I was cleaning her foot, it looked more swollen. So I started to squeeze the swollen parts and a lot of cottage cheese stuff came out. Her foot is still swollen and I know there is more in there. The swelling has gone up into her toe areas. Has anyone used the silver sulfadiazine cream before and what were your results? I’m wondering if it’s making it worse or is it drawing the infection out?

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I knew my poor girl had bumble foot so I tried treating it on my own. I’ve tried soaking in Epsom salt, applying Prid, using Manuka honey, an iodine sugar paste, squeezing what I could out, even tried cutting it out and I still couldn’t eliminate it. First trip to a vet- a pain reliever and an antibiotic- a month and a half later she still has bumble foot. I continued to soak every night in Epsom salt water, applied antibiotic ointment, wrapped her foot and it just wouldn’t go away. Second trip to a new vet- they lightly sedated her, cut out some of the dead tissue as they didn’t want to do too much as it could make it worse. They flushed it out and prescribed a topical- Silver Sulfadiazine. I’ve been soaking her feet and reapplying this cream. I’m on day three with this treatment. Tonight when I was cleaning her foot, it looked more swollen. So I started to squeeze the swollen parts and a lot of cottage cheese stuff came out. Her foot is still swollen and I know there is more in there. The swelling has gone up into her toe areas. Has anyone used the silver sulfadiazine cream before and what were your results? I’m wondering if it’s making it worse or is it drawing the infection out?

Just posting to bump your thread up for ya.. I saw this earlier and see that no one has replied to you yet.
I am going to say that that stuff you're using sounds like it's doing a good job of drawing it out if you are getting cottage cheesy stuff out now.
Bumblefoot puss is kinda hard and cheesy like.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I don't have any experience using that stuff on a bird,
But I've been burned a few times times over the years in kitchen work and been prescribed that and it is definitely good stuff.

 

[dawg53]

@#lovemychickens How old is your hen? Please post a photo of the bottom of her foot, and her foot in general.

 

[#lovemychickens]

@#lovemychickens How old is your hen? Please post a photo of the bottom of her foot, and her foot in general.

She is about 9 months old and this picture was taken before the second vet trip. The hole is bigger now and her foot is definitely more swollen. I will take a picture of it tonight and post another one so you can see what it looks like now. The second vet did say the infection is going up into her foot almost into the joints. This morning she wasn’t putting much weight on it and was holding her foot up a lot.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

I've used Silver Sulfadiazine for bumblefoot in conjunction with Baytril antibiotic for two birds, in both cases both birds have underwent numerous attempts with treatment to no avail. When I used the Silver Sulfadiazine along with Baytril, one bird achieved 100% recovery and the plug came out on its own, and the other bird had improvement but no recover. The one with no recovery has had bumblefoot since I've gotten her, over two years ago.

I actually prefer Silver Sulfadiazine over antibiotic ointment for injuries as well. It's very effective for animals and humans!

 

[dawg53]

She is about 9 months old and this picture was taken before the second vet trip. The hole is bigger now and her foot is definitely more swollen. I will take a picture of it tonight and post another one so you can see what it looks like now. The second vet did say the infection is going up into her foot almost into the joints. This morning she wasn’t putting much weight on it and was holding her foot up a lot.

Thank you for the pics. There is an alternative to bumblefoot surgery and giving antibiotics orally. You can use Tricide Neo to treat bumblefoot. Here's a link, post #2 on how to use it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-bumblefoot-with-tricide-neo.513183/

 

[#lovemychickens]

Thank you for the pics. There is an alternative to bumblefoot surgery and giving antibiotics orally. You can use Tricide Neo to treat bumblefoot. Here's a link, post #2 on how to use it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/treating-bumblefoot-with-tricide-neo.513183/

If this doesn’t work, that will be the next thing I will be trying. Thank you!!!

 

[#lovemychickens]

I didn’t get a chance to take an updated picture of her foot tonight. She wasn’t too happy with the removal of the wrapping, soaking, scrubbing and squeezing. It looked like the hole was starting to close so I barely touched the top of it with a tweezer and a bunch of yellow puss drained out. I squeezed her foot a couple of different ways and more junk- some firm pieces, almost cottage cheese waxy looking, and some wet slimy stuff came out. I kept squeezing until it was just mostly blood coming out. I know it hurts her because her other foot just curls up. I feel absolutely horrible but I have to get it out. I squirted the Silver Sulfadiazine inside the hole and wrapped her foot. How will I know if the silver sulfadiazine is working?!? When can I expect to see an improvement? Does it mean it’s working if I keep getting more infection out or is it making it worse? Treating bumble foot is so stressful for the owner and the chicken!

 

[shawluvsbirds]

I didn’t get a chance to take an updated picture of her foot tonight. She wasn’t too happy with the removal of the wrapping, soaking, scrubbing and squeezing. It looked like the hole was starting to close so I barely touched the top of it with a tweezer and a bunch of yellow puss drained out. I squeezed her foot a couple of different ways and more junk- some firm pieces, almost cottage cheese waxy looking, and some wet slimy stuff came out. I kept squeezing until it was just mostly blood coming out. I know it hurts her because her other foot just curls up. I feel absolutely horrible but I have to get it out. I squirted the Silver Sulfadiazine inside the hole and wrapped her foot. How will I know if the silver sulfadiazine is working?!? When can I expect to see an improvement? Does it mean it’s working if I keep getting more infection out or is it making it worse? Treating bumble foot is so stressful for the owner and the chicken!

I don't think it could possibly be making it worse.
I think the fact that it keeps coming out is a good thing it needs to keep coming out until it's gone.