Bitten Toe :(

[sheena lee]

This evening I took out the block of wood from the cage and the chins seemed to ignore each other, so I left it out for a few hours... and when I came back into the room, I noticed poor Abby had gotten her toe bitten She doesn't seem to be in any pain or anything, and the blood has dried up completely. She's running around as usual and eating and drinking just fine, etc.

I did some reading and it seems like she should be fine, right? And I should get some Blu-Kote (at a vets office I suppose?), and keep an eye out for infections? It's not a bad bite at all, no pieces missing, her toe just looks a little swollen and red.

I feel so bad, I should have put it back when I was leaving the room but they were completely ignoring each other, and there's 2 layers of 5/8" hardware cloth AND the ramp in between them... I guess little toes can stick through that anyway... Chia has some blood on her face, but a dust bath cleaned off a good bit of it. No dust baths for Abby, I guess I should be holding off on those for a bit?

I'll get some Blu-Kote tomorrow, hopefully I can find it around here.. Anything else I should do?

 

[Rockka]

I got my Blu Kote from Fleet Farm. I would keep a eye on her foot. Watch for infection. I don't think you need to over worry tho. Just keep it clean and use Blu Kote on it. I used mine on my chin and the sore healed fast.
Don't beat yourself up too much about it. We all make mistakes. Now you know they won't get along. In the future don't ever leave them alone together. They can fight to death. :/

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

 

[sheena lee]

There's no such thing as fleet farm in Quebec... And I'm not sure how popular horse supply stores are in the city. There are some out where my parents live but I wouldn't be able to get it today.

I read something about it not being approved in Canada, but I did find this: http://www.drugs.com/vet/blu-kote-can.html so I'm gonna assume it is available and that I can buy it somewhere...

 

[sheena lee]

It didn't occur to me until now but it's thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. Will she be okay without Blu-Kote until Tuesday?? :/

 

[Chinbutt]

Sorry to hear about the accident. Hopefully someone w/experience in injuries can answer this fairly soon.

 

[melbur10]

Farnam Blue Lotion for Canadians.
TSC is where I got mine.

Keep the cage clean to prevent infection, if you have a saline wound wash you can wash her toe and dry it with a clean piece of gauz or even a paper towel but I prefer the gauz...
I like to give a low dose of metacam for these kind of injuries to bring the swelling down but it's not nessecary and most people don't have it on hand.

Should be fine with out the ble kote till you can get some just keep every thing clean

 

[sheena lee]

Would bag balm help at all? In the case that I can't get any Blu-Kote around here... Quebec in general has limited access to these type of things, and I don't have anything to clean the wound with other than water...

 

[saphire]

Don't do anything unless you see that it is not healing well.
Her body will defend itself from bacteria.
The toe will turn red and swell and within a day or so will start going down.
The main thing is to be watch for infection. If there is a needle head of infection let it be, if it worsens, keep it simple.
Epsom salt and cooled down boilled water (5-10min.). Clean twice a day.

Personnaly that is what I do... I have not had to do anything for the ones that it happend to and it healed by itself.

I am a firm believer that you need to allow the body to have it's immune system in shape (so to speak).

 

[melbur10]

like sapphire said she should be fine with out any thing!
a lot of times ranchers and what not don't even notice missing toes until after its already healed. so a small bite should heal fine on its own.
i wouldn't use bag balm for this situation.

 

[sheena lee]

Don't do anything unless you see that it is not healing well.
Her body will defend itself from bacteria.
The toe will turn red and swell and within a day or so will start going down.
The main thing is to be watch for infection. If there is a needle head of infection let it be, if it worsens, keep it simple.
Epsom salt and cooled down boilled water (5-10min.). Clean twice a day.

Personnaly that is what I do... I have not had to do anything for the ones that it happend to and it healed by itself.

I am a firm believer that you need to allow the body to have it's immune system in shape (so to speak).

Thanks guys! That makes me feel a lot better. So far I've just been cleaning the cage really well and often.

Abby's toe is doing well, still a bit red but I can't tell where the actual bite is. I think it's really tiny. Should I still give her dust baths, or should I wait a few days?

Also, does this mean I should never introduce them? Chia never tried to bite Abby before during playtimes, so I'm not sure she bit her on purpose (she likes to chew on the wire mesh.) I'm okay with not introducing them, but it would be sad!

 

[kellylynnmarie]

Might be best not to introduce them. As mentioned before, they will fight to the death. I had two already bonded brothers who lived together for years and all of a sudden one day they started to fight. I've had them separated since and don't plan on trying to re-introduce.

 

[melbur10]

I would hold off on dust baths a couple days.

They say once blood has been drawn its a no go.. But in this case I would still try introductions if you've never seen any intentionally aggressive behavior, take it slow and if any thing more happens during intros I would keep them separate...

My 3 girls are kept separate frm my other 1 because they fight... Ghost my trouble maker who is very aggressive towards sage took her finger clean off while she was out for play time and sage was in her cage... That was a very deliberate bite.

 

[sheena lee]

I've had the girls out together 3 separate times, and all that happened was chasing and some fur slipping, and then the most recent time Chia sprayed Abby. Then summer came and it was too hot for playtime... I was thinking about starting again with playtime but also wanted them to have some access to each other while in the cage. I've seen Chia be dominant towards Abby (no surprise there!), but never necessarily aggressive.

Here's a vid of what they were like with the hole open (not open open, but uncovered). I switched the cages a few days later. Chia is "digging" to get to Abby, but not much else. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vifR7373Js

 

[melbur10]

Hard to say, we're the fur slips one chin grabbed a tuft of fur in her mouth?
If so I would not continue... If there is any fighting Definitly stop. Chasing can often lead to fighting especially if there has been spraying - my sage sprays the other girls and they want to kill her... They use to be best friends and cage Mates.

 

[sheena lee]

No, the fur slips were from just the chasing (and really only a few little tufts), which stopped when I put some vanilla on their noses and butts. Abby was upset by the spraying, Chia got her right in the face. She didn't retaliate though, she just ran off and rubbed her head on the carpet, and Chia kept playing. I saw improvement in terms of chasing even in the 3 times they were out together. Abby would leap over Chia and run away, and Chia wouldn't pursue.

Actually, they would meet, stand up facing each other and grunt, and then part ways. Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faEkOH0JHZ8 but not that intense, and for short bursts until one would leave.

 

[melbur10]

Perhaps just establishing dominance.. Hard to say without seeing it for myself but always be present when they are together could turn bad quickly ... My girls were fighting for dominance but my dominant girl turns to aggression quickly

 

[sheena lee]

Oh yeah, my boyfriend and I are always both around for introductions, so we can each grab a chinchilla if necessary! I won't be starting the process again for at least a month though.

Thanks for your input!!

Also, Abby's toe is healing just fine as far as I can see! )