Toe lost; bone sticking out.

[xnovalentine]

I came home from work today to find that Rufus has lost his toe. I looked at it closely and the bone is sticking out from it, and the remaining tissue is swollen.

Since it is so late in the evening I have not been able to call my vet and have turned to google.

I have read conflicting reports. Some people say that there is nothing that can be done and they recover well with no treatment, and some people have posted that i need to take him to get his bone clipped off.

He seems to not be affected by it. I have no idea when this happened or how. Theres been no blood. I cleaned the cage this morning and noticed nothing. He hasnt acted strange until today when i went to pick him up to let him out for awhile.

Has anyone had any experience with this? What should I do? I have already *tried* to put neosporin on it. He keeps licking it off. Is a trip to the vet necessary?

Thank you everyone!!!

 

[Amethyst]

If I was you I'd take him to the vet. I've had a chin have his toe bite clean off, nothing to be done there and it healed fine with some neosporin the first day. From what you are saying the bone is sticking out, it needs to be clipped off or amputated by a vet. Chins are great at hiding pain but he is in pain, every time the bone is touched or bumped a shot of pain is going up his little leg. You also are running the risk of a bone infection, if it's swollen and warm I'd think the wound itself is already infected, needing antibiotics from the vet.

 

[AZChins]

Since there is bone sticking out, you probably will want to at least ask your vet about it. It would be best to go to the vet and have it looked over. You don't want him to get a bone infection, that could end up being a really bad situation. If the toe was just nipped clean off, I would say to just watch it for swelling.

What we do here is send a picture to the vet's email and he tells me what he thinks would be best until I can get a chin in for an appointment. I don't know if that would be possible for you. (I have an awesome chin vet here!)

I'm guessing that his little toe got degloved of the skin somehow, maybe he got it caught and yanked it so hard he pulled the skin off. (I am so sorry, that sounds so awful!)

Definitely try to get him in to see the vet as soon as you can. I don't think it is necessary to go the emergency vet right away, but you should call in the morning and see if you can get an appointment soon.

 

[Newt]

OMG, I'd be freaking out! It if were my chin, I'd be at the emergency vet ASAP!!

 

[jbcstratton]

I would definetly go to the vet. It has to be painful, imagine how you would feel if your toe bone was sticking out, ouch! Chins hide pain well, he would at least need pain meds and maybe antibiotic even if the vet didn't do anything else with it.

 

[Stackie]

We always highly recommend amputation when the bone is showing.

 

[ticklechin]

Osteomyelitis is a nasty infection to treat, often you lose and the result is sepsis and death, I personally would not self treat a exposed bone and I think a vet visit ASAP is not a option, its a requirement. I would have the vet remove the toe and depending on the amount of infection treat with antibiotics if needed. Again, self vetting this is not something that is recommended.

 

[xnovalentine]

update: i took him in first thing this morning. i called and the receptionist said: "his toe came off? you better just come right now." lol.

Took him in and had him looked at. we're having it amputated friday. he's a bit grumpy but still his chipper self. my hat's off to him and his bravery. i'd be a mess.

he's on an antibiotic and a pain medication until friday. then friday they are going to up his meds after the amputation.

i tried hiding his medication in a raisin. he didn't fall for it. i ended up trapping him in a towel, flipping him over, and shoving it in his mouth. much easier than my rabbit.

my rabbit has cancer and i've been into the vet with for a couple of months for surgery and treatments. they just looked at me with sighs today. rufus is going to be okay though, thats all that matters!

they are excellent. they always allow me to make payments. i am very fortunate.

thank you, everyone, for getting me through last night! lol!!!

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

Glad to hear that he will be a-ok minus a toe , sorry to hear about your rabbit

 

[AZChins]

I'm glad that you were able to take him in so quickly. The only thing is, and I don't mean to alarm you, but the bone may be gone by Friday. Sometimes the chins will nip off something like that or it will fall off naturally. Chinchillas do very well with losing little toes, so he probably won't even notice it's gone. If it does fall off, don't worry. The vet may then not have to even do an amputation. The antibiotics will keep him from developing an infection and that's the major concern when something like this happens. It's rare that they could develop an infection, but it's better to be safe and not sorry.

 

[xnovalentine]

the vet warned me that he might start chewing on it since hes on pain medications. she said to call and they will try to wrap it up to prevent him from doing this. she said that only reason why she didnt want to do it now is that he probably would chew it off or get out of something like a cone and he doesnt seem to be messing with it at this point. she said she's more worried what he will do to it after the surgery. thank you everyone!!

 

[jbcstratton]

Hats off, its nice to see people that actually take advice after they ask for it, hoping for a speedy recovery.

 

[ticklechin]

Be prepared to hand feed, you might want to ask the vet for some critical care and a syringe just to be safe!

 

[seachin]

When one of mine had a similar injury, the vet snipped the bone off and put a stitch so it could heal. Under anesthetic of course. Handfed for two days and she was fine after that.

 

[mknoblich1]

You could make a come to put around the neck that would keep him from being able to chew at it.

 

[seachin]

I should have thought of that...when my chin lost her toe. I put a fitting ball around it and wrapped her whole foot in medical tape. It helped protect it for a day until I could get her into a vet...but she kept trying to eat it!www