Question:
Yesterday I had several minutes of terror. Eric said to me, "Someone peed on the leap 'n' ledge. No, it's blood!" I went to the boys' cage and saw blood, seemingly everywhere. I think my heart stopped.
The three males in the cage were all looking at me, expecting treats. We took them out one-by-one, looking under a very bright light for any cuts. Finally, I noticed two cuts on Jeff's back feet, about 1-1 1/2 cms from the backs of both feet.
He was trooped upstairs, his feet cleaned, and then treated. All we can think of is how he likes to climb the wire at the front of the cage. There are no slivers, and both cuts are straight lines.
This morning I put some vitamins in their water, re-treated his feet, and spent some quality cuddle time. He is eating, drinking, and pooping, so all is not too bad. He was far more cuddly than usual, and was quite calm about letting me touch his feet.
I was wearing my lumberjack/plaid fuzzy jacket this morning as the basement is a bit cool. He wiggled onto my shoulder, and then down the sleeve. I had to unbutton the sleeve as I was sure he was going to suffocate. He then proceeded to poke his nose out the sleeve and go to sleep. It was very cute, but made me worry that he needed the warmth because of too much blood loss.
Are there any warning signs I should keep in mind if he has lost too much blood?


Answer:
I really don't know very much about the blood loss issue but I do know that a foot can bleed lots. My Fred has some quite large callouses on his back feet and they get cracks in them occationally. Just a tiny little crack can cause so much blood it scares the pants off of me.... It never seems to effect him when it happens....sure is scarey though. I use bag balm on his feet now as recommended by my vet so it really helps.


Answer:
It sounds like his feet may have been dry and they cracked. That happened to Zoya awhile back and resulted in (what looked like) a lot of blood. I thought that someone must be bleeding from all extremities. I wouldn't be overly concerned unless the wounds look deep...like I said, it is probably cracks from dry feet. Just keep them clean and apply some antibiotic cream. The cream will keep them moist and protected. In the future, try rubbing a tiny bit of hand cream on their feet...it will keep them from cracking.


Answer:
Whew! Thanks Pam, thanks Candice. It is hard not to worry, even when I know I probably should not worry! The cuts are not deep or puffy. I used Polysporin, and probably will until the cuts seem all healed. After that, I'll look into some moisturizer for his tender tootsies. Poor guy. I think he'll like all the extra attention, though!


Answer:
how scary! Sounds like you are doing everything right and he's just milking you for all the cuddles he can get I would just keep an eye on him and call the vet if things get worse. Let me know if you need Dr. Upjohn's number. He's really good with chinnies


Answer:
My vet reccommended the bag balm for Fred's feet. He said using an antibiotic cream on it all the time could cause him to become immune to the antibiotic stuff. The bag balm or udder balm can be bought at any feed store and is used for cow's udders. It has some antiseptic in it but is really mild and a great moisturizer.
I have a huge jar of it here. I'll never use it all. Next time you come out I'll give you a scoop of it.


Answer:
The bag balm would be a great idea. It's amazing and shocking how much those little feet can bleed isn't it?
Sounds like your doing everything though.
Carleen


Answer:
Thanks, everyone. Looking at that blood certainly added a few more grey hairs to my head! I think I actually already have some udder balm that my father gave me the last time I was out there. I was commenting on how dry my hands can become, and the next day he gave me this white stuff which I think is udder balm. He used to use it when we had milking animals. I'll have to look for an expiration date.


Answer:
Kreenish, my chinnies and I send Jeff well-wishes and hope his little feet heal fast.


Answer:
Thanks Denise! He seems to really enjoy having me clean then treat his feet. Maybe it is the cuddle time after that he likes though. This morning when I put him back in his cage after a 10 minute cuddle I gave him a raisin since he had been such a good boy. He took the raisin, but then jumped back onto my arm. I had to quickly balance him and scoop him up. We spent another 5 minutes cuddling and then I had to get up to answer the phone. Darn salespeople! Jeff took a gentle nip at my hand as if to say, "Hey, I was using that!"