Foot problem

Question
Hi,
I'm not sure if you know how to help but I have been on line looking for answers for my daughters guinea pig problem. 2 days ago we noticed that he (popcorn) was not coming out of his cage and staying under his house. He is eating and drinking, including eating his timothy hay but is not active or excited as he usually gets when getting food or hay. I noticed he is not putting weight on his front left paw but can not see anything on the padding. I looked at the other front paw and it looks a little swollen so I put the "vet given" antibiotic on that one last night. I'm unsure if he has a fracture or what is bothering him. He's 3 years old. Can you tell me what you think about this situation? It's very expensive to go to the vet.

Answer

Bumblefoot   He may have something called 'bumblefoot'.  It's a condition that just happens, we don't know why, and is generally not curable. It can be painful for the pig to put weight on as the pad of the foot is swollen, sometimes to twice normal size.

Attached is a picture of an especially bad case, but gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. I've only had a couple of older pigs that got bumblefoot, but no matter what I did for it nothing seemed to make a difference.