rat with bumble

Question
QUESTION: I need advice for our pet rat with a foot bumble.She is a one year old female in good health. The bumble is a small lump and only on one foot, but it breaks open often and bleeds. On the advice of the mouse and rat club, we have used blu kote liquid and triple antibiotic ointment to prevent infection and we keep the cage extremely clean.  She and her sister are in a very large cage with a plastic bottom and levels, but the walls are coated wire. She must have got the bumble from climbing the wire walls. This week it broke open and we had a really hard time getting it to stop bleeding. Do you have any other advice or cures for bumbles? Your time and help is very much appreciated.  Sincerely, Shirley

ANSWER: Hi Shirley

Oh I hate bumble foot. I would stop the blue kote (oh the RMCA will yell at me but...meh! LOL)  It stings like crazy and doesn't really work worth a hoot. Its also messy. Keep up with the antibiotic ointment though, as it should help it from expanding to the bone up the leg. Have you tried oral antibiotics such as CEFA drops from the vets? Sometimes, and I stress sometimes, oral antibiotics help but unfortunately bumblefoot is a real pain and you know where that pain is besides the poor ratties foot!!

Is your rat a bit on the uh...chubby side, by chance? It would not shock me if she was but lean rats can get it as well, it just seems to creep up on our pleasing plump rats more often due to the constant pressure on the rats back pads of the foot, on a hard surface to boot.
Bumblefoot is caused as you know by bacteria, usually staph since its a normal flora found on the rats skin. All it takes is a small little cut in the rats feet and take a tad of bacteria she came in contact with and
bada bing! A nasty bumble has formed.  

There are a few things you can try though and the first one will be trying to litter train her if she isn't already. If she isn't let me know and I can advise an easy way to do it. It usually works for adult rats much easier than babies.
Next the trick is to pad the cage with a nice thick material. Have you ever seen those inexpensive blankets that are like velvet that Walmart sells...called VELUX blankets? They are about twelve bucks for a twin sized blanket.  You can use anything that doesn't shred such as fleece and triple the fleece to make it thicker, and put this down in the cage. You may need to change it out every other day depending on their bathroom habits which is why I asked about potty training. This is one way to get the pressure off of her feet since she will be on softer ground. You can even wrap this around the ladders.
I used to always keep on had corn and callus pads made by Dr scholls. They were non medicated pads that were used for corns on human feet and they fit PERFECT around a bleeding nasty sore painful bumble and the rats would actually leave them alone. They were padded and this helped during the times the bumbles were bleeding. I even got two exotic vets to stock up on them for their customers that had rats with bumble foot.  However, keeping the bumble from getting air is not good so they could only be used for half a day or 12 hours or so or the bumble would get very mushy and bleed more.
Unfortunately, they discontinued them. Why? I don't know...but it figures I found something great that worked and they stop making them! But of course!!!!!! :(   If your rat lets you, you can try even a nice Band-Aid for the foot during times it bleeds. Apply some pressure and a Band-Aid during bleeding.  Refrain from the antibiotic ointment during bleeding because the ointment softens the bumble and keeps the bleeding going.

Last but not least and actually something important...not all bumbles are caused by normal bacteria. Sometimes its caused by a fungus, which is why you can try an over the counter anti fungal ointment or cream for a bit.   Stop the triple antibiotic ointment for the time being and start the antifungal ointment.  IF you notice it is getting worse instead of better discontinue the antifungal and put her back on the antibiotic ointment.

I do have to ask if you tried a vet about this for oral meds...I asked earlier I know but I wanted you to let me know so if you did try oral meds I will know, and if so, what was used?   I don't always suggest a vet for this anyhow since most methods fail unless the padding is used  because really, germs being embedded into the foot by the rat standing on a hard surface is the culprit. Think....ulcer....from friction....or better yet, bed sore or pressure sore. That is exactly what this is and oral meds will only prevent infection from spreading into the bone unless other remedies are used as well.

Anyhow, I would for sure give the anti fungal treatment and the padded cage a try. I cannot promise anything but can tell you we see more success with this than failure, when all else does fail.

The key also is to keep the foot dry, of course, since as I said, the softer the bumble the more mushy it is and the more it bleeds.
My big 2 pound male has one on each foot now and to my horror he had poop stuck on both bumbles.  He screamed and I freaked as I was trying to rinse it off.  Poor boy.  

I hate bumblefoot!!

If I missed anything please let me know and I hope this helps you!

Sandra

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your quick response.  These are our first rats and we don't know anyone else who has them, so we've only had what little there is on the internet for help.  To answer your questions, no we have not used antibiotics.  I didn't realize bumbles always have infection, I thought you just tried to prevent it.  Can you tell me the best antibiotic and how much?  You mentioned CEFA. I don't think our rat (Lily) is fat, but as I have never seen another adult rat except our other female (Daisy),I'm not sure. Lily (the one with the bumble) is a hooded rat. She is about 8 1/2 inches from nose to base of tail and weighs 12 oz. Her belly doesn't hang and she is extremely active. Her bumble is hard like a callus and doesn't hurt.  She doesn't care if I touch it and has never flinched with the blu kote. Lily does have a place in the cage she always uses to do her business, but the other rat Daisy, doesn't seem to have any control and goes everywhere.  She leaves a trail of pee everywhere she goes. I don't know if it makes a difference, but Daisy is blind. Any training tips for her would be appreciated. We wipe the cage out everyday and we have always used fleece for their bed, which we change daily. As far as the cage goes, it is a large ferret cage with 4 plastic levels. I will put fleece on all levels and I'm also going to try and cover the wire cage walls where Lily climbs all the time.  Lily will not keep a bandaid on for 2 seconds, but she does sit quietly with me while I get the bleeding to stop.  I will try the anti fungal, and get an antibiotic as soon as I hear back from you on what to use. I hope I have answered all your questions and given you enough information.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time. We really love our rats and want to take the best care of them we can. Thank you so much, Shirley

Answer
Hi Shirley!

Ulcerative Pododermatitis is also known as Bumblefoot.

It is an inflammation and infection of the plantar surface (heel) and connective tissue of the foot.  We do not want it to end up affecting the foot, however, as this means infection has spred and can end up literally causing sepsis or gangrene of the entire foot which calls for amputation.  It CAN be that serious believe it or not.

You can google it and find photos of some cases if you want. Some photos are disturbing though, mainly on ratties that were neglected and not treated.
If your rat didnt flinch from the blue kote, it must be callused over, but when its raw and soft, often rats cry due to the alcohol content in it unless they have since removed the alcohol from it since I have had it around. We dont carry it in the clinic any longer, either.
Anyhow, yes, bumble foot is infection and it is common so dont feel guilty thinking it is something you did wrong that caused it. I am sure you keep the cage incredible as I do mine, and so far, after owning over 42 rats during my rat keeping years, 3 out of 42 have developed it. I remember my Peanut boy (the one giving me kisses in the photo) had it on just one foot. I would tell him to show mommy his boo boo and the little guy would hold his foot up (the foot with the bumble on it!!) he was so smart and so spoiled!
Was Daisy born blind? Does she have eyes? If she wasnt born blind but became blind do you know the cause?
The good news is rats dont depend on vision to get around luckily, since they were not blessed with good vision from the start. If they were human they would be legally blind.  I may have told you that already. I have two blind rats. One is blind in one eye and the eye was removed, and the other rat is blind in both eyes and still has his eyes, minus the vision.  They both do great and both use the litter box but they both were born with sight so they already were using the litter box when they lost their vision.  Standing in urine may contribute to bumblefoot which is why its good to try to litter train them.  Most rats prefer to go to the bathroom in the litter so they can dig around and bury the poop etc....so if you pick up all litter and keep in only in a litter pan, they should start to use the pan because that is where the litter is.  Add the poops too when you first start so they get the hint.  You can use a shoebox to try it out since they are so young and small.  Its worth a shot!