Old Man Doc's Feet - Question?

[jeschodron11]

Hi All -

So I tried looking for an answer to this but I keep coming up with conflicting answers.

Old Man Doc, along with his ear infection, decreased hind leg mobility, and CHF now has developed some small, red spots on his heels. He is in a Critter Nation cage with plastic shelves. I immediately cleaned the spots and placed a fleece floor over his entire shelf so he is only dragging along the padding now, and not the plastic floor. I'm also replacing the padding every day to every other day.

The spots actually seem to be getting better (not open, not draining, no scabs, just spots). I have been cleaning them twice a day and putting a small bit of Neosporin on them.

HOWEVER, today I saw him get to licking his back feet after I put the ointment on - should I continue with the ointment or is this unsafe for him? Is there a better alternative? I'm guessing it's the very very beginning of bumblefoot and I thought if I could catch it early then it wouldn't progress. I was going to go to the store tonight and get some Betadine to dilute to clean with, just unsure about the ointment, if it is safe for him if he accidentally licks a little off.

Any advice?

 

[jorats]

Hi, it sounds like a pretty typical old rat feet with the start of bumblefoot. His bumbles sound quite mild so padding up the cage was the best thing to do to avoid it getting any worse. I wouldn't use any ointment on it though. When rats get a cut, even on the feet, you don't want the skin to heal before the infection is gone. It will trap it inside. So best to let them heal by themselves but if he had severe bumblefoot, there would be a different course of action which would include antibiotics and other remedies.

 

[jeschodron11]

Awesome, thank you! For now I will just keep cleaning with the diluted Betadine and changing bedding frequently.