TREATING BUMBLEFOOT: Part III

The third and final installment of a 3-part article covering: -- VET TREATMENTS OF BUMBLEFOOT using medications you'll need a presciption for. -- SOME HELPFUL TIPS that will make treating bumblefoot a bit easier -- the GENTIAN VIOLET EXPERIMENT THAT NEVER HAPPENED: a treatment you might want to help evaluate.

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VET TREATMENTS OF BUMBLEFOOT

IRBY'S VET'S TREATMENT a) AMOXICILLIN TRIHYDRATE (CLAVAMOX) administered 2 x a day. This is particularly good for soft tissue/skin infections: that's basically what Bumblefoot is.

b) An ANTIINFLAMMATORY administered 2 x a day. Irby's vet likes to stay away from the steroidal antinflammatories such as prednisone because even a short course can cause diabetes and cataracts in rats. His vet tends to go with METACAM which has a pain releiver in it as well. Another antinflammatory you can ask your vet about is a corticosteroid called DEXAMETHASONE which is slightly different to prednisone. Discuss this with your vet making sure that whatever combination you go with that there aren't any side effects or adverse reactions with the drugs used in combination,

c) If your rat's on antibiotics for more than a few weeks at a time its a good idea to give some YOGURT to help replenish the good bacteria that the antibiotics kill off,

d)- Irby also applied BLU-KOTE daily. Condition was cured in 2 months.

CHAD'S VET'S METHOD a) OTTOMAX, a topical antibiotic b) DOMOSO, DIMETHYL SULVOXIDE, an absorbtion agent to get the antibiotics into the surrounding tissue before the rats lick or wipe it off Chad reports that the bumble closed up pretty quickly, and there was (slower) improvement with the size.

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SOME HELPFUL BUMBLEFOOT TIPS

BEDDING: Some ratlisters report that bedding on Aspen seemed to make the foot bleed more. During treatment, I switched to shredded paper towels.

LINDA'S TIP: Blu-Kote usually comes in an aeresol spray. You can't spray an area as small as a rat's heel without getting the permanently-staining stuff all over the place. My solution: Go to a stationary store and purchase a tool that moistens stamps so you don't have to lick them. It has a screw-on lid that is a sponge applicator. you fill the bottle with Blu-Kote (sprayed in gently so as to not form a cloud of spray), put the cap back on and dab the blu-coat laden sponge onto his heel. Voila, no mess.

DAUBER TIP: you can get Blu-Kote in a "dauber" bottle, now.

Q-TIP: Some Listers hate touching the wound over and over with the dauber so they'd rather apply with a fresh Q-tip each time.

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