Urine Scald

[Orlaith]

My sow Hilda has been giving us lots of drama over the past few weeks. She has refused to eat, stopped pooping, started being normal and then developed a tumour, and just when it seemed like she was almost back to normal, she has urine scald on her feet!

At first I thought she was developing bumblefoot (it looks pretty much the same, I think) but after a trip to the vet we worked out she has urine scald. Essentially what that means is that because she has been sick and not moving around as much, she has been standing/lying on bedding that she has peed on. The bedding isn't getting a chance to absorb the pee and, because urine is slightly acidic, it has irritated her feet.

I took some pics to share so you can compare if your piggy has anything similar.

The course of treatment we were given was to apply fuciderm 3-4 times a day (the label says it's for dogs, but our vet uses it with piggies all the time) and then, once that has dried in, we coat her foot with vaseline to seal it. After just three days of treatment she's improving a lot!

These pics are after a day of treatment. Before, there was a yellowish tinge to the ulcerated areas, indicating there was pus inside. Her feet are also a little swollen, but that is improving too.

[fudgeandsmudge]

Ouch! That looks sore!!! Glad it's getting better.

[Kayleigh]

Eek ouch! Looks sore!! Glad shes doing well though

Kayleigh

[dkwannabe]

Glad she is doing much better!

[Orlaith]

Thanks! I feel like the worst piggy mammy in the world, like I wasn't cleaning her cage enough, but we've had the same cleaning schedule for the past two years and nothing like this ever happened before. Our vet assures us it's just her low mobility, which makes me feel a little better.. I'll take more pics in a few days to show her improvement (hopefully!)

[sugar10381]

Wow! That really looks like it hurts. At least it's getting better.

[Orlaith]

I took pics of Hilda's feet today and put them side-by-side with the old pics for easy comparison. This is after about three weeks of treatment.

We're really happy with her progress and we've cut down on the number of applications per day as the cream has a steroid and we don't want to overdo it.

[lisa21264]

Im glad shes doing better. Poor thing has been through so much! I hope she makes a full recovery.

[dkwannabe]

She looks much improved!

[Kayleigh]

Thats a wonderful improvement! Glad shes doing better.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using ProBoards

[sugar10381]

Her feet look soo much better!

[courtney11111]

She looks a lot better. I'm sure you are so relieved. I am wondering how you can tell the difference between urine scald and bumblefoot. Is that something a vet has to decide or are there some things I could check myself?
btw- really good idea to start a photo diary. I just started my own today.

[wigglypigglys]

Wow! That's a BIG improvement!!! So glad she's getting bettter!!!

[Orlaith]

I'm not sure if there's a definite way to determine if it's urine scald or bumblefoot. My vet made that call. If your pig's cafe is clean and the pig is active then urine scald is unlikely as it's caused by standing/lying in areas that are wet with pee.