# Bumblefoot @ home treatment Ideas



## TDKreutz (Oct 17, 2012)

Hey there Im just wondering if anyone has any good remedies for bumblefoot that do not require going to the vet. The reason being is my parents see it as a waste of money and wont let me take my little girl (Shilo) to one because according to them she's "just a rat"!! So if anyone out there has ANY ideas that could help me I would appreciate it.  Tonight I started treating her by firstly cleaning her cage again, then washing her feet with soap and water, dry, spraying peroxide and letting dry and then applying some polysporin cream. Im going to try it again tomorrow unless that is anyone has any better ideas.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

This is going to sound crazy, but I have seen it and have had it worked.

Get some honey, and rub it on their feet 3 times a day. This only works during the starting stages of bumble foot. Can you get a picture? might help to judge if it would help or not.

I would find a way to convince them that she has to see a vet, maybe not for this, but in the future what if she needs to be PTS? Tumor removal? Peunomia? Don't they understand that she is part of the family? or are they those type of parents. 

My parents don't go to the vet for small stuff, but if things get serious they would take my boys to the vet. 

Could it just be that they don't see it as that major? (Bumble foot typically goes away with either the honey treatment or a cream, in extreme cases it will need to be surgically removed).


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

I'm not sure where you are located at, but there is a good chance that there is a farm supply store somewhere near you. In most parts of the US, there is a chain store called Tractor Supply Company. They sell a product called Blu-Kote which is a bright blue antibacterial liquid in a spray bottle. Dipping a cotton swab into the liquid and rubbing it on the bumbles is one method of treatment at home.

If you have a health food store, you can search for grapefruit seed extract to apply to the bumbles, but only after the extract is diluted. It's very powerful!

These are both best used before the bumbles get large and out of control, which is when an oral antibiotic will be helpful.

Keep all of the cage surfaces clean by wiping them down several times a day with baby wipes until the infection is clear, but wiping things down once a day after the infection is a great idea for prevention!


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## RedFraggle (Jun 4, 2012)

My very first rat had terrible bumblefoot. I bathed it daily in warm water with a few drops of teatree oil which stopped it getting infected. Honey sounds a great idea though, it's known to be an antibacterial.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

With bumblefoot, if there's an infection you will need antibiotics, but if there's no infection, then you can just get a hold of Blu-Kote. and dab it onto the bumbles every 2nd day. It helps dry it up but be very careful, Blu-kote reallly stains. Bumblefoot is not a surgival option at all but it rarely gets that bad.

Good call on the honey LightningWolf, I just dug up on article on its use, just trying to determine if it has to be "real" honey or you can use the more processed stuff? Anyone know?

http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/antibiotic.html

Can you post a pic of your girl's feet? Sometimes its more of a pressure sore in the beginning, but it can range up to these horrible infected large lumps on the soles of their hind feet. Seeing what you are dealing with will help us a lot.

Here is a picture of moderate bumblefoot. Prior to using blu-kote


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and here is after a short time treating it, the bumbles are shrinking and flattening.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

If your based in the UK 'purple spray' is the equivalent of blu koat and works really well, it may turn you rat purple though as its hard to keep in one place.


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## LaTortue (Oct 17, 2012)

You've gotten some excellent advice already, but I wanted to suggest that you stop using hydrogen peroxide. The 3% solution commonly used as a wound cleanser is highly cytoxic, meaning that it kills healthy skin cells as well as inhibiting the growth of new skin cells that are needed for the wound to heal and its actual bactericidal properties are now thought to be so minimal that it really isn't that affective as an antiseptic. It definitely does act as a debriding agent--loosening and getting rid of dead tissue and any other undesirable matter on the wound, but again, its cytoxic effects outweigh any benefits. I would suggest cleaning the feet with a simple saline solution and then applying one of the antibacterial products that have been suggested above. To answer lilspaz's question regarding which type of honey to use, even the processed honey that most of us have in our pantries does have antibacterial properties, but I would strongly recommend using raw (unpasteurized) honey if you're going to go that route since its going to have much more effective/higher levels of antibacterial properties.

ETA: Raw honey is should be available at any Whole Foods or similar type of store, and if you have any farmer's markets near you, that is an excellent source to get raw honey from.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Thanks, never seen that article. it was a different one I read it off of, but it does make sense in ancient days they used Honey as medicine for most diseases. I'm always searching for home remedies as we don't have the money to go to the vet most of the time (That is hopefully going to be turning around soon). I think it would have to be real honey as that would have more of the antibiotics but we had an old thing of honey that I'm not sure if it was processed or not and it helped, but my boys had very mild ones, like the very first signs of it.

I would second with Tortue. To keep it clean without killing good cells if you want to do it along side other treatments get a thing of iodine (The Edible one you use to put into your water. the one that you use for your skin is not edible and since rats will be licking themselves don't use it) and use that. It will kill of bad bacteria and leave the good one. Iodine is used when they are prepping for surgery, that's why when you watch TV they rub that orangish red stuff on them at the incision spot, that's Iodine. Just beware that it can stain. The Saline solution will also work.


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