Bumble foot is the slang term for ulcerative pododermatitis. It's a bacterial infection usually caused by Staphylococcus aureus. Other bacteria may at times cause this problem but most often it is the Staphylococcus aureus causing the problem. You have no doubt heard of "Staph infection" and that is what this is. Staphylococcus aureus bacteria are everywhere in the environment including inside your nose. It's normal and doesn't always cause disease but it will when it gets into a place that it shouldn't be.

How does it happen?

Although many people feel that wire floored cages are to blame for bumble foot, rats living in solid floored cages get it. It is caused by damage to the skin of the foot, which is why there's a strong belief about wire floors, but it can just be something sharp somewhere in the cage that does it. Even climbing the bars. The big factor is obesity because the heavier the rat, the more pressure on the foot. It has also been linked to diabetic rats. Pressure sores form on the heels of (usually) the hind feet that eventually open up to allow the bacteria in. Once there is a wound on the foot, the solid floored cages CAN hinder recovery as the waste matter builds up on them and the rat can then walk through it. But no matter what type of housing your rat has, any cage housing a rat with bumble foot needs to be kept scrupulously clean and all waste matter and soiled bedding removed on a regular basis.                           

What does it look like? 

The "bumbles" that grow are keratinized tissue that looks like an overgrowth of skin or basically a huge lump. These lumps will bleed off and on. This intermittent bleeding can cause anaemia, a dangerous thing for a rat. When you see these bumbles you may think they are tumours but actually they are closed abscesses. If this infection is left untreated eventually it will spread to bone and/or the blood stream. If this happens then it can lead to fatal infection.

What to do about it.

Your first step when you begin treatment is to throw out the bedding in the cage. Old towels that can be changed daily are an excellent bedding substitute while the rat is being treated. Get the rat on antibiotics prescribed by a vet (Lyndon recommends Terramycin or Baytril). The next step is to find the generic chlorhexidine or the brand name Nolvasan solution (this is more commonly known as Hibiscrub), you need to have it to flush these bumbles daily. This is an antiseptic/disinfectant. It's a very necessary component for the treatment. If you cannot find this, your veterinarian can provide this for you. You should not only flush the feet with it, but you should use it to disinfect the cage everyday too when you change the towels that are your new bedding material. It is a concentrated product that you mix yourself at one ounce to one gallon of distilled water..

You will also need (from the vet) *Terramycin spray. A substitute for this, available from larger pet stores is *Purple Spray (and you can also get blu-kote online).

Finally what to do with all these products.

Have your rat on the antibiotics prescribed by your vet and flush the feet at least twice a day with the hibiscrub. Then once a day apply the terramycin or Purple Spray directly onto the bumbles by dabbing it on with a cotton bud*. Using it more than once a day will cause too much irritation to the skin. Change the bedding daily and wipe down the cage with the hibiscrub. It may take up to two months for this to work but you should begin to see some results after two weeks. The bumbles should begin to shrink and their bleeding should begin to occur much less often.

It seems that the combination of all of these steps is what will do the trick to rid your rat of this affliction. Leaving out any of the steps may cause your efforts to fail.

In very severe cases of bumble foot, surgery can be performed to drain out any infection and remove any infected tissue. But the other steps (above) will need to be carried out after surgery to prevent the bumble from coming back.

*Both Terramycin spray and Purple Spray takes about half an hour to completely dry and until it is dry it will permanently stain anything it touches. It's a good idea to have an empty container (like a show tank) to place your rat into once the spray has been applied. Unless you like blue/purple rat foot prints over everything!!!