Changing Setup With A Partially Sighted Piggie

[JaseChase]

Hello fellow piggie enthusiasts,

We found out yesterday that Tofu has long-term eye problems - likely glaucoma, and he has very little if any sight in his right eye. The vet advised to keep the cage layout roughly the same where possible so he knows where everything is, and to stick to fleece hideys and avoid anything with sharp corners

I was planning to upgrade the boys' cage to an L-shaped 6x2 C&C as we've just moved house and have the space to do it now, but I'm aware this would change the layout quite a bit (they have always lived in a classic 5x2 C&C). If I keep hideys in the same corners, water bottles in the same orientation where possible, do you think this would still be doable? I don't want to cause Tofu any more stress than necessary, I am new to having a guinea pig with sight issues. If anyone has any experience I would be very grateful to hear about it

This morning I swapped out all their cardboard boxes and the remains of their carrot cottage and switched them all with fleece hideys instead to avoid sharp corners. I'm thinking of getting the sewing machine out to make them some more fleece beds and tunnels - I would need to make new liners for the L-shaped cage anyway. They love the three-way tunnel I bought from Lavinia here on the forum a few years ago, hoping I can figure out a way to recreate it - or something similar, as my sewing skills are not the best

Here are my two boys enjoying the cage cleanout this morning (Tofu never can resist a hay pile, sore eye or no sore eye!)

 

[Lorcan]

Chances are he'll adapt just fine, their eyesight isn't great when it's 100%. I would keep bowls or bottles in roughly the same place but that's just me, he'll find food and water with his nose anyway.

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

Squeak (he is the tri-colour piggy in my profile picture) also has very little, if any sight in his right eye. The vet has not ever been able to confirm/know the cause (he was probably born like this), as his eye looks clear not opaque, He seems to adapt very well though. We have changed the cage layout a few times in the last 3 years and he copes really well. Bubble and Squeak have got a mixture of wooden houses (with rounded corners) and fleece items. Now and again Squeak will bump his head on the nozzle of one of the water bottles when going to have a drink, but otherwise he finds his way around very well.....especially where food is involved! When he sometimes does have trouble finding something, I will put my finger on the floor of the cage in front of his nose and then trace it along the ground to (for example) some nuggets.....Squeak has learnt to follow my finger until he finds things. It's the little look he gives me after, as if to say thank
you
Hope Tofu gets to manage okay too.....he is gorgeous!

 

[Betsy]

My Rainbow Piggy The Ever Beautiful Betsy was as blind as a bat as she got older, she still got around just fine. Her Husboar Cutey Pie Dennis was her Guide Pig. When Dennis had the call from the Rainbow Bridge, I bonded her with Rainbow Piggy Pretty Patsy and Rainbow Piggy Shy Little Meg, moved her from the Granny Annexe to the Penthouse Suite of the hutch and she coped just fine. She loved a Carrot Cottage and a Hay Cube. Here she is in a Hay Cube.

 

[JaseChase]

Thank you so much! That's very reassuring

Squeak (he is the tri-colour piggy in my profile picture) also has very little, if any sight in his right eye. The vet has not ever been able to confirm/know the cause (he was probably born like this), as his eye looks clear not opaque, He seems to adapt very well though. We have changed the cage layout a few times in the last 3 years and he copes really well. Bubble and Squeak have got a mixture of wooden houses (with rounded corners) and fleece items. Now and again Squeak will bump his head on the nozzle of one of the water bottles when going to have a drink, but otherwise he finds his way around very well.....especially where food is involved! When he sometimes does have trouble finding something, I will put my finger on the floor of the cage in front of his nose and then trace it along the ground to (for example) some nuggets.....Squeak has learnt to follow my finger until he finds things. It's the little look he gives me after, as if to say thank
you
Hope Tofu gets to manage okay too.....he is gorgeous!

Squeak looks adorable! Glad to hear he has coped alright with cage layout changes, I would really like to give them more space as we can now and the L-shape will fit the room they're in a lot better. The running your finger along the floor trick sounds so cute! And I'm glad it helps Squeak. I might give it a go with Tofu, I did notice this morning that he uses one water bottle pretty exclusively and the other one is to his right, so he probably can't see it... feel a little bit bad I didn't notice before, they're always bickering over that bottle! But the veggies make their way into his mouth just fine

My Rainbow Piggy The Ever Beautiful Betsy was as blind as a bat as she got older, she still got around just fine. Her Husboar Cutey Pie Dennis was her Guide Pig. When Dennis had the call from the Rainbow Bridge, I bonded her with Rainbow Piggy Pretty Patsy and Rainbow Piggy Shy Little Meg, moved her from the Granny Annexe to the Penthouse Suite of the hutch and she coped just fine. She loved a Carrot Cottage and a Hay Cube. Here she is in a Hay Cube.


View attachment 246763

The Ever Beautiful Betsy is so gorgeous in every photo! Tofu is very reassured that such a fabulous piggie coped with losing her sight. The Guide Pig thing is so sweet, I've seen Noodle leading Tofu around the cage, especially after a clearout, and they've been sharing hideys and snuggling in a way they never used to. I think he knows something is up with his brother - but the painkiller has perked Tofu up a lot and he's been popcorning today

Did you find any issues with carrot cottages or hay cubes? My boys love both, especially a carrot cottage, they've just finished demolishing the latest one. I was wary of buying another because of the sharp corners but at the same time it's great fun for them both. Here is Tofu nibbling on the most recent one after I tipped it over for them to get the last of the carrot (he did manage not to tip it over on himself, just about!)

Carrot Cottage vs Tofu

 

[Lorcan]

I've never had an issue with carrot cottages or hay cubes other than the goblins got bored with them for a bit. As occasional enrichment, they've been 100% fine here.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

I've had a number of piggies going blind with cataracts or with reduced sight after a major eye injury. All I ever did was to lower the angle of a ramp and use a strongly scent retaining material (carpet offcut) for the scent spoor to follow. I never had an accident. I've even had a blind piggy free roaming the house and garden under my supervision. I've also had an arthritic blind 8 year old whose greatest fun it was to create a new scent loop to waddle along as quickly as she could multiple times.
You can find a video link for it via this link here: 'Popcorning' (jumping) and 'zooming' (running) - joy and exuberance (videos)

Sight is the weakest sense in guinea pigs while it is our human strongest. Guinea pigs compensate with smelling, touch (paws and whiskers) and much finer hearing as well. The trickiest period is generally the transition period. The more you challenge a disabled piggy, the more they will be able to live an enriched, full life. The worst mistake is to wrap them cotton wool.

Use scent for any changes - don't clean the huts and furniture and use scent makes bedding for the new cage to help a blind piggy to orient themselves and to rebuild their mind map. A wiped, sterile environment is their worst enemy; it is bereft of helpful markers.

 

[JaseChase]

I've never had an issue with carrot cottages or hay cubes other than the goblins got bored with them for a bit. As occasional enrichment, they've been 100% fine here.

That is very good to know, thank you! My boys really do love the carrot cottages. Did you do anything to round off the corners or was it fine without?

Hi

I've had a number of piggies going blind with cataracts or with reduced sight after a major eye injury. All I ever did was to lower the angle of a ramp and use a strongly scent retaining material (carpet offcut) for the scent spoor to follow. I never had an accident. I've even had a blind piggy free roaming the house and garden under my supervision. I've also had an arthritic blind 8 year old whose greatest fun it was to create a new scent loop to waddle along as quickly as she could multiple times.
You can find a video link for it via this link here: 'Popcorning' (jumping) and 'zooming' (running) - joy and exuberance (videos)

Sight is the weakest sense in guinea pigs while it is our human strongest. Guinea pigs compensate with smelling, touch (paws and whiskers) and much finer hearing as well. The trickiest period is generally the transition period. The more you challenge a disabled piggy, the more they will be able to live an enriched, full life. The worst mistake is to wrap them cotton wool.

Use scent for any changes - don't clean the huts and furniture and use scent makes bedding for the new cage to help a blind piggy to orient themselves and to rebuild their mind map. A wiped, sterile environment is their worst enemy; it is bereft of helpful markers.

That's really good to know, thank you Wiebke. The points about scent especially. I was already thinking of using marked bedding when setting up the new cage but hadn't thought about how he'd use it for area mapping too. The fact Tofu has likely had these sight issues for at least three weeks (since I first noticed visible marks in his eye) and his behaviour really hadn't too changed much makes me think he compensates alright because I hadn't changed anything at all then! I will resist the temptation to get over-protective, I don't want him losing abilities he might be able to keep if I let him figure it out

That video of little Mali running around in delight was precious! Tofu has been back to popcorning today (he's on a painkiller again) and I hope they'll be happier in the bigger cage once we get it set up. I do have to make them some new liners for it because of size, but I'm thinking I'll pop the new fleece in their current cage so they can scent them and get familiar before putting them in the new one

 

[Wiebke]

That is very good to know, thank you! My boys really do love the carrot cottages. Did you do anything to round off the corners or was it fine without?



That's really good to know, thank you Wiebke. The points about scent especially. I was already thinking of using marked bedding when setting up the new cage but hadn't thought about how he'd use it for area mapping too. The fact Tofu has likely had these sight issues for at least three weeks (since I first noticed visible marks in his eye) and his behaviour really hadn't too changed much makes me think he compensates alright because I hadn't changed anything at all then! I will resist the temptation to get over-protective, I don't want him losing abilities he might be able to keep if I let him figure it out

That video of little Mali running around in delight was precious! Tofu has been back to popcorning today (he's on a painkiller again) and I hope they'll be happier in the bigger cage once we get it set up. I do have to make them some new liners for it because of size, but I'm thinking I'll pop the new fleece in their current cage so they can scent them and get familiar before putting them in the new one

Don't clean water bottle nozzles before you move bottles or any tunnels and huts etc. Just think 'scent spoors' before any changes. It is always better to use scent marked bedding whenever you make make changes to any guinea pig environment because you can hopefully avoid triggering a new hierarchy sort-out to re-establish the group in a new territory. Some piggies are more sensitive than others. But because scent is generally a weaker sense for us and we are culturally wired to suppress it we tend to totally underestimate its importance for our pets.
Reacting to group or territorial changes: Dominance and group establishment/re-establishment

 

[Lorcan]

Nah, I just give them as-is. They only eat sharp spiky hay anyway, there's nothing sharper than it on a hay cube or carrot cottage.

If you want something a little softer, Nature's Own does a hay-and-play cube. It's similar, but the card they use is much softer at the expense of durability.

 

[Betsy]

Betsy was fine with a carrot cottage and demolished it just as she had done when she had sight.

 

[Merab's Slave]

Merab was blind for the latter part of her life and coped fine, even when out of the cage free roaming.


Micah also had dodgy eyes - the vet told me name of the condition but I can’t remember it. I never did work out how much sight he had but it didn’t stop him chasing his wives or being an enthusiast husboar.



As has been said, piggies don’t rely on their eyesight as much as we do.

 

[JaseChase]

Thank you all so much! I really appreciate it. Feeling good about going ahead with the cage upgrade, just need to place the ikea order for tables now and get sewing new liners. Going to keep scent in mind, and it sounds like Tofu will be able to adjust. He's certainly been popcorning around the new cage since being back on the painkiller and he's back to climbing the bars for food whenever I come in

Carrot cottages are still on the menu which the boys are very pleased about, though they might have a little break because they demolished the last one so fast! Here they are enjoying veggies after Tofu's meds last night (Tofu's at the front, Noodle's on the tunnel)

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

Both Bubble and Squeak love hay cubes.....more than carrot cottages, I think!

Here they are in their (indoor) run, just starting a new cube.


Squeak having a rest (back in their cage) after all of his hard work with another cube! I used to worry about the pointy bit of the heart with him, but he makes it safe by usually being one of the first bits that he has a good chew at!

 

[JaseChase]

Both Bubble and Squeak love hay cubes.....more than carrot cottages, I think!

Here they are in their (indoor) run, just starting a new cube.
View attachment 246834

Squeak having a rest (back in their cage) after all of his hard work with another cube! I used to worry about the pointy bit of the heart with him, but he makes it safe by usually being one of the first bits that he has a good chew at!
View attachment 246837

Oh they are gorgeous! Squeak having a nap in the little opening <3 Glad he knows to chomp the sharp bit first I had the same thought with the pointy bit of hay cubes so it's good to know Squeak copes just fine. Tofu would probably riot if I forbade carrot cottages permanently, he will be very grateful to these other partially sighted/blind piggies who have reassured me

The last time they got hay cubes, this is how Tofu spent most of his time:



And with the constant fave the carrot cottage he demonstrates how tall he can stretch (he's never jumped up on the roof, Noodle has a few times and gave me the fright of my life!)

 

[Lorcan]

Ah, boars. Cam likes to use hay cube remains to jam into the doorway of the bed he's in. Now Bann can't get in! But also Cam can't get back out, which is apparently not something e thought of before. He's done it too many times, lol.

Also, love the background flag - is it yours?

 

[JaseChase]

Ah, boars. Cam likes to use hay cube remains to jam into the doorway of the bed he's in. Now Bann can't get in! But also Cam can't get back out, which is apparently not something e thought of before. He's done it too many times, lol.

Also, love the background flag - is it yours?

I love piggie logic bet Cam is outraged when he realises he can't leave the bed either!

Yes the background flag is ours, both partner and I are LGBTQ+/trans and we stick flags anywhere we can get away with it lol. The piggies don't seem to mind, though that will probably not be its permanent home - we have yet to fully arrange this room post-moving in as a lot of it resides on the cage upgrade and I have been too lazy to place the ikea order yet I did finally cut out some fleece ready to sew new liners yesterday, so the boys should get those to scent soon

 

[Lorcan]

Absolutely. Then he gets on at me like it's somehow my fault he's trapped himself inside, although my laughing hysterically at him probably doesn't help

I have a trans flag somewhere. I keep thinking I should put it up and then I keep forgetting where I put it

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

Oh they are gorgeous! Squeak having a nap in the little opening <3 Glad he knows to chomp the sharp bit first I had the same thought with the pointy bit of hay cubes so it's good to know Squeak copes just fine. Tofu would probably riot if I forbade carrot cottages permanently, he will be very grateful to these other partially sighted/blind piggies who have reassured me

The last time they got hay cubes, this is how Tofu spent most of his time:

View attachment 246880View attachment 246881View attachment 246882

And with the constant fave the carrot cottage he demonstrates how tall he can stretch (he's never jumped up on the roof, Noodle has a few times and gave me the fright of my life!)

View attachment 246879

Aww, they are gorgeous I love the way Tofu is "wearing" his hay cube.....the latest in piggy accessories! They do frighten us sometimes with their antics.....Bubble likes to climb up (or try to) on things, and both him and Squeak jump up on the spot on their back legs *by about 2-3 inches at times) when they are after goodies such as pea flakes and worry me that they are going to fall over. They are so adorable though when they stand up and show off their "trousers" and fuzzy tummies!
Something else which Tofu and Noodle might like as Bubble and Squeak love them, is the medium Woodlands tunnel https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/woodlands-small-pet-hay-tunnel?size=medium They end up completely stripping the inside of it.....Squeak particularly likes them! They do bicker over who is going to get first dibs of it though!

 

[Bubble and Squeak]

Ah, boars. Cam likes to use hay cube remains to jam into the doorway of the bed he's in. Now Bann can't get in! But also Cam can't get back out, which is apparently not something e thought of before. He's done it too many times, lol.

Also, love the background flag - is it yours?

Bubble likes to block his doorways up too, with whatever is to hand! There was one time (and not sure how he managed it, where he used their cloud (aka "Mr Cloud"!) cardboard chew toy. I was waiting for the 'Do Not Disturb' sign to pop over the top of it (Top Cat stylee)!

They have got different houses at the moment, as Bubble does tend to squabble with Squeak as to which doorway they each get to look out of! In the picture below, Bubble has just done his trick of seeing poor Squeak off to bed whether he wants to go or not!