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Adopted piggy from rescue.

Livia Rabideau

Livia Rabideau

Adult Guinea Pig
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Feb 14, 2018
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Location
Kentucky, U.S.
i just adopted a sow from a rescue today. She suffered a corneal ulcer and has gotten a clean bill of health from the vet. When I went to pick her up today her eye was hazy and a bit watery. The lady at the rescue told me that is how her eye is going to look now from the damage of the ulcer. I haven't experience with corneal ulcers so I don't know if this is true. I have an appointment with my vet tomorrow to double check. Can I reclaim vet expenses or no? Not sure how it works with rescues. Thanks!
 
@Livia Rabideau It all depends on the rescue and what paperwork/contract you signed.

Whenever I adopt a new piggy I always take them for a vet check anyway and wouldn't expect the rescue to pay for it.

A good rescue would cover vet expenses for a condition that was present in the pig at adoption, so something like upto 7 days after adoption. But it does all depend on the rescue. You will need to contact them and ask.
 
Thanks! I made an appointment with my vet for tomorrow. I wouldn't expect the rescue to cover the cost of the check up. She told me to contact her if there are any problems. I just question whether her eye is actually ok. It does not look well to me 😣.
 
Livia Rabideau said:
i just adopted a sow from a rescue today. She suffered a corneal ulcer and has gotten a clean bill of health from the vet. When I went to pick her up today her eye was hazy and a bit watery. The lady at the rescue told me that is how her eye is going to look now from the damage of the ulcer. I haven't experience with corneal ulcers so I don't know if this is true. I have an appointment with my vet tomorrow to double check. Can I reclaim vet expenses or no? Not sure how it works with rescues. Thanks!
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Hi! It depends on what kind of rescue you have adopted from, but most likely you can't reclaim any vet cost. A bad eye injury can leave permanent damage to the eye.

Try visco tear gel, i.e. artificial tear fluid in gel from a pharmacy (don't mention that it is for guinea pigs, though!). That may help with clearing the opaqueness inside the eye more. I find gel more easy to apply than eye drops.

Keep an eye out in the coming weeks in case the injury has not healed out completely and has penetrated further into the eye (may need a strong antibiotic for that).

Both my Nosgan (whose eye was so bad it didn't even look like an eye anymore after he bashed into a grid in full panic mode) and my then 6 year old Hafren (whose eye had deteriorated very quickly overnight and the infection had penetrated deeper into the eye) had eyes looking like that towards the end of the recovery. We managed to save both eyes medically with a combination of chloramphenicol, visco tears (up to 6 times a day, but with a wait of half an hour after any antibiotic eye drops) plus a strong antibiotic.
 
Thank you so much! I have an appointment this morning with my vet. I just will be furious if he says it needs to be removed. I haven't even had her 24 hours. It looks a bit hazy and a bit shiny. It is not bulging or anything. I am hoping that maybe she just needs medication for longer. Ugh. Hope I haven't made a mistake!
 
Livia Rabideau said:
Thank you so much! I have an appointment this morning with my vet. I just will be furious if he says it needs to be removed. I haven't even had her 24 hours. It looks a bit hazy and a bit shiny. It is not bulging or anything. I am hoping that maybe she just needs medication for longer. Ugh. Hope I haven't made a mistake!
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Please calm down and take a deep breath!

It doesn't sound like it needs removing to me whatsoever; it sounds like a healing eye after a bad injury. If the rescue's vet is competent, then that is as far as it will ever heal although it is hopefully going to settle down a bit more. |

My Nosgan's eye has remained hazy inside and he has never regained full sight, but he has been living very well with it for the last two years. That is a LOT more for than we'd hoped for initially. Thankfully, eyesight is not a piggy's strongest sense.
 
Livia Rabideau said:
I am in the you.S. I am not seeing visco available to me online. Is there anything comparable?
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Google artificial tears. ;)

PS: Please keep in mind that some guinea pigs come into rescue with long term untreated eye injuries. Rescue people work wonders with their care and good rescues run up massive vet fees, but they cannot always undo all the damage to such a sensitive organ. If it is a good standard rescue, then the eye has been kept under supervision to make sure that it is stable as it is before putting a piggy up for adoption.
 
Thanks! I will try to calm down. I am a worrier. I always jump to worst case scenario. I couldn't imagine a rescue putting her up for adoption if she were unhealthy, but a second look couldn't hurt. I am fine if this is how her eye will be. I just need to hear it from a vet. I want to know she isn't suffering or needs longer antibiotic treatment. I will Google artificial tears thank you! I will update after my appointment today. I feel good to hear that permanent haze can be normal.
 
Ok so my Reese saw the doctor today. He said her eye is healing very well. He said to watch for discharge and also making sure her eye closes completely when she sleeps so it doesn't dry out. She has an old injury that goes across the one side of her face that left a scar and slightly asymmetrical look to her face. He said she looks great and is healthy! I am so relieved. She had a couple of small poops, but the doctor said once she settles and starts eating more she should be fine.
 
Congratulations on your new Guinea :clap:
Eyes are very delicate, but they do heal well most of the time.

One of mine had a grass seed stuck under her eyelid, she had some drops at the vets but we couldn't find the grass seed on the first visit, her eye wasn't healing and it had gone the shape of a rugby ball, all cloudy and bloodshot! so I took her back & between the two of us the vet and I spotted the dangly grass seed lodged under the eyelid & removed it, it probably took nearly 2 weeks but it went back to normal, although she did have a little scar on her eye - but you wouldn't notice it if you didn't know it was there.

so just hang in there keep up with the medications and it all looks promising

:luv:enjoy your new baby x x
 
Thank you! Now I am concerned because she isn't eating much. She won't touch the pellets. She is eating a little hay. Not as much as I would like. Her poops have been small, but seem a bit bigger today. The vet mentioned that her incisors look slightly slanted which can mean trouble with the back teeth. Ugh. I don't know what to do. Give her more time to settle in? I am going to contact the rescue to see if she was eating well there. Also see if her vet mentioned the front teeth. Ugh.
 
Thank you. I am a worry wart. Until I get to know her, I will be questioning everything. There were more poops and bigger ones this morning. I have seen her nibble on hay a few times already, so I think she is just settling in. She has been through so much. The lady from the rescue got back to me right away. She said her vet never said anything about her teeth. She wanted a picture so I sent it and she said they look normal. She does not look like she has a hard time eating. She said it took Reese a couple of days to start eating when she got her as well. I will just continue to monitor her. She loves her veggies! I wonder if she ever had them in her previous home. Here is a pic of her teeth. My 5 year old took the picture. It was the best I could do. Haha.
 

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Aw she is such a sweetie :) I'm
Sorry for the troubles you have had. My Enoch came to me with an old eye injury that his previous owner hadn’t taken him to the vet for :( This resulted in him having regular conjunctivitis in that eye plus a redder than usual conjunctiva.

Please don’t worry about her not eating much. That’s normal for new piggies getting used to their new surroundings
 
Claire W said:
Aw she is such a sweetie :) I'm
Sorry for the troubles you have had. My Enoch came to me with an old eye injury that his previous owner hadn’t taken him to the vet for :( This resulted in him having regular conjunctivitis in that eye plus a redder than usual conjunctiva.

Please don’t worry about her not eating much. That’s normal for new piggies getting used to their new surroundings
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Thank you! I am trying to relax about it. Haha. I just want to make her happy. Her eye looks so much better. Not sure if you saw my post that showed her pictures. I just need to make sure her eye closes when she sleeps. Also help her keep it clean if it gets a little stuff in the corner. She is so sweet. My girls really want to meet her, but I will wait the two weeks. I really hope she can be with them. Just depends on her personality I guess.
 
Livia Rabideau said:
Thank you! I am trying to relax about it. Haha. I just want to make her happy. Her eye looks so much better. Not sure if you saw my post that showed her pictures. I just need to make sure her eye closes when she sleeps. Also help her keep it clean if it gets a little stuff in the corner. She is so sweet. My girls really want to meet her, but I will wait the two weeks. I really hope she can be with them. Just depends on her personality I guess.
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Hopefully she will be able to close the eye but remember that most piggies will sleep with their eyes open as they are prey animals so don’t worry if you don’t see her closing it when she sleeps
 
Betsy said:
Dennis sleeps with his eyes open. I know this as I can pick him up and he doesn't run away. It's obvious that the lights are on but nobody's home!
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Hahaha. All of piggies close their eyes. She closes them mostly already. She has been munching on hay most of the day! Yay! Waiting on the poops!
 
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