Hi. I wondered if anyone had experience of a blind Pig. We are about to Adopt two girls that are under-year-old to bond with our pig Hector, and one of the girls Margaret, is blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other.
I’m sure she will get on just fine but if anyone has any advice for me that would be lovely.
Hi! Blind guinea pigs compensate with their other senses, especially their sense of smell, hearing and touch. You will notice blind piggies sniffing the air a lot more than sighted piggies. If they are born blind, then they won't miss what they have never had and just live their own life as - for them - normal. If they develop cataracts, especially if they come on very quickly in a matter of days or weeks, then the transition phase is the worst period until they can adjust and the other senses take over some of the brain functions. Unlike with humans, sight is not a piggy's strongest sense anyway. What they do not like is being accessed from their blind side and handled when sleeping; that can rate a sharp nip. Always try to wake up a blind piggy before picking it up and handling it.
My various cataract piggies (even the really badly affected ones) have been able to cope with shallow ramps (as long as they were covered with a material that retains smell well and gives good grip, like an old piece of carpet and had a little guard rail on the side), changing cage layouts as long as you don't deep clean any hideys when you do the switch and free roaming in the living room or even garden as long as they can follow a scent spoor or a companion.
What you want to make sure of is that any edges they can bump into are not rough. My husband carefully sanded down everything.
The more you challenge them, the more they learn to do. They can basically lead a perfectly normal life with run time and lawn trips etc. The worst you can do is to mollycuddle them.
You can still provide enrichment that is scent based, like swilling some fruit juice on a saucer, sprinkling treats around, let them sniff your hands (if you do not mind too much the odd tweak) that you have rubbed with various leaves, letting them romp in soiled bedding from other piggies or their own in a heap on the floor while you cage clean etc. Mischief once spent a very happy Christmas playing with some rustly soft wrapping paper.
Feed pellets and veg in a bowl each in portions they can eat in one go 2-3 times a day, so the fully blind one doesn't get shorted if Hector is a food hogger. Remove the bowls in between; 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, so the more they eat of that, the healthier they'll be.
Just give them audio cues of what you are about to do, like creating a different little melody for each regular ritual - guinea pigs react more to the tone than words, like feeding, touching, pick-up, taking them somewhere, taking them back home, grooming, cage clean, poo patrol, doing well/going wrong, come to me etc. You can also picture in your mind what you are about to do and where you are taking them, especially if it is somewhere new or something a bit scary.
I even got my Mischief, who by then was blind with fully developed cataracts, to free roam in the garden (where she had to rebuild her mental map of 'her' territory with the help of her other senses).
Whenever I moved their small walk-in run, I got her to turn herself in, as long as I stood next to the flap. She would come to me over the distance of several yards as long as I kept giving her constant voice updates that she was going right. If it was too far, she would suddenly veer off to the side. I would then tell her with an uh uh uh that she was going wrong. She learned to collect herself and start afresh. Only if she got truly lost would I come and pick her up. It takes time and a lot of trust, but it can be done.
Blind Mischief (the brindle) and her companion Minx free roaming in the garden (of course always only under my supervision!)
Mischief and Minx wheeking - you can see in the flash light that Missy had pretty much lost sight completely as her eyes reflect blue and not red. In a developing cataract, a flash light reflects purple. While I do not recommend to use flash around guinea pigs, it has helped me occasionally determine whether a piggy was starting to develop a cataract.
Missy could still jump on top of her hut even when she was fully blind
My blind old lady Mali loved to explore following the scent trails of other piggies. She also would do arthritic zoomies following a loop of her own scent spoor again and again and happily bump into her new friend Iola at the end of it, as if she was still half a year old! She died two days after creating a new loop, aged 8 years.
Mali was part of a group of three rather rambunctious cataract sows living with a fully sighted gentle 'husboar'. They were a very closely bonded group between 2011-14/15 and I have very fond memories of them all. I am sure that your Hector will be perfectly happy with his wives!
Here they are during their free roaming time with husboar Terfel on the left, then blind/partially sighted Taffy, Mali and Tegyd. Terfel was instrumental in integrating somewhat fear-agressive 5 year old Mali into the group over the course of two days as he was very patient and not pushy at all. He was very protective of Taffy and made clear to Mali - once he had gently, but firmly established his dominance - what was done and what not. The moment that Mali realised that the other two sows were like her, she wanted to be with them and became quickly Tegyd's feisty little sidekick. It was rather cute!
Taffy and Mali in the garden
Taffy sleeping on the top of the shallow ramp in their little loft. We had to adapt the ramp and make it shallower until Taffy was happy with using it, but we never had an accident because the blind piggies would follow the scent on the carpet and not jump off blindly.
I hope that that helps you?
Thank you so much for all of your advice. I shall let you know how I get on.
