Blocked Tear Ducts

[Zehuri]

Our guinea pig has got blocked tear ducts in both eyes.

The exotic vet said causes could be teeth (dental roots), tumour or foreign body. To find out the cause would need to do further investigations.

The exotic vet said as she’s eating okay no need for further investigations, like an x ray right now.

She’s on antibiotic eye drops and Stormease eye drops to see if that stops the white discharge from her left eye. She’s also on 1.0 ml of dog Metacam twice a day for a week approx

She also has early signs of mild cataracts in both eyes.

She is approximately 5 in April. She will eventually go blind, which she’ll have to adjust to but sight is not their strongest sense so I know she will manage as many blind guinea pigs still have happy lives.

I’m more worried about the blocked tear ducts.

I feel like if she suddenly started to decline like not eating or losing weight wouldn’t doing further investigations like an X ray at that point or other things be more risky for her?

Is an X ray classed as aggressive in terms of procedures for a approx soon to be 5 year old guinea pig? The vet said to just manage it for now and not do any further tests.

 

[Zehuri]

The white discharge is present a few times a day.

 

[Zehuri]

I feel like I would want her to have the X ray now whilst she’s well in herself. To know the cause.

Would appreciate anyone’s experience and advice.

Thank you

 

[Merab]

I can’t advise about the blocked tear ducts but I did have a blind piggy - Merab.
She was blind for the last several months of her life but it didn’t stop her from living life to the full.
She, like your piggy, was about 5 ish when she went blind.

Glad you’ve been able to see an exotic vet.

 

[Freela]

I don't think the x-ray would hurt. I know my pigs have been x-rayed without any sort of anesthesia in the past and in that sense it's a very low risk procedure. It might not show everything, but it should show tooth root issues and things like that. It might not change treatment options, but then you might have more of an idea of the problem and would be able to have a better understanding of her likely prognosis.

I've had several pigs who developed cataracts and went blind in later life and none of them were much bothered by it once they adjusted. We could tell they were losing vision at first because they would hesitate sometimes or stumble over ramps or steps, but after a few months we really couldn't even tell that they couldn't see. In your case I would just make sure to clean her eyes for her a couple times a day to keep her skin from being irritated. I've never had a pig with blocked tear ducts but I did have one who had small tear ducts from birth and she would often get crusties under her eyes and irritation/fur loss of the skin underneath, so we would wipe her eyes for her with a warm damp cloth a couple times a day to keep her little face clean for her.

 

[YvonneBlue]

I had a piggy with blocked tear ducts. Our vet said it just happens sometimes. We decided not to have any further investigations unless it got worse. She was 3.5 years old. We were advised to bathe her eye but her friend would clean it for her with a good lick, so we never had to. She lived to be almost 7, with no worsening of her eyes.
This is just my experience rather than advice, I would do whatever you feel is right for your piggy.

 

[Zehuri]

I had a piggy with blocked tear ducts. Our vet said it just happens sometimes. We decided not to have any further investigations unless it got worse. She was 3.5 years old. We were advised to bathe her eye but her friend would clean it for her with a good lick, so we never had to. She lived to be almost 7, with no worsening of her eyes.
This is just my experience rather than advice, I would do whatever you feel is right for your piggy.

Thank you so much for your experience.

So were the tear ducts flushed at all to unblock them or did they remain blocked for the rest of her life?

Our vet said there’s no cure (becuase it’s the result of an underlying issue: tumour, no from for dental roots or foreign body) and that it needs to therefore be managed when it occurs.

She’s only getting older and right now her weight is stable and she’s eating so for me she’s got a better chance coming through the anesthetic now than if we did it further down the line if she started to lose weight/ stop eating as she’d worse off heath wise and she’d be older making anesthetic/ recovery from, more risky.

 

[Guinea Slave]

I have a beautiful girl who has problems with her tear ducts. She doesn’t produce enough ‘tears’ so was getting susceptible to ulcers and generally very sore, crusty eyes. She has remend eye drops twice a day to keep the eyes healthy. These work very well and she has been on this routine for near,y two years. She also has cataracts and is going blind but doesn’t seem bothered at all.

 

[YvonneBlue]

Thank you so much for your experience.

So were the tear ducts flushed at all to unblock them or did they remain blocked for the rest of her life?

Our vet said there’s no cure (becuase it’s the result of an underlying issue: tumour, no from for dental roots or foreign body) and that it needs to therefore be managed when it occurs.

She’s only getting older and right now her weight is stable and she’s eating so for me she’s got a better chance coming through the anesthetic now than if we did it further down the line if she started to lose weight/ stop eating as she’d worse off heath wise and she’d be older making anesthetic/ recovery from, more risky.

She had blocked tear ducts for the rest of her life. As the tear ducts are so tiny, any attempt to flush them can cause more damage. As my piggy didn't seem bothered by them being block we decided not to do anything invasive.