Blueish cloudy eye in 6yo sow

[DoWiRaNie]

Hi there! I have two 6 yo sows, who - up until 2 years ago when they underwent spays for ovarian cysts - have (touch wood) been pretty healthy. Winnie has had osseous metaplasia which I've been told is nothing to worry about. However, have noticed over a week or so her eyes have become cloudy and blueish: her left one in particular. I don't recall her having hay poke or doing anything to it; she's super active, she actually still popcorns on occasion and wheeks very loudly for food! I'm not concerned about her being in pain, and her bonded sow also seems in normal spirits. We saw a vet probably 8 weeks ago who gave them a clean bill of health and said they didn't look 6 (which I will take as a compliment!). Between now and vets, which I am hoping will be tomorrow, is there anything I need to be doing?

 

[midwesternrodent]

That is one gnarly cataract. That jagged edge on her pupil is pretty odd too, I've never seen that before in any animal or person. I'd honestly be more interested to hear what the vet has to say about that rather than the cataract.

This happened over the course of only a few days? Do you have any before pictures?

I have no idea if you should be doing anything other than ask the vet tomorrow.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi there! I have two 6 yo sows, who - up until 2 years ago when they underwent spays for ovarian cysts - have (touch wood) been pretty healthy. Winnie has had osseous metaplasia which I've been told is nothing to worry about. However, have noticed over a week or so her eyes have become cloudy and blueish: her left one in particular. I don't recall her having hay poke or doing anything to it; she's super active, she actually still popcorns on occasion and wheeks very loudly for food! I'm not concerned about her being in pain, and her bonded sow also seems in normal spirits. We saw a vet probably 8 weeks ago who gave them a clean bill of health and said they didn't look 6 (which I will take as a compliment!). Between now and vets, which I am hoping will be tomorrow, is there anything I need to be doing?

I’m sorry to hear this - there is unfortunately nothing you can do between now and the vet appointment. I hope she is ok



@midwesternrodent - the OP mentioned that this piggy had been diagnosed with osseous metaplasia so that is the jagged edge. Osseous metaplasia and osseous choristoma is when bone tissue forms within the eye (metaplasia as a ring around the edge; choristoma as a spot in the middle). It is a painless but untreatable condition

 

[Wiebke]

Hi there! I have two 6 yo sows, who - up until 2 years ago when they underwent spays for ovarian cysts - have (touch wood) been pretty healthy. Winnie has had osseous metaplasia which I've been told is nothing to worry about. However, have noticed over a week or so her eyes have become cloudy and blueish: her left one in particular. I don't recall her having hay poke or doing anything to it; she's super active, she actually still popcorns on occasion and wheeks very loudly for food! I'm not concerned about her being in pain, and her bonded sow also seems in normal spirits. We saw a vet probably 8 weeks ago who gave them a clean bill of health and said they didn't look 6 (which I will take as a compliment!). Between now and vets, which I am hoping will be tomorrow, is there anything I need to be doing?

Hi

If there is no bluish ulceration (infection) gunk on the surface, then you are dealing with a fast onset cataract (if it looks a little like a cluster of stars inside the eyes - lots of tiny white dots) or nuclear sclerosis (if it is a more even fog developing in the lens). Either can come up strongly within a matter of days and develop fully within a week, as I know from my own experiences with a number of piggies. Old age cataracts/sclerosis are not uncommon.

We do not usually recommend to use flash on cameras in guinea pigs but if the eye shows up in the photos from a dark indoors space shining purple or blue instead of red, then you are dealing with a cataract or sclerosis. If the eye is dark from ulceration gunk sitting on the eye surface, then that is either a scratch of the cornea (potentially from something stuck under and eyelid) or from a hay poke.

Cataracts and nuclear sclerosis are not operable in guinea pigs. They are not painful. It is like a thickening piece of white/grey paper is developing in the eye for the affected piggy but the transition with a fast onset can be a bit difficult as it takes time for the other senses to adjust and to take over some of the functions. Unfortunately, in many cases the other eye will follow within a matter or weeks or months, leading to severely impaired sight or blindness.

Eyesight is thankfully the weakest sense in guinea pigs whereas it is our strongest in humans. Piggies will compensate especially with smell, touch (whiskers) and hearing. During the transition period when the second eye goes, I would recommend to not change the layout and to especially not wash any furniture and cosies at higher temperatures to allow the piggy to adjust and rebuild their mental map. Once that has happened, you won't notice much difference and you can make changes as long as you don't remove the scent of any furniture. Ramps can be safely used if they are made shallower if needed and are covered with a strong scent retaining material, like a carpet off-cut. Blind piggies follow scent spoors and they can happily zoom around following their own scent spoor in a loop or another piggy's scent spoor during roaming time. Or even jump and climb on things they can strongly smell and have memorised the height of.

I hope that this helps you? If you have concerns re. ulceration, we recommend to have some plain eye gel (preferable to drops) at home for first aid. They help to wash the ulceration gunk out, rehydrate the eye and create an ideal healing environment in deeper levels and help to speed up the healing process in case of an injury.

- Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection (contains a list of age related issues with further links)
- First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products

I hope that this helps you?

 

[Merab]

Merab had cataracts in her eyes for her last years.
They didn’t bother her at all.
She still wandered around, did an occasional zoomie and enjoyed life.
She did slow down a bit but she was an old lady.
Try not to worry

 

[DoWiRaNie]

That is one gnarly cataract. That jagged edge on her pupil is pretty odd too, I've never seen that before in any animal or person. I'd honestly be more interested to hear what the vet has to say about that rather than the cataract.

This happened over the course of only a few days? Do you have any before pictures?

I have no idea if you should be doing anything other than ask the vet tomorrow.

Yeah it's strange isn't it. We had a vet visit this AM got ofloxacin and metacam; she used fluorescein this morning to check and as a result, she's not entirely convinced it is hay poke but thinks this is a good thing to do to rule out anything. The jagged edge is the osseous metaplasia I mentioned but the cloudiness is new. We'll keep treating her for the next week and hopefully uncover whether it's been haypoke or sudden onset cataracts!

 

[DoWiRaNie]

Hi

If there is no bluish ulceration (infection) gunk on the surface, then you are dealing with a fast onset cataract (if it looks a little like a cluster of stars inside the eyes - lots of tiny white dots) or nuclear sclerosis (if it is a more even fog developing in the lens). Either can come up strongly within a matter of days and develop fully within a week, as I know from my own experiences with a number of piggies. Old age cataracts/sclerosis are not uncommon.

We do not usually recommend to use flash on cameras in guinea pigs but if the eye shows up in the photos from a dark indoors space shining purple or blue instead of red, then you are dealing with a cataract or sclerosis. If the eye is dark from ulceration gunk sitting on the eye surface, then that is either a scratch of the cornea (potentially from something stuck under and eyelid) or from a hay poke.

Cataracts and nuclear sclerosis are not operable in guinea pigs. They are not painful. It is like a thickening piece of white/grey paper is developing in the eye for the affected piggy but the transition with a fast onset can be a bit difficult as it takes time for the other senses to adjust and to take over some of the functions. Unfortunately, in many cases the other eye will follow within a matter or weeks or months, leading to severely impaired sight or blindness.

Eyesight is thankfully the weakest sense in guinea pigs whereas it is our strongest in humans. Piggies will compensate especially with smell, touch (whiskers) and hearing. During the transition period when the second eye goes, I would recommend to not change the layout and to especially not wash any furniture and cosies at higher temperatures to allow the piggy to adjust and rebuild their mental map. Once that has happened, you won't notice much difference and you can make changes as long as you don't remove the scent of any furniture. Ramps can be safely used if they are made shallower if needed and are covered with a strong scent retaining material, like a carpet off-cut. Blind piggies follow scent spoors and they can happily zoom around following their own scent spoor in a loop or another piggy's scent spoor during roaming time. Or even jump and climb on things they can strongly smell and have memorised the height of.

I hope that this helps you? If you have concerns re. ulceration, we recommend to have some plain eye gel (preferable to drops) at home for first aid. They help to wash the ulceration gunk out, rehydrate the eye and create an ideal healing environment in deeper levels and help to speed up the healing process in case of an injury.

- Caring for Older Piggies and Facing the End - A practical and supportive information collection (contains a list of age related issues with further links)
- First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products

I hope that this helps you?

This is brilliant, thank you Wiebke. We did see a cavy savvy vet this AM who did use fluorescein but is not entirely convinced it is haypoke; Winnie doesn't seem to be in pain or anything. We've got ofloxacin drops and metacam for the next week, so will treat and see if it gets better; if not, suspect it'll be cataract/nuclear sclerosis. Well noted on the eye gel point; would you suggest still useful to use in tandem with ofloxacin? I am sort of noticing a cloudy appearance starting in her other eye but I could be being hyper vigilant and seeing nothing at all! Unfortunately though on palpation she did feel a lump: it was where her ovaries were pre-spay, so she's going to do an ultrasound next week when we have a check up on her eye, just to see what's going on. I am hoping it's just her being lumpy and old but we'll see! Thank you