Chinese eyes

[Sue_P]

My teary eyed, snotty nosed, dead legged rodent has been doing China man impressions. What’s that all about? I asked the vet and she was clueless. Anyone else had rodents that have their eyes half closed? Someone else thought it may be because he’s tired but I’ve seen him do it when he’s been active for half an hour and is busy tucking into fresh grass just placed before him which to me would seem to be a time of excitement.

He was acting a bit weird the other night and it almost had me thinking that it’s a look of pre-death. He lived though so obviously it ain’t. Yet.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

It usually means they are in pain or discomfort.

 

[Sue_P]

Someone should tell my vet then cos I asked if it was because he's in pain and she didn't know.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

I am just assuming you would know the difference between a piggie who is obviously asleep and therefor squinting its eyes or a piggy not asleep with squinty eyes, and your rodent does sound like it has had better days, so i would put the eye squinting down to it being in pain. Is the rodent hunched up atall with its fur on end?

 

[Sue_P]

The night he had the squinty eyes he was doing weird stuff like sitting like a dog, i.e. backside down, front legs stretched propping the top half up. That ain’t normal for him. & the stupid thing went and wedged himself in between his banana box and pen wall, it was just good fortune that I was in and kept popping my head in to look at him, if I’d have been out he might have been stuck like that all day. & I almost didn’t notice, I heard him eating hay and just presumed he was under the box, never once have either of them wedged themselves behind it, thankfully I went inside the pen to get a closer look, wasn’t expecting to find him like that.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

Do you think it is likely he could have been struggling to wee or poo, or in pain when doing so?

 

[Sue_P]

You mean when he was sat like a dog? Not sure. I presumed he was in that position cos his back legs were hurting and he couldn’t get comfy but I’m just guessing.

He wasn’t trying to pee or poo when he had the Chinese eyes though, he was eating.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

If he was eating, it could be possible he was just enjoying it, one of my girls does this when she is sat at the bowl of nuggets, she'll sit and much with her eyes squinted. Sorry i did not see that he was eating.