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Cloudy eye

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chaz_p77

New Born Pup
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We’ve only had our gps for 2 weeks. 2 days ago my daughter thought Salt was squinting a bit. Then yesterday we noticed her left eye was cloudy. We’ve taken her to the vet this afternoon who thinks it’s an ulcer. We’ve got antibiotic eye drops and some oral pain relief for her. The vet has said that she doesn’t know how deep the ulcer is. She doesn’t know if she has already lost the sight in that eye or whether the eye may end up having to be removed.

We’re really shaken up and scared. Because they’re so new and quite nervous, we haven’t really been handling them much so I’m really worried that we could have picked this up much sooner if we’d been getting them out more often. We’ve also been giving them loads of hay to hide in, to make them feel safer but now think that maybe this has caused it. I’m just feeling awful that we’ve only cared for these little piggies for such a short space of time and one of them has already suffered an injury.

The vet has recommended reducing the hay in their cage to avoid irritating the eye. What should we use instead? We’ve got wood shavings that we normally put underneath the hay but we also got some back to nature bedding that we’ve not used yet. Would that be better for them if there’s less hay on top?

Any advice/reassurance very gratefully received - we’re really quite freaked out by this.
 
Hay pokes are part and parcel I’m afraid. Don’t feel bad about it. One of mine had a hay poke and resulting ulcer two weeks after I got them.
I wouldn’t reduce their hay, eating, hiding it and running through hay is what piggies love to do!. Wood shavings can sometimes bring their own issues.
 
Bless you and welcome to the forum! You could use another bedding such as Fitch paper bedding and maybe put hay in a hay rack until the eye is all better? Are they indoor or outdoor piggies? Don’t blame yourself, all of us have had a piggy with haypoke at some time in their life.
 
They are indoor piggies. They were meant to be outside ones but I couldn’t face putting them out, so they’re in an outdoor hutch but inside. Part of my worry is that because it’s an outdoor hutch, it’s quite dark in there which is why I’m worried that her eye could have been sore for some time without us realising it. It doesn’t help that her favourite game when she’s in her active mood is to dive full pelt into the biggest pile of hay she can find..!
 
I use Fitch paper bedding and just have a cat litter tray filled with hay but they still dive in it. At least you’ve been to the vet and got the medication. It should improve over the next few days and if not, pop back to the vets
 
Aw don't feel guilty. You have taken your piggy to vets and got the correct treatment as soon as you realised there was a problem.

I've had my own fair share of eye injuries including one which resulted in an eye removal. Eye injuries often look worser than they are and look worse before they get better.

What hay are you using? Meadow hay is much softer than Timothy
 
Welcome to the forum

Haypoke is worrying when you first encounter it.
You did exactly the right thing in going to a vet immediately so hopefully the treatment will work quickly.

It would be lovely to see pictures when things are a more settled
 
We have been using Timothy hay. We’re going to clear it all out except one big pile for them to feed on from this evening, I think, until the eye hopefully heals and then I’ll definitely buy some softer hay from then on.
 
I suppose at least having to give her eye drops 3 times a day will get us over our anxiety about handling them..!
 
chaz_p77 said:
We’ve only had our gps for 2 weeks. 2 days ago my daughter thought Salt was squinting a bit. Then yesterday we noticed her left eye was cloudy. We’ve taken her to the vet this afternoon who thinks it’s an ulcer. We’ve got antibiotic eye drops and some oral pain relief for her. The vet has said that she doesn’t know how deep the ulcer is. She doesn’t know if she has already lost the sight in that eye or whether the eye may end up having to be removed.

We’re really shaken up and scared. Because they’re so new and quite nervous, we haven’t really been handling them much so I’m really worried that we could have picked this up much sooner if we’d been getting them out more often. We’ve also been giving them loads of hay to hide in, to make them feel safer but now think that maybe this has caused it. I’m just feeling awful that we’ve only cared for these little piggies for such a short space of time and one of them has already suffered an injury.

The vet has recommended reducing the hay in their cage to avoid irritating the eye. What should we use instead? We’ve got wood shavings that we normally put underneath the hay but we also got some back to nature bedding that we’ve not used yet. Would that be better for them if there’s less hay on top?

Any advice/reassurance very gratefully received - we’re really quite freaked out by this.
Click to expand...

Hi! Please use soft meadow hay for playing in; timothy is too stalky. Eye injuries are not at all uncommon in guinea pigs. Please see a vet as soon as you notice any squinting. Eye injuries can deteriorate very quickly, but thankfully they do heal pretty quickly, too - the sooner you can catch them, the better. Thankfully most eye injuries heal without major problems, so take a deep breath! Once the ulcer is gone, your vet can then reasses and if necessary support the healing process with an antibiotic.

Please apply the eye drops as much as stated, give the pain medication.
What is the name of the eye drops? Isathal or cloramphenicol?
Additionally you can get artificial tear gel (like visco tear gel) from the pharmacy. Apply up to 6 times a day, but wait at least half an hour after you have given the eye drops. The tear gel is helping with the rehydration, washing the ulcer gunk off, comfort and healing process. I find gel a lot easier to apply than drops.
My piggy specialist vet is very insistent that I use the tear gel as much as possible, especially with with more severe injuries. It has contributed to me saving a few eyes, especially in older piggies along the line.

The first few days can be hard as the eye is very sore.
If you are on your own, please try to see whether distracting your piggy with a favourite veg, grass or treat (like readigrass) can help. Offer it in a bowl on your knees, so your piggy is facing away from you. once it is fully absorbed it ceases to be quite as aware of its body and it is easier to sneak in the gel or drops in from the blind angle. Prepare yourself that it takes several attempts at first.

The other method is brute force. Make sure that one of you is holding your wiggly little bundle firmly, then pull down the lower eye lid and aim the drops into the gap. Make a big fuss with lots of praise and a treat before and afterwards, so your piggy knows that you are asking something special of it. Once the is getting better, your piggy will become more cooperative as it will understand that you are helping. You can't afford to be too squeamish and have to stay hard; it is more important that you get on top of eye. Once your piggy realises that it is better after your treatment you will be forgiven eventually after your've stopped.

You might also like to use these tricks here:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Administering Medications And Syringe Feed

Good luck and a good and smooth recovery!
 
Wiebke said:
Hi! Please use soft meadow hay for playing in; timothy is too stalky. Eye injuries are not at all uncommon in guinea pigs. Please see a vet as soon as you notice any squinting. Eye injuries can deteriorate very quickly, but thankfully they do heal pretty quickly, too - the sooner you can catch them, the better. Thankfully most eye injuries heal without major problems, so take a deep breath! Once the ulcer is gone, your vet can then reasses and if necessary support the healing process with an antibiotic.

Please apply the eye drops as much as stated, give the pain medication.
What is the name of the eye drops? Isathal or cloramphenicol?
Additionally you can get artificial tear gel (like visco tear gel) from the pharmacy. Apply up to 6 times a day, but wait at least half an hour after you have given the eye drops. The tear gel is helping with the rehydration, washing the ulcer gunk off, comfort and healing process. I find gel a lot easier to apply than drops.
My piggy specialist vet is very insistent that I use the tear gel as much as possible, especially with with more severe injuries. It has contributed to me saving a few eyes, especially in older piggies along the line.

The first few days can be hard as the eye is very sore.
If you are on your own, please try to see whether distracting your piggy with a favourite veg, grass or treat (like readigrass) can help. Offer it in a bowl on your knees, so your piggy is facing away from you. once it is fully absorbed it ceases to be quite as aware of its body and it is easier to sneak in the gel or drops in from the blind angle. Prepare yourself that it takes several attempts at first.

The other method is brute force. Make sure that one of you is holding your wiggly little bundle firmly, then pull down the lower eye lid and aim the drops into the gap. Make a big fuss with lots of praise and a treat before and afterwards, so your piggy knows that you are asking something special of it. Once the is getting better, your piggy will become more cooperative as it will understand that you are helping. You can't afford to be too squeamish and have to stay hard; it is more important that you get on top of eye. Once your piggy realises that it is better after your treatment you will be forgiven eventually after your've stopped.

You might also like to use these tricks here:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
Administering Medications And Syringe Feed

Good luck and a good and smooth recovery!
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for this advice. With the tear gel do we get it from an ordinary human pharmacy? The vet didn’t mention it, but I’m very keen to try anything that helps the healing process.

Fortunately my partner is less likely to tiptoe around when something needs to be done so between us I’m hoping we can keep Salt still enough to get the drops in. The vet did the first one at 5pm so we’re going to give it a go later tonight.

And I’ll definitely move away from Timothy hay from now on!

I can’t remember the name of the drops and they’re in the fridge at the moment. I’ll check and reply when I’ve seen the name.

Thank you again for the advice. Feeling a bit calmer.
 
Timothy hay is great to have in their diet (I may be wrong, but I think it’s better for them than meadow hay - has higher fibre content) but it’s best kept in a hay rack rather than loose
 
chaz_p77 said:
Thank you so much for this advice. With the tear gel do we get it from an ordinary human pharmacy? The vet didn’t mention it, but I’m very keen to try anything that helps the healing process.

Fortunately my partner is less likely to tiptoe around when something needs to be done so between us I’m hoping we can keep Salt still enough to get the drops in. The vet did the first one at 5pm so we’re going to give it a go later tonight.

And I’ll definitely move away from Timothy hay from now on!

I can’t remember the name of the drops and they’re in the fridge at the moment. I’ll check and reply when I’ve seen the name.

Thank you again for the advice. Feeling a bit calmer.
Click to expand...

If you can get another two lots of the antibiotic eye drops in tonight, that would be best! The sooner you can stop the infection, the better. ;)

Yes, you get the gel from a normal pharmacy, but don't mention it is for a guinea pig. It is not a medication, it is really just artificial tears.

It is not going to be pleasant, but you have all the time to make friends afterwards. ;)
 
Hello and welcome. As has already been said, hay pokes are part and parcel of piggy life. When it comes to getting the drops in, tough love is required. It does get easier as the eye heals and becomes less painful for the piggy. When are you back at the vets for review?
 
We’re booked back in on Monday but with strict instructions to go back sooner if things get worse.
 
As others have said, don't feel bad - it happens. When Christian was 5 days old (result of surprise shop pregnancy) he had hay poke. The vet gave me two lots of drops. His eye was so small the drops were larger than it and I had to massage his eye by opening and closing his eye lid to get the drops to be absorbed by the eye. His eye healed up fine. When Velvet had a really deep ulcer inside and an ulcer on the surface of the eye too resulting from hay poke her eye cleared up within 3 days.
 
Hi, I wrote a post yesterday about Salt’s cloudy eye. I just have a question about applying the eye drops. We’re getting a drop onto her eyeball but it seems to just roll straight off. Do we need to do it differently to actually get it to go in more?

Sorry to ask yet more questions, but this place is so much more helpful than anywhere else I’ve looked at!
 
When I apply eye drops, I hold said piggy completely on their side holding the head to the side also so that their eye is facing upwards. Put the nozzle as close to the eyeball as you can and then apply. It’s hard until you get the nack of it.

If the drop just rests on the eye, I gently close the eye shut before it has the chance to roll off
 
chaz_p77 said:
Hi, I wrote a post yesterday about Salt’s cloudy eye. I just have a question about applying the eye drops. We’re getting a drop onto her eyeball but it seems to just roll straight off. Do we need to do it differently to actually get it to go in more?

Sorry to ask yet more questions, but this place is so much more helpful than anywhere else I’ve looked at!
Click to expand...

Yes, the drop needs to stay in the eye, if it runs off, then you have not medicated. Try to turn the head with the eye facing upwards and try to pull the lower lid back to get the drop in. At least the infection is not so bad yet that your piggy has temporarily lost its sight and its ability to react, but it is not making your job any easier.

I am merging your threads. We are a very lively forum and prefer to keep to the 1 thread = 1 case rule in order to avoid confusion as we are jumping around so much between lots of threads in just a day. This allows us to check what has happened before and what advice you have already been given. You can set your own notifications on your thread via the 'watch' function at the start of the thread. Thank you!
 
Thank you! I wasn’t sure whether to reply to my previous one or start a new one!

Will try to angle Salt more during this afternoon’s attempts.
 
How's Salt doing today? Eye drops a bit easier to get in?

Feel your pain, my chinchilla's having them at the moment and as soon as back in his cage rubs his face (and drops) everywhere! Nightmare!
 
Hi there, the last few attempts have gone much better, although she now knows what’s coming so screws her eye up tight as soon as I come near her..! It’s definitely looking less cloudy, though, so we’re hoping when we see the vet on Monday it will all seem more positive. Thank you for asking after her.
 
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