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Cloudy eye

Jess565

Jess565

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I have just noticed Harold has a cloudy eye, it doesn't look like it's on the surface I've only noticed it when he was playing out and he ran under a lamp that shone on his face. I've taken a pic of him. It's not the best quality but Bruno is next to him for comparison. I will call the vets in the morning but does this look cloudy to you? Bruno's eyes shine red in light not like this! Could it be a eye infection? He's not had any crusts. I
also don't want to shine any lights in his eyes.
 

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My old boar had a similar looking eye. It was a cataract. Dont know if this is? But could be that, how old is he?

You could get a vet to have a quick look incase of any eye injury 👍
 
Eyes need to be seen promptly by a vet. If your vet says there are no appointments tomorrow, try and get an emergency one as eyes can't be left.
 
I will call them first thing in the morning. I've never notice it until now. With no light shining in his face his eyes look black. He's only about 1 and a half. They said he was about 7months old when we got him from the rescue last year. Poor little guy.
 
I have an update on Harold. He has been to the vets and they said he has an ulcer in his eye caused by damage possibly hay poke. I was pleased it was my favourite vet we saw as she is very good and knowledgeable but I'm also worried as it sound quite serious. Poor Harold has eye drops that he needs 4x a day and we will go back next week for a check up, fingers and toes crossed for him!
I also had an epic fight at work about taking time away to take him to the vets. I was asked well how much did he cost why would I take a guinea pig to the vets what's the point! Grrrr I think I need a new job because they have shown their true colours and I don't like it!
 
Jess565 said:
I have an update on Harold. He has been to the vets and they said he has an ulcer in his eye caused by damage possibly hay poke. I was pleased it was my favourite vet we saw as she is very good and knowledgeable but I'm also worried as it sound quite serious. Poor Harold has eye drops that he needs 4x a day and we will go back next week for a check up, fingers and toes crossed for him!
I also had an epic fight at work about taking time away to take him to the vets. I was asked well how much did he cost why would I take a guinea pig to the vets what's the point! Grrrr I think I need a new job because they have shown their true colours and I don't like it!
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Hay pokes are part and parcel of piggies I’m afraid. One of my boys had an ulcer caused by a hay poke just two weeks after I got them. A weeks worth of antiobiotic drops, but within two days of starting the drops his eye was looking so much better.
Some people just don’t understand our love for our animals. Don’t let your colleagues get you down.
 
Thanks everyone you are making me feel loads better! Having a poorly piggy is very stressful in itself then having to justify why I need to take a longer lunch or anytime at all. My pigs are my life and I'm am theirs. They are a priceless family member that I would do anything for and I don't need some guys in suits looking down at me because I have compassion. It would have been more acceptable in their eyes if I needed to get my nails done in my lunch break. I will say it is next time!
 
Well done for a spotting the clouding, b getting to a vet quickly and c getting onto the treatment quickly and regularly. Hay pokes are very much a part of life with piggies. Your vigilance and prompt action will have really helped
 
This is our first hay poke and it's quite scary! And will be our first eye drops. So far Bruno's ear drops have been the worst medicine to administer. I'm praying it's not a repeat of that! We had to open the lid in another room or he would know what was coming! I think we got more of that on us!
 
Christian had hay poke this morning so it was a vet trip. I had to wait around for an hour and a half for the eye drops to arrive in the delivery so that was fun!
 
Betsy said:
Christian had hay poke this morning so it was a vet trip. I had to wait around for an hour and a half for the eye drops to arrive in the delivery so that was fun!
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Oh no I hope he gets on the mend soon! I didn't realize how common hay poke can be!
 
It really is common.
They obviously need a lot of hay so the risk is always there but by using a hay rack for stalkier hays such as Timothy hay then that can reduce the risk. The thing is though, they love to run and snuggle into hay (though meadow hay tends to be softer so is better for this purpose) so you can’t totally eliminate it, particularly if you bed them on hay as I do. My two, up until a week ago, refused to eat from a hay rack but now they have come round to the idea and are finally using two racks for their Timothy hay!
 
Bless him. In 8-9 years I have dealt with it just once and it's scary. However getting it spotted quick and quick treatment usually results in a quick recovery.

In terms of work I am lucky and work flexitime so my work don't mind as long as I do my hours and I usually have an hour or two in the bank from reporting times etc. However maybe next time just say you have to go doctors and if they ask how it went just say you were given medication. It's a creative version of the truth :))
 
Sending healing vibes.
And if I worked at your place I would rather take my piggy to the vets, knowing I do the best for a much loved friend and family member. They are idiots, I really hope they don't have pets because I would not want to belong to them.
 
Me again. Harolds been having his eye drops 4x a day since Tuesday he has another appointment with the vet tomorrow, this was booked when we went for a week's time for a check up. But his eye looks no better. If anything it looks worse. It doesn't look sore it's just very white inside. I'm starting to get very worried it's not getting better. For the people who have had experience of this before how long has your pigs taken to improve? And what happens if it doesn't? I will be asking loads of questions tomorrow but I like hearing how you guys have got on with similar issues. I'm getting so scared he will lose his eye.
The vet did say she would expect the eye to recover and the white to go away but didn't give me a time scale.
 
My guess is that it would depend how big the area of damage is. After a week, I would have thought you would see some improvement but it may be that it is getting better inside but you just can’t see the improvement from the outside? Hopefully your vet will put some more dye in so the area of damage shows up and it may be that it does actually look better inside.
When my boy did it, his eye was clearing up nicely within a few days and by a week it was completely better but it may be that Harold has a bigger ulcer than my Popcorn did. I do remember at that time though that my vet was a bit surprised that it got better as quickly as it did so he was clearly expecting me to be treating for longer than a week.
 
My experience is that all eyes go cloudy as they heal and often look worse at first before they get better. But with it being a week you would hope to see some form of improvement by now. As you have an appointment tomorrow I would carry on with the drops and wait for the vets assessment tomorrow. When they add their dye they can see what is going on inside the eye, which we can’t with the naked eye.
Good luck tomorrow.
 
I am hoping he is healing ok inside. When I showed my partner last Sunday he wasn't sure if his eye was was cloudy or if I was being silly but he saw him last night and was shocked at what it looked like and that scared me. He has been so good with having the drops and the poor thing just accepts it. He seems happy and has been popcorning and dashing about. I hope he's not in pain.
 
That's is what he is on but he only has them 4 times maybe he needs more! 6-8 times a day is alot! My mum is a nurse and said he's on the same stuff people get but they sometimes have it every half and hour!
 
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