Cloudy eye

[Claire W]

I am writing this on behalf of my friends piggy called Ginger and NOT one of my own.

Basically, Ginger has gone blind in one eye His eye has clouded over and he appears not to be able to see out of it. My friend James is wondering why this has happened and if anything can cure Ginger? Thank you in advance.

 

[LesaC]

I'd recommend a trip to the vet as soon as possible - good chance he has got little shard of hay or something like that stuck round his eye, under the eyelids and that it is irritating the eye which causes the cloudiness. Vet can check and remove offending article. Few days of antibiotic drops and he'll be fine. Its easily sorted if your friend acts quickly. It happened my Caramel once and was easily cured - she had 2 tiny shards of hay right up on the top of her eyeball which vet tweezered out with no problems.

One of my girls, Humbug, was taken in by a friend from one of the freead sites. She didn't settle in well for her so she asked if I would take her. We both noticed that she has a lot of opaqueness to one eye. I took her to my vet and we tried drops for a week but it was too late for her. Vet suspects that something similar happened her and was never treated, now her eye will always be like that.

 

[Wiebke]

if the whole eye has clouded over, then there is either something stuck somewhere that has caused ulceration, or the eye has been poked by something - best make a trip to the vet. thankfully, it looks worse than it usually is and will clear up quickly with treatment from the vet (who can check for ulcers).

If only the lense of the eye has gone cloudy then it looks like a cataract, which is not operable in piggies.

 

[Claire W]

I have just sent James a text and he says it is just the lense of the eye that has gone cloudy He is going to make a vets appointment.

 

[sharonS]

Has he tried to flush the eye with clean water, sometimes this flushes the problem out. I had this problem not so long ago, turned out to be hay seed. I just flushed the eye first and then was able to get a pair of tweezers and very carefully pull it out, very fleshy eyes guineas have you have to take a close look.

 

[Wiebke]

If it is a cataract or nuclear sclerosis, it can be either congenital in young piggies or caused by diabetes.

Quite often the second eye will go a few months later as well. this is what happened to my Dizzy. Thankfully, after a period of adjustment, he will be able to enjoy his life again and you will hardly notice the difference.

 

[alcesterpigs]

Nuclear sclerosis?
Will the eye explode?

 

[lesleydunn]

i had this with my guinea pig about a month ago

her eye went cloudy, and then i saw hay sticking out of her eye, i removed with tweezers, and used eye drops afterwards

shes ok now, eye cleared up

 

[Wiebke]

Nuclear sclerosis?
Will the eye explode?

That was what the vet called it when Mischief's lense went completely milky over the course of week, whereas a cataract starts as tiny white dots in the lense. But yes, it sounds funny!

 

[tattyruncy]

One of Poppy's eye's was horrendously cloudy when we rescued her last year - it looked like a cataract - but after all the worry it was an eye poke injury the previous owner had done nothing about and healed up within a couple of weeks with treatment It did look really bad to the point I thought she was blind in one eye, so maybe get your friend to get her piggy checked out at the vets

 

[Gavin & Spencer]

Is your friends piggie of the Abyssinian breed. I heard they are very prone to getting cataracts..but fairness I know any breed could be subjected to eye problems ..I glad your friend is getting it check out.

 

[alcesterpigs]

You can also find that interbreeding such as sister and brother or mother and son can produce problems in the resulting offspring.

 

[Tracyxx]

Depending on Ginger's breed he may have an 'ingrowing hair' which is called Entropium (I believe) where the hair grows inwards and scratches the eye, it is common in young guinea pigs. I'd reccomend bathing the eye with a cotton wool pad and cooled, boiled water, three to four times a day. Use chloramphenicol drops to prevent and treat infection. NEVER use tweezers on a guinea pig, especially not near their eyes. One fidget and you've lost an eyeball. If you can see debris on the eye use sterile water to irrigate it and flush it out

 

[Claire W]

James has a vets appointment for tomorrow morning so I'll keep you all updated. Thank you for all your advise. James has had a good look at Gingers and he can't see anything stuck in it x