Conjunctivitis

[annemarie]

We have 3 piggies and the other day our daughter noticed the male, Dobby, had poorly eyes. They were both milky white and one had a red sore within it. We took him to the vets who checked him with an eye dye. All was ok but he was diagnosed with conjunctivitis. She said to limit outside grass time as this could have contributed to it.

I had no idea pigs could get this! I just want advice on how to prevent this from happening again, ideas on why it might have happened etc..

As I was researching on this forum I came across the word 'hay poke'. Ive never heard of this! I feel like a really bad piggy mummy now. We have always put the hay on the floor of the cage as they love to hide and play in it as well as eat it. Should we not do this? They used to have a hay rack but they were not impressed.

any advice would be so welcome. Dobby is having eye drops now twice a day. I'm kind of worried that the other two may catch it now.

Anne-Marie x

 

[Jerrybelly]

Eye damage (e.g hay pokes) are really quite common, so please don't feel bad about it. Piggies are natural foragers, so no matter what you do they will still find a way of putting their heads in a pile of hay! If the hay that you use is quite coarse then a hay rack may be a good idea, but hay pokes really can't be avoided either way. I use hay racks and I find that my boys still pull the hay down and forage in it anyway.

Other problems that affect the eyes, such as conjunctivitis or URIs, are also fairly common. Usually, if dealt with straight away, they can be easily treated. Having said that, my own boy is currently on his second round of antibiotics to deal with a small ulcer on the surface of the eye. There will always be exceptions!

I haven't heard about conjunctivitis being associated with grass-time before. @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary keeps her sanctuary pigs outside most days, and I don't believe she has problems with conjunctivitis.