Corneal Ulcer- Will not stop Scratching

[lj27]

Hello! My 1.5 year old female guinea pig has a corneal ulcer. She has been on Tobramycin eye drops twice daily for 3 weeks at this point. Some days, there is lots of improvement, but by the next, she has scratched her eye back to square one (with her back foot or while grooming herself). I am looking for advice on how to prevent her from scratching her eye, so it can have a chance to heal. For the 2nd + 3rd week, she was on Metacam, but since we could not tell if it was still needed (as she didn’t act painful) we discontinued it to avoid GI upset. The vet recommended trying a soft cone, but after trying it on for 5 seconds it was clearly not a good course of action. I have seen people on Reddit state that they have had success with taping their hamsters’ foot into a “round club foo5” with padded waterproof tape to prevent the nails from scratching the eye. I am at a loss for how to move forward, so any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Wiebke]

Hello! My 1.5 year old female guinea pig has a corneal ulcer. She has been on Tobramycin eye drops twice daily for 3 weeks at this point. Some days, there is lots of improvement, but by the next, she has scratched her eye back to square one (with her back foot or while grooming herself). I am looking for advice on how to prevent her from scratching her eye, so it can have a chance to heal. For the 2nd + 3rd week, she was on Metacam, but since we could not tell if it was still needed (as she didn’t act painful) we discontinued it to avoid GI upset. The vet recommended trying a soft cone, but after trying it on for 5 seconds it was clearly not a good course of action. I have seen people on Reddit state that they have had success with taping their hamsters’ foot into a “round club foo5” with padded waterproof tape to prevent the nails from scratching the eye. I am at a loss for how to move forward, so any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry.

We recommend having carbomer based human eye gel at home in your first aid kit. It is widely available online. Any brand will do. They are not a medication, just artificial tear fluid in gel form.

Dehydration and some antibiotic drops can make the the eye itchy. The gel is more effective than drops because it is longer lasting, penetrates deeper and is easier to apply. It is also something you can apply safely straight away with an eye injury and during treatment that is not bleeding; especially if you cannot be seen straight away.

Always at least half an hour after applying any medicated drops and gel to allow them to get absorbed first before putting in the drops but they will help to soothe the eye. You can apply them within 3-4 hours of each other during the day if needed, about 3 times within 24 hours but the gel can be given up to 6 times a day with a badly dehydrated eye.

Please see whether that is doing the trick.

Please don't tape up the foot.

You may find our First Aid Guide helpful and bookmark the link: First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products

 

[lj27]

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry.

We recommend having carbomer based human eye gel at home in your first aid kit. It is widely available online. Any brand will do. They are not a medication, just artificial tear fluid in gel form.

Dehydration and some antibiotic drops can make the the eye itchy. The gel is more effective than drops because it is longer lasting, penetrates deeper and is easier to apply. It is also something you can apply safely straight away with an eye injury and during treatment that is not bleeding; especially if you cannot be seen straight away.

Always at least half an hour after applying any medicated drops and gel to allow them to get absorbed first before putting in the drops but they will help to soothe the eye. You can apply them within 3-4 hours of each other during the day if needed, about 3 times within 24 hours but the gel can be given up to 6 times a day with a badly dehydrated eye.

Please see whether that is doing the trick.

Please don't tape up the foot.

You may find our First Aid Guide helpful and bookmark the link: First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products

Thank you so much! Just to double check, would Ivizia Lubricant Eye Gel for Nighttime Dry Eyes be safe to use?
The ingredients are Povidone 0.5%(active ingredient) then Carbomer, Water for injections, Sodium hyaluronate, Sodium hydroxide, Sorbitol, and Trehalose.

 

[lj27]

I am actually leaning towards trying Optixcare Veterinary Eye Lube Plus. We do not have plain carbomer gels in the US, but the Optixcare gel contains deionized water, sorbitol, carbomer, hyaluron, sodium hydroxide, disodium EDTA, and cetrimide.
Is this safe and if so, are the application instructions the same? Thank you!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much! Just to double check, would Ivizia Lubricant Eye Gel for Nighttime Dry Eyes be safe to use?
The ingredients are Povidone 0.5%(active ingredient) then Carbomer, Water for injections, Sodium hyaluronate, Sodium hydroxide, Sorbitol, and Trehalose.

Yes, that is perfectly fine. I sincerely hope that it does the trick.

 

[weepweeps]

My exotic vet recommended this night time lubricant. It lasts up to 12 hours so you don’t have to reapply through the night. Good luck I hope it heals up quickly.

 

[Wiebke]

I am actually leaning towards trying Optixcare Veterinary Eye Lube Plus. We do not have plain carbomer gels in the US, but the Optixcare gel contains deionized water, sorbitol, carbomer, hyaluron, sodium hydroxide, disodium EDTA, and cetrimide.
Is this safe and if so, are the application instructions the same? Thank you!

Yes, this would work for guinea pigs as well. Eyes are the one organ in the body where treatment and medication is the same as for dogs and cats so any vet grade lubrication product for cats and dogs is fine.

Because it is not a prescription-only medication, it is not necessarily prescribed.

If the scratching continues you are looking at a comparatively rare adverse reaction. Please contact the clinic and stop using the antibiotic drops with their consent in this case.

 

[Claire W]

Aw I hope your piggies eye heals her eye must be really itchy bless her x

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

How are you getting on?

 

[lj27]

Hi

How are you getting on?

Hi! I am feeling hopeful. I ended up using the Ivizia gel as it was available in stores (opposed to waiting for shipping). She tolerates it well, and I have not seen her scratch her eye since beginning the gel last night (besides grooming herself once).

The ulcer is still quite visible on her eye, but I am hoping we will begin to see more progress now that she is not messing with the eye as much.

Thank you all for your help and recommendations!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I am feeling hopeful. I ended up using the Ivizia gel as it was available in stores (opposed to waiting for shipping). She tolerates it well, and I have not seen her scratch her eye since beginning the gel last night (besides grooming herself once).

The ulcer is still quite visible on her eye, but I am hoping we will begin to see more progress now that she is not messing with the eye as much.

Thank you all for your help and recommendations!

I am glad that the gel is doing the trick. The extra hydration should not just stop the itchiness but also create an ideal healing environment so that the healing process is going to be sped up by a few days in my own experience. It still needs to take its own time but you are now doing all you can to support to the healing process as much as possible.

Please keep us updated. It helps other owners down the line searching for answers and hopefully finding the right ones.

 

[lj27]

Hello! Quick update. We are still dealing with the corneal ulcer. On 9/24/26, her eye was dyed again to check for scratches. Instead of the one initial scratch, almost her entire eye was covered with little scratches.

The vet advised us to finally stop the Tobramycin drops (and eye gel) and switch to Gentamicin drops for 14 days. We were also given plasma/serum drops made from one of the doctor’s dog’s blood, as it is supposed to have additional healing properties. We already completed the 7 day course of that, and saw no change.

Her follow up appointment is on Thursday. Her eye still looks rough like sandpaper, even though I have only seen her scratch at it twice over the past week.

I have no idea where we’ll go from here. If anyone knows of other eye drops or treatments I could ask the vet about, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[weepweeps]

Is there definitely not something still stuck in there?

Is she on pain medication? I would think it’s quite uncomfortable so she’s scratching at it.

Are you still applying the gel eye drops/lubricants?

Good luck at your appointment on Thursday. I hope they can find something that clears it up quickly.

 

[lj27]

Hello! Thank you all for your insight. We decided to stop the antibiotic/steroid eye drops as the eye is no longer inflamed. The cornea has not healed, but that is simply due to her messing with it. We were given veterinary eye lube, but after 2 days, we decided to switch back to the eye gel I previously mentioned buying. We are trying to avoid Metacam as she has already tried it for weeks with no improvement (vet worried about effect on kidneys). We are going to try Gabapentin in addition to the carbomer eye gel, as the desire to itch may be more neurological opposed to pain related. The vet did perform an eye debridement, as her scratching built up uneven, unsuccessful attempts at healing. Hopefully my next update will be more positive!