Eddi Is 'winking'

[Swissgreys]

During lap time tonight one of the kids noticed that Eddi seemed to be 'winking' at her.
She took a short video.

Video by swissgreys

I watched him for a while, and he was closing and half closing his left eye off and on for several hours.
Within himself he is fine - eating, drinking, rumble strutting etc.
His eye looks clear, and cleaning it gently with sterile saline didn't do anything (it wasn't worse or better afterwards).

Does anyone have any idea what this might be?
His right eye is fine, and always fully open while he is doing his weird winking with his left eye.

 

[Wiebke]

it may just be something small stuck under a lid.

 

[VickiA]

I agree with @Wiebke. A winking eye usually means irritation. I've had more than my fair share of eye problems with my piggies over the years, so if it doesn't clear quickly I would get him vet checked. Piggies are great at getting things stuck in their eyes or under their eyelids that you can't see and that can very quickly scratch the cornea and cause an ulcer. It's sadly a design fault (one of many in their gorgeous make up).
But having said that, my Connie had a regular winking eye with no apparent cause ever found. So you can't really tell....

 

[Swissgreys]

Thanks both of you for the reply. I really appreciate it.
I ended up calling the local vet, expecting to get a recorded message with the regular surgery hours.
Instead I got the actual vet!
I told her I was slightly concerned, but it certainly wasn't an emergency, so she has given us an early morning appointment tomorrow.
Fingers crossed it is something small and easily sorted, but I don't feel confident doing much more than gently sponging the eye, which clearly isn't enough.

 

[VickiA]

You've done absolutely the right thing booking him in to get it checked. It isn't an emergency and early tomorrow will be just fine.

 

[Swissgreys]

OK, just got back from the vets and it went well.

She checked Eddi over thoroughly and commented on what beautiful condition he was in.
She asked if we knew roughly what his weight was, and I think she was bit shocked that we knew exactly - I don't think she comes across a lot of pig owners who weight weekly, so a huge thanks to this Forum for that tip.

She checked his eye and it looked fine - just a bit teary.
She then put dye in and this also didn't show any problems.
But she could also see he was definitely winking with that eye, so has prescribed Maxitol eye drops for 5 days, as she said it might just be the early stages of an eye infections. She did confess that most owners probably wouldn't have even noticed his winking at this stage, but as it is Friday it is probably better to be safe than sorry.

She was great with the kids - explained everything, and let them look into his eyes too.

I also got to quiz her about her guinea pig experience, and she confessed she didn't see a lot of them in her practice.
However she works with another specialist practice less than an hour away that only deals with reptiles, rodents, and birds. She said if she needs advice she can do a phone consult with them, and if in any doubt she can refer us immediately, so I was quite pleased about that.
Hopefully we will never need it, but I feel very happy to know she already has this connection in place.
She gave me their details, so I will look them up later.

So all in all I am quite happy with the outcome (haven't seen the bill yet though!).

Eddi on the otehr hand is quite grumpy about the whole experience, poor boy.

 

[VickiA]

I'm glad to hear nothing serious was found. Hope the eye drops help. Now you have a vet who will be wanting to snaffle up Eddi too
Hope your bill isn't too bad.