A few weeks ago one of my boys developed soft poops, and a trip to the vet resulted in him being prescribed fiberplex. Unfortunately, his regular vet (who specialises in exotics) wasn't in, but the vet he did see assured us that was the only issue wrong with him despite him pawing at his face too.
A few days later, I wake up to him essentially bent in half, as his head and neck are turned almost completely to his rump. An emergency trip to the vet (with the exotic vet) determined he had a severe ear infection, so we were given antibiotics, painkillers, a decent probiotic, and critical care. As his eye was also leaking on the side of his head tilt, we were given a barrier gel to keep it clean and fresh.
A week or so later, while the ear infection had cleared up, his head tilt hadn't vanished completely, and we noticed that his eye was getting worse. Another trip to the vet dereminted that the head tilt is likely permanent (though he wasn't in any pain, and it isn't going to impact his life or effect his balance) and that he had an eye infection. Again, more painkillers, antibiotics (oral and topical) and we were told to wait and see. We were also told that his injured eye was less responsive than his healthy eye, and to monitor this.
While the infection had cleared up in his eye, he now has zero response in that eye (doesn't blink, doesn't close, doesn't react to gentle tapping on that side of the face) and the bottom eyelid droops. He also has a slight, but substantially less severe, droop to his lips on this side. Essentially, in some cases ear infections/wry neck can cause partial facial paralysis in guinea pigs, and that's what happened. While the mouth droop is superficial, only affecting his lips and not his jaw, his eye is pretty badly effective as it no longer reacts to any stimuli, and as it cannot close it poses infection risk. We've (the vet and I) agreed to give it one more week to see if his eye can recover, but in the very likely event that it will not, we will be having it removed.
The good news is he isn't in any pain. He eats, drinks, runs, plays, talks normally, and has even gained weight! He had limited vision when we adopted him anyway, so the vet thinks he will adjust well to losing the eye, and as he is in good health, and the vet performing the operation has a lot of experience with cavies, we are tentatively positive he will pull through. But I am worried about aftercare.
He finds it very difficult to be seperated from his cagemate, even for short periods of time (like vet checkups) and will refuse to eat unless they are housed together. Which obviously poses quite a big problem, and I am also concerned that, should I separate them temporarily while he recovers, reuniting two adult boars (when they were initially bonded as a 2yo and 5week old) will end in disaster. Which would be a shame as they absolutely adore each other.
Additionally, I don't know if I will have to drastically alter their set up. They have a large cage, but they do have a ramp "upstairs" system (the wooden castle style popular with several guinea pig YouTubers) that they currently love. While I'm definitely planning on removing it short term, I'm not sure if it would be necessary removing it permanently, as I don't know if having an eye removed would affect his equilibrium.
So, I guess what I'm asking is if anyone has had experience with a one-eyed guinea pig, and if so could you offer me any advice when it comes to recovery and what I should do/can expect? Unfortunately, given the pandemic, my vet wasn't able to go through all of this with me and only the particulars of the surgery itself, so any advice would be more than welcome!
A few days later, I wake up to him essentially bent in half, as his head and neck are turned almost completely to his rump. An emergency trip to the vet (with the exotic vet) determined he had a severe ear infection, so we were given antibiotics, painkillers, a decent probiotic, and critical care. As his eye was also leaking on the side of his head tilt, we were given a barrier gel to keep it clean and fresh.
A week or so later, while the ear infection had cleared up, his head tilt hadn't vanished completely, and we noticed that his eye was getting worse. Another trip to the vet dereminted that the head tilt is likely permanent (though he wasn't in any pain, and it isn't going to impact his life or effect his balance) and that he had an eye infection. Again, more painkillers, antibiotics (oral and topical) and we were told to wait and see. We were also told that his injured eye was less responsive than his healthy eye, and to monitor this.
While the infection had cleared up in his eye, he now has zero response in that eye (doesn't blink, doesn't close, doesn't react to gentle tapping on that side of the face) and the bottom eyelid droops. He also has a slight, but substantially less severe, droop to his lips on this side. Essentially, in some cases ear infections/wry neck can cause partial facial paralysis in guinea pigs, and that's what happened. While the mouth droop is superficial, only affecting his lips and not his jaw, his eye is pretty badly effective as it no longer reacts to any stimuli, and as it cannot close it poses infection risk. We've (the vet and I) agreed to give it one more week to see if his eye can recover, but in the very likely event that it will not, we will be having it removed.
The good news is he isn't in any pain. He eats, drinks, runs, plays, talks normally, and has even gained weight! He had limited vision when we adopted him anyway, so the vet thinks he will adjust well to losing the eye, and as he is in good health, and the vet performing the operation has a lot of experience with cavies, we are tentatively positive he will pull through. But I am worried about aftercare.
He finds it very difficult to be seperated from his cagemate, even for short periods of time (like vet checkups) and will refuse to eat unless they are housed together. Which obviously poses quite a big problem, and I am also concerned that, should I separate them temporarily while he recovers, reuniting two adult boars (when they were initially bonded as a 2yo and 5week old) will end in disaster. Which would be a shame as they absolutely adore each other.
Additionally, I don't know if I will have to drastically alter their set up. They have a large cage, but they do have a ramp "upstairs" system (the wooden castle style popular with several guinea pig YouTubers) that they currently love. While I'm definitely planning on removing it short term, I'm not sure if it would be necessary removing it permanently, as I don't know if having an eye removed would affect his equilibrium.
So, I guess what I'm asking is if anyone has had experience with a one-eyed guinea pig, and if so could you offer me any advice when it comes to recovery and what I should do/can expect? Unfortunately, given the pandemic, my vet wasn't able to go through all of this with me and only the particulars of the surgery itself, so any advice would be more than welcome!