Guinea Pig Red Eye

[Cherry Berry]

Dear Guinea Pig Parents,

Hope you and your little ones are doing great xx

One of our guinea pigs, Cookie, had a red eye infection a few weeks ago. We took her to the vet 15 days ago, and the vet said that she has red eyes, which is a sign of obesity. Although Cookie is not very chubby, the vet was not too worried. She said it might be cosmetic. Since yesterday evening, Cookie started tilting her head to one side and was very confused in her home. She has not wheeked in the last 48 hours, although she is the loudest. She has been a little bit, and there have been no drastic changes in her weight either. We took her again to the vet today, and the vet has confirmed that she has gone blind. Her heart beat, teeth, and poop were normal. The only thing that the vet is worried about is that she has gone blind within 15 days and her titling. The vet has said she needs some time and will get back to us on this.

Cookie is 3 years and 4 months old. Could you please share any information on why she might be titling?

Best wishes,

 

[fluffysal]

Welcome to the forum. I am not happy to give an opinion as I am a much less experienced guinea pig owner (slave)
Does your vet have much experience with guinea pigs? A surprising amount don't, and as our furry overlords have quite unique physiology it can often give uncertain diagnosis.
Mods please correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[Lorcan]

I'm no expert either, but I don't like the look of that eye and if she's also tilting her head and losing her sight something else is going on. That's not obesity related.

If it's an option I'd take her to see a different vet. Sudden blindness and head tilting with such a painful looking eye shouldn't be left to wait like this. Something else is clearly going on.

 

[Cherry Berry]

Thanks for reply. We too her to the Parkside Vet in Carshalton who do have a few guinea pig vets. Will check for other vet too thanks.

 

[Merab]

Hope that an experienced piggy vet can give you an answer.
Holding you in my thoughts

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

Please have any piggy with a head tilt seen promptly, which usually indicates a problem in the inner ear or middle ear capsule. It can also be caused by blindness.
Do you also have rabbits (risk of e.cuniculi transmission - especially in view of your mentioning confusion/neurological issues)?
The eye does not look normal to me, either; I can't remember having seen anything similar on here.
Neurological Issues (Seizures, Strokes, E.cuniculi etc.) - Symptoms and Care

Teddies have a breed specific chunkier body form; this doesn't mean that they are overweight. Yours doesn't look overweight to me; if anything, rather the opposite.
My big Nerys in my avatar picture on the left was definitely on the chunky side; she never let go of any calorie she could wrap herself around. She still lived to 8 years of age despite being one of my greediest piggies and survived her slim and energetic sister by two years.

This guide here explains how you can work out at any age and with any breed or size whether a piggy has individually a healthy weight (BMI) or not by feeling around the ribcage.
This guide explains it all in practical detail: Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

Wishing you all the best.

 

[Mrs Tiggy Winkle]

Red eye due to obesity sounds a little unusual to me. Hoping a member with lots of eye health experience answers.

 

[Cherry Berry]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your replies. The vet did say the she suspects like a brain stroke or some neurological issue but she wanted to speak with other vets and get back to us. We will still get a second opinion.

Also regarding the fatty eye. When the vet said it two weeks I googled it and thought it was a cosmetic issue as this.

""Fatty eye," also known as "pea eye," is a common and usually harmless genetic condition in guinea pigs where the pink tissue under the eye, the conjunctival sac, becomes enlarged and protrudes, causing a droopy appearance. While often not a problem, it can occasionally be linked to other issues like heart problems or obesity, so it's best to have it checked by a vet to rule out other health concerns. "

But maybe it is more. I will keep you guys updated. Thanks

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your replies. The vet did say the she suspects like a brain stroke or some neurological issue but she wanted to speak with other vets and get back to us. We will still get a second opinion.

Also regarding the fatty eye. When the vet said it two weeks I googled it and thought it was a cosmetic issue as this.

""Fatty eye," also known as "pea eye," is a common and usually harmless genetic condition in guinea pigs where the pink tissue under the eye, the conjunctival sac, becomes enlarged and protrudes, causing a droopy appearance. While often not a problem, it can occasionally be linked to other issues like heart problems or obesity, so it's best to have it checked by a vet to rule out other health concerns. "

But maybe it is more. I will keep you guys updated. Thanks

Here are a couple of pictures of fatty/pea eye from my own piggies for comparison:

Fatty eye (Begw) - pea eye (Tesni)


Yours looks rather like some pea eye that has been scratched or injured and there is some sort of crust towards the front that I cannot make out properly whether it is osseous metaplasia (a bony ring around the eye) or something else?

 

[Cherry Berry]

Here are a couple of pictures of fatty/pea eye from my own piggies for comparison:

Fatty eye (Begw) - pea eye (Tesni)
View attachment 277440 View attachment 277441

Yours looks rather like some pea eye that has been scratched or injured and there is some sort of crust towards the front that I cannot make out properly whether it is osseous metaplasia (a bony ring around the eye) or something else?

Thanks. It has happened on both eyes so she can't be injured on both at the same time right?

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks. It has happened on both eyes so she can't be injured on both at the same time right?

It would be self-scratching or something else. But I hope that you understand now better where I am coming from? I've never had those reddish stripes in any of the ca. 100 piggies that have passed through my life (with the last ones still passing), nor have I ever seen that on here with tens of thousands of piggies passing through through this forum in coming up to 20 years of existence; at least not that I can't remember.

 

[Cherry Berry]

It would be self-scratching or something else. But I hope that you understand now better where I am coming from? I've never had those reddish stripes in any of the ca. 100 piggies that have passed through my life (with the last ones still passing), nor have I ever seen that on here with tens of thousands of piggies passing through through this forum in coming up to 20 years of existence; at least not that I can't remember.

I do understand your opinion and I respect your knowledge a lot. Sorry I ruled out injury as it was in both eyes and I did clip her nails before this happened. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Wiebke]

I do understand your opinion and I respect your knowledge a lot. Sorry I ruled out injury as it was in both eyes and I did clip her nails before this happened. Thanks for sharing.

So it could be just itching but in this case it should heal off and disappear.

If you can, please consider ordering online some carbomer based eye gel; any brand will do. It is one of the few things I try to always have at home together with a handy disinfecting vet grade spray for minor wounds in piggies and humans.

The gel can ease any discomfort in the eyes and can help especially during an eye injury until you can see a vet at the soonest and help to speed up the healing process - both yours and your piggies... It should help in your case as well.

First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products

 

[Cherry Berry]

So it could be just itching but in this case it should heal off and disappear.

If you can, please consider ordering online some carbomer based eye gel; any brand will do. It is one of the few things I try to always have at home together with a handy disinfecting vet grade spray for minor wounds in piggies and humans.

The gel can ease any discomfort in the eyes and can help especially during an eye injury until you can see a vet at the soonest and help to speed up the healing process - both yours and your piggies... It should help in your case as well.

First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products

But last day when the vet checked her pupils in torch they was no reaction and even if I take my finger very close to her eyes she doesn't react?

I am not saying that I don't want to get gel I am just asking what if she has already gone blind?

 

[Cherry Berry]

I live near Sutton. I checked with the vets in Ewell who used to have specialised vets before but now they said "our vets see guinea pigs but are not exotic". Same result from other vets in Walton on Thames. Do you have recommendations as the one listed on forum I called a few and apparently they don't have as such specialist

 

[Wiebke]

But last day when the vet checked her pupils in torch they was no reaction and even if I take my finger very close to her eyes she doesn't react?

I am not saying that I don't want to get gel I am just asking what if she has already gone blind?

The gel is there to heal the scratches on the conjunctiva (the connecting tissue that surrounds the eye) and it can rehydrate the eyeball, which is what creates a better healing environment inside the eye with a hay poke.

No gel or medication can unfortunately heal blindness. The optic nerves are located behind the eyeball, connecting each eye with the visual processing centre, which is actually located right across the brain at the back of your head. Think of the optic nerves as the cables that send visual data off for interrpetation and transport it back at incredible speed.
Sudden blindness is the result of a neurological event that has basically switched off the main switch to the eye(s) and has either interrupted the optic nerves or has affected the area of the brain where any visual data is processed and interpreted. If sudden blindness affects both eyes, then it is more likely that the visual processing plant at the back of the head has been hit.

Does that make sense to you and does it also explain more of what your vet has mentioned?

 

[Cherry Berry]

The gel is there to heal the scratches on the conjunctiva (the connecting tissue that surrounds the eye) and it can rehydrate the eyeball, which is what creates a better healing environment inside the eye with a hay poke.

No gel or medication can unfortunately heal blindness. The optic nerves are located behind the eyeball, connecting each eye with the visual processing centre, which is actually located right across the brain at the back of your head. Think of the optic nerves as the cables that send visual data off for interrpetation and transport it back at incredible speed.
Sudden blindness is the result of a neurological event that has basically switched off the main switch to the eye(s) and has either interrupted the optic nerves or has affected the area of the brain where any visual data is processed and interpreted. If sudden blindness affects both eyes, then it is more likely that the visual processing plant at the back of the head has been hit.

Does that make sense to you and does it also explain more of what your vet has mentioned?

It make sense thanks. The vet did suspect some neurological event either a stroke or something. Does that also lead to red eyes?

 

[Wiebke]

PS: If she is not moving around much because she is still not well and very lost with sudden blindness; and especially if struggles to get to the hay, which is making over three quarters of the daily food intake, then the tips in this guide here may help with the mobility aspects.

Scent is a much stronger sense in guinea pigs so please gently wipe any new cosies and bedding with the old one and don't wipe any huts and firm bits so allow her some spacial orientation.
Sight is the weakest sense in guinea pigs (it is our human strongest). The transition period is always the most difficult time, especially after a sudden event, until the brain has been able to compensate, which takes some time. With adjusted piggies you would often not really notice their blindness unless you knew the subtle signs. They can live pretty much a normal life as long as you respect their need to orientate themselves via scent, whiskers, touch, and ear.

 

[Cherry Berry]

PS: If she is not moving around much because she is still not well and very lost with sudden blindness; and especially if struggles to get to the hay, which is making over three quarters of the daily food intake, then the tips in this guide here may help with the mobility aspects.

Scent is a much stronger sense in guinea pigs so please gently wipe any new cosies and bedding with the old one and don't wipe any huts and firm bits so allow her some spacial orientation.
Sight is the weakest sense in guinea pigs (it is our human strongest). The transition period is always the most difficult time, especially after a sudden event, until the brain has been able to compensate, which takes some time. With adjusted piggies you would often not really notice their blindness unless you knew the subtle signs. They can live pretty much a normal life as long as you respect their need to orientate themselves via scent, whiskers, touch, and ear.

Thanks. She generally knows her home and is able to get to her bed. We have decided to delay the deep clean a bit just to make it easier for her. She eats food when it is served to her a bit closer to her. But once she knows it's food she eats normally.

She is just walking a lot in her home and looks like she is trying to figure out something. She did have a minor fall a few days ago that's why she was rushed to vet. She enjoys hugs a lot so she definitely recognises us by scent and sound.

 

[Wiebke]

It make sense thanks. The vet did suspect some neurological event either a stroke or something. Does that also lead to red eyes?

No, it doesn't.

Do you mean that the inside of the eye is reddish? In guinea pigs, this can be simply normal; they can sport a wide range of reddish eyes from pale to dark pink and then to ruby/red in some brown or dark eyes that will take on a distinctly red tone in strong artificial light. Especially the latter can throw owners when they notice for the first time, not helped if it is during medical problem.
Guinea Lynx :: Eyes

 

[Cherry Berry]

Thanks. She generally knows her home and is able to get to her bed. We have decided to delay the deep clean a bit just to make it easier for her. She eats food when it is served to her a bit closer to her. But once she knows it's food she eats normally.

She is just walking a lot in her home and looks like she is trying to figure out something. She did have a minor fall a few days ago that's why she was rushed to vet. She enjoys hugs a lot so she definitely recognises us by scent and sound.

We have also decided to weigh her daily since yesterday and she is fine in terms of her weight. It's just her titling, confusion and red eyes which is concerning.

 

[Cherry Berry]

No, it doesn't.

Do you mean that the inside of the eye is reddish? In guinea pigs, this can be simply normal; they can sport a wide range of reddish eyes from pale to dark pink and then to ruby/red in some brown or dark eyes that will take on a distinctly red tone in strong artificial light. Especially the latter can throw owners when they notice for the first time, not helped if it is during medical problem.
Guinea Lynx :: Eyes

I mean her both eyes look like this and she does an occasional twitch.

 

[Wiebke]

I mean her both eyes look like this and she does an occasional twitch.

Give the eyes time to heal; you can see whether eye gel will help with the healing process of the affected conjunctiva that surrounds the eye. This is not directly connected with any blindness.

All the best. Yes, please monitor her food and water intake. Weighing gives you the best up to date feedback, as long as you do always do it at the same time in the day/feeding cycle. We recommend first thing in the morning for best day-to-day comparison. Use a rag in the scales that carries her and any companion's scent to line scales with in order to make it less scary for her.
You may find this guide here helpful. Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

 

[Cherry Berry]

Give the eyes time to heal; you can see whether eye gel will help with the healing process of the affected conjunctiva that surrounds the eye. This is not directly connected with any blindness.

All the best. Yes, please monitor her food and water intake. Weighing gives you the best up to date feedback, as long as you do always do it at the same time in the day/feeding cycle. We recommend first thing in the morning for best day-to-day comparison. Use a rag in the scales that carries her and any companion's scent to line scales with in order to make it less scary for her.
You may find this guide here helpful. Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support

Thanks a lot

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks a lot

Wishing you all the best.

It is a very anxious and stressful time for you, trying to make sense of what has happened and looking after your beloved girl as best as you can.

PS: We are here for any further questions along the way but we would appreciate if you could keep them to just this thread, so we can keep any ongoing case together. It benefits both sides. For this purpose please bookmark this thread.

 

[Cherry Berry]

Wishing you all the best.

It is a very anxious and stressful time for you, trying to make sense of what has happened and looking after your beloved girl as best as you can.

PS: We are here for any further questions along the way but we would appreciate if you could keep them to just this thread, so we can keep any ongoing case together. It benefits both sides. For this purpose please bookmark this thread.

Thanks I have bookmarked it.

 

[Cherry Berry]

Hi Guinea Pig Parents,

Hope you and your little ones are doing great.

I took Cookie to another vet in Ambleside vets, Walton on Thames on Wednesday. She checked her but said that she isn't exotic enough to know the problem. So we got referred to CJ Hall. We got really lucky that they had a cancellation and we got an appointment yesterday morning.

Cookie got an x-ray, dental scan and blood taken for tests. She doesn't have an ear infection or dental problems. Instead they look good. The blood report might comeback early next week. However the vet has given antibiotics for parasites, neurological problems and any possible infection.

Cookie is just sitting in her tent since yesterday. She is not eating hay at all so we are syringe feeding her and as of now the weight looks alright a few grams are increased. But she is getting really annoyed with syringe feed. She is happy to eat a little bit of veggies and pellets. So I will definitely continue with syringe food. Are there any suggestions to feed her?

I am a bit scared to syringe feed because my other piggie, Cherry passed away in my lap while I was syringe feeding due to his dental issues. Vets already gave up on him but I know Cookie has hope so I want to syringe feed her well. Are there any other suggestions to maintain her weight? What about green grass she loves it?

Best wishes,

 

[Wheekallweek]

Honestly in a situation where piggy isn't eating, we tend to just give them whatever they'll eat alongside syringe feeding them (within reason of course!)

Grass is a great idea, especially if she's not eating hay.

Could you offer her a bowl of syringe feed in her cage to see if she will eat it by herself?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Maintaining her weight will come down entirely to you syringe feeding her enough each day. The syringe feed is the food source which is replacing her hay intake (veg and pellets do not do that but it is good she has an appetite for them).

She definitely can have some fresh grass if she is used to eating it.

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

 

[Wiebke]

Hi Guinea Pig Parents,

Hope you and your little ones are doing great.

I took Cookie to another vet in Ambleside vets, Walton on Thames on Wednesday. She checked her but said that she isn't exotic enough to know the problem. So we got referred to CJ Hall. We got really lucky that they had a cancellation and we got an appointment yesterday morning.

Cookie got an x-ray, dental scan and blood taken for tests. She doesn't have an ear infection or dental problems. Instead they look good. The blood report might comeback early next week. However the vet has given antibiotics for parasites, neurological problems and any possible infection.

Cookie is just sitting in her tent since yesterday. She is not eating hay at all so we are syringe feeding her and as of now the weight looks alright a few grams are increased. But she is getting really annoyed with syringe feed. She is happy to eat a little bit of veggies and pellets. So I will definitely continue with syringe food. Are there any suggestions to feed her?

I am a bit scared to syringe feed because my other piggie, Cherry passed away in my lap while I was syringe feeding due to his dental issues. Vets already gave up on him but I know Cookie has hope so I want to syringe feed her well. Are there any other suggestions to maintain her weight? What about green grass she loves it?

Best wishes,

Hi

Please keep on syringe feeding. You may want to try mixing in a little crushed banana to make it more flavoursome.

As to fresh grass, please be very careful when introducing it as it can cause fatal bloating if you do not allow the microbiome to get used to it. It can be a helpful addition but she should still have some additional syringe feed. At this time of year grass is not very nutritious and it needs to be dog pee-free.
Fresh Grass and Lawn Time - Tips for Avoiding Spring Time Deaths

I am glad that the problem is not dental but I hope that you can get to the bottom of it.