• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Guinea Pig...removal Of Eye

Status
Not open for further replies.
Bobalicious

Bobalicious

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
19
Reaction score
10
Points
85
Location
Norwich, England
Hi All,

After some advice please...

I bought two beautiful little guinea pigs 4 weeks ago, their names are Fred and Bob! On Saturday evening I noticed Bob's eye was slightly weepy, so I bathed it and then checked again in the morning and it had got very pussy and sore. I took him to the vets and he was given Isathal drops (3 times a day) and 1 x 0.15ml of Metacam a day. I then took him back again Monday as it looked worse and was bleeding and was given Baytril to take twice a day 0.25ml (on top of what he was already having). I was also advised to get some standard optrex eye drops to keep it moist.

Bob was very limp, not eating much and lost 5 grams, which I know is not much but it is on the path of the wrong direction! He is only 13 weeks old, so needs to be putting on weight not loosing it (currently at 625 grams)

I have taken him back today for emergency eye drops and he is currently at the vets. These are very strong eye drops she has given him to reduce the swelling. She has said if the swelling doesn't go down then he will have to have his eye removed tomorrow. The eye has an ulcer on it and the swelling is quite bad, to the point where it looks like his eye is going to pop! I desperately don't want him to loose his eye, but it looks like it is heading that way.

I would like some advice on how to deal with this, how to re-introduce him back to his brother Fred (his brother Fred is a lot bigger, more boisterous and definitely rules the house) Also I am concerned about his eating, I have seen on here that people have been syringe feeding, can anyone give me anymore info on this?

Another concern is their bedding. So when we bought them we were told and also recommended by several people to have dust free wood shavings and hay. The vet has advised that dust free wood shavings are not good and this may be what caused the eye damage :-( She recommended newspaper sheets (an ordinary newspaper) and towels. So I have laid newspaper sheets down and then towels in there bed area, but they both keep trying to tear the newspaper and i've caught them trying to eat it! So I have removed the newspaper now for fear of them eating it and causing them upset tummies. If Bob is having his eye removed tomorrow I really want to get his home nice and clean, comfortable and the best it can be for his arrival back as I know we will have a tough few days ahead of us getting him better again!

Appreciate any advice! Thank you
 
Bobalicious said:
Hi All,

After some advice please...

I bought two beautiful little guinea pigs 4 weeks ago, their names are Fred and Bob! On Saturday evening I noticed Bob's eye was slightly weepy, so I bathed it and then checked again in the morning and it had got very pussy and sore. I took him to the vets and he was given Isathal drops (3 times a day) and 1 x 0.15ml of Metacam a day. I then took him back again Monday as it looked worse and was bleeding and was given Baytril to take twice a day 0.25ml (on top of what he was already having). I was also advised to get some standard optrex eye drops to keep it moist.

Bob was very limp, not eating much and lost 5 grams, which I know is not much but it is on the path of the wrong direction! He is only 13 weeks old, so needs to be putting on weight not loosing it (currently at 625 grams)

I have taken him back today for emergency eye drops and he is currently at the vets. These are very strong eye drops she has given him to reduce the swelling. She has said if the swelling doesn't go down then he will have to have his eye removed tomorrow. The eye has an ulcer on it and the swelling is quite bad, to the point where it looks like his eye is going to pop! I desperately don't want him to loose his eye, but it looks like it is heading that way.

I would like some advice on how to deal with this, how to re-introduce him back to his brother Fred (his brother Fred is a lot bigger, more boisterous and definitely rules the house) Also I am concerned about his eating, I have seen on here that people have been syringe feeding, can anyone give me anymore info on this?

Another concern is their bedding. So when we bought them we were told and also recommended by several people to have dust free wood shavings and hay. The vet has advised that dust free wood shavings are not good and this may be what caused the eye damage :-( She recommended newspaper sheets (an ordinary newspaper) and towels. So I have laid newspaper sheets down and then towels in there bed area, but they both keep trying to tear the newspaper and i've caught them trying to eat it! So I have removed the newspaper now for fear of them eating it and causing them upset tummies. If Bob is having his eye removed tomorrow I really want to get his home nice and clean, comfortable and the best it can be for his arrival back as I know we will have a tough few days ahead of us getting him better again!

Appreciate any advice! Thank you
Click to expand...

Hi! I am very sorry; but with your eye swelling up and not responding to the normal treatment for minor eyes, removing the eye if the eye is not responding to the stronger antibiotics is the only option left. :( Thankfully, this usually goes well and the piggies are able to lead a perfectly normal full life afterwards. Several of our members have got one-eyed piggies. Yours is one small size, but he is a decent weight for his age. What a nightmare for you! :(

Your boy may be off food at first from the anaesthetics and the pain, so here is our detailed step-by-step syringe feeding guide. Make sure that you have got everything handy when you bring him home. With luck, you needn't syringe feed. Please ask at the vets when you pick him up how soon he can have painkillers after the op in case you need to see an out-of-hours vet. Usually piggies are given a day's dose during the operation. ;)
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

I would recommend to look at fleece beeding with an absorbent underlay, which is what many forum members with indoors cages have switched to. I would so recommend to look at using soft meadow/orchard hay instead of more stalky timothy hay to minimise the risk of further hay pokes from lively youngsters.
Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview
Member Gallery: C&C cages/homemade cages

Keep your boys next to each other, ideally with interaction through the bars/grids and re-introduce them on neutral ground. Your one-eyed boy may be somewhat touchy about being approached and touched on his blind side and near his eye at first.
Introducing And Re-introducing Guinea Pigs
Illustrated Bonding Behaviours And Dynamics
Dominance Behaviours In Guinea Pigs

PS: As we have got members from all over the world, we find it helpful if you please added your country, state/provice or Uk county to your details, so we can always tailor any advice to what is available and possible where you are instead of keeping it general. Click on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location.

I am keeping my fingers very firmly crossed for your poor little boy!
 
That's great thanks for your advice! I will speak to the vet tonight when I go and pick him up about syringe feeding - I have been giving him medication via a syringe which he is now getting used to so that seems fairly easy.

Will also look at buying some of the fleece bedding and soft meadow hay when i am there as well as there is a pet shop next door.

Fingers crossed these drops he is having today work. It is so heartbreaking as this morning he was so lively and chipper, but the eye is just not getting better. He was so nervous when we first got him, but we have worked really hard to build the bond and trust and after everything he has been through i feel like we have taken several steps back. There is still a chance my little Bob could keep his eye...have my fingers crossed for him! Will find out more over the next 12 hours.

Thanks
 
Bobalicious said:
That's great thanks for your advice! I will speak to the vet tonight when I go and pick him up about syringe feeding - I have been giving him medication via a syringe which he is now getting used to so that seems fairly easy.

Will also look at buying some of the fleece bedding and soft meadow hay when i am there as well as there is a pet shop next door.

Fingers crossed these drops he is having today work. It is so heartbreaking as this morning he was so lively and chipper, but the eye is just not getting better. He was so nervous when we first got him, but we have worked really hard to build the bond and trust and after everything he has been through i feel like we have taken several steps back. There is still a chance my little Bob could keep his eye...have my fingers crossed for him! Will find out more over the next 12 hours.

Thanks
Click to expand...

As he is still rather little, please do not give him more than 1/3 of a syringe in one go.

I very much hope that he can keep his eye, but having had several guinea pigs going blind from cataracts and still leading a happy normal life, I can reassure you that losing an eye is not the end of the world if he has to! ;)
 
He absolutely loves spring greens they are his favourite, but he is not even eating them!

Thanks for your reassurance...you have definitely made me feel better. I have jotted some notes down to ask the vet tonight based on our conversation and will let you know how we get on

Thank you again :-)
 
You poor thing, what a nightmare for you. If it helps, one of my girls had to have an eye removed and then she has subsequently gone blind in her other eye. However she manages just fine and after she had the removal, after the first few days you would never have known. She was confident and happy and her usual self. Just have to watch I don't make her jump by approaching on the side she can see and not her blind side.

I was terrified and was dreading it ( I thought it would be horrific to see) but it was all much easier than I ever imagined.

So don't worry too much, they adapt very well and their eyesight is not great anyway, they rely on their whiskers and hearing more than sight.

Healing vibes being sent xx
 
Thank you Guinea Slave! That's reassuring and I didn't know that they rely more on their whiskers...so that's comforting! Looking forward to picking him up and giving him lots of cuddles in an hour...he loves cuddles!
 
Ah bless him. Just keep him reassured and confident in you and he will be fine. Sounds like he is in very good hands with you !

Hope all is well now he is back x
 
He's back home but unfortunately it's not good news. I will be taking him back tomorrow to have his eye removed as he is not responding to treatment. I'm feel so anxious for him and hope he is going to be ok! I'm just so worried as he is so tiny and still a baby.

On a positive he has been eating lots tonight and I have the critical care feed on standby for after his operation in case he refuses to eat.
 
I hope the op goes ok, there are a few pigs on here with only one eye (including my Tim) and they are all doing well. With Tim you wouldn't even realise he only has one eye the way he charges about. His eye was removed due to an abscess behind the eye.
 
helen105281 said:
I hope the op goes ok, there are a few pigs on here with only one eye (including my Tim) and they are all doing well. With Tim you wouldn't even realise he only has one eye the way he charges about. His eye was removed due to an abscess behind the eye.
Click to expand...


That's what the vet is saying bob has. I'm worried that the infection or abscess will come back after the op...but vet has reassured me that she is going to clean to the bone and leave slightly open for drainage if needs be.

Any advice on what to expect after the op over the first 48 hours would be great. Thankfully I don't work weekends so I can be at home with him and keep and eye on him
 
Tim's was left open, and he was put on a long course of Zithromax too to tackle the infection.

Tim was staying with a wonderful lady from here after his op (she runs a dental sanctuary). There is a thread on here about a pig called Cedric who had the exact same op, and was also at the sanctuary, which I will find and link to below.
 
My guinea pig had to have her eye removed last week. Thankfully all went well and she is on the road to recovery.

I did have to syringe feed her for a few days as she had lost a lot of weight. But there are more qualified people to help you with this.

I kept Winter's best friend with her all the time as her friend is quiet. Maybe you could keep then near each other.

I hope all goes well for your piggy.

Karen
 
Bobalicious said:
He's back home but unfortunately it's not good news. I will be taking him back tomorrow to have his eye removed as he is not responding to treatment. I'm feel so anxious for him and hope he is going to be ok! I'm just so worried as he is so tiny and still a baby.

On a positive he has been eating lots tonight and I have the critical care feed on standby for after his operation in case he refuses to eat.
Click to expand...

Oh I'm sorry he has to have his eye removed! I too have a one eyed piggy and while the outcome for her hasn't been as positive as I'd hoped, we're now a year post-removal and for the most part she has coped perfectly well with it!

The thing with my piggy has certainly been her age. She was 5+ when she had the operation and even to this day has not completely healed (because she keeps messing with it). She has regular checkups and the vet is happy that although she keeps messing with it, at now 6+ years old she's going to be a monitor regularly patient of theirs to make sure she isn't damaging herself as she really is getting too old to stress out with more invasive treatment to perhaps try closing it up for her. The major downside for Skye is that I've not been able to put her back with other guinea pigs since she had to have the eye removed. She had an extended recovery period away from other guinea pigs (it was obsessive eye licking on the part of one of my now departed old ladies that caused the problem) and ever since she has become terrified of other guinea pigs to the point where she will attack them before they even get a chance to say hello! At 6+ years old, suddenly finding yourself with one eye (which probably doesn't work so well) makes getting on with others so hard for her as she can't see them all the time and they always make her jump, even if she knows they're there! She now lives with a mesh divider between her and my other OAPs so I'm hoping that in time she will settle enough to let me remove that barrier and have her live out the rest of her days with her old friends.

I don't want to worry you with Skye's story as she's very much an in-the-minority case due to her age and her general health as an OAP. Your piggy is a very young one and if this happened to one of my younger piggies I would not expect to experience the problems I've had with Skye at all because they tend to bounce back and cope with change SO much better.

The one thing I would recommend is that you try and keep contact between your two boars and to make the full reintroduction as calm as possible. You may have to keep them separate for a while as he heals up (to prevent licking and infection being caused) but I'd definitely have them side by side (with a mesh divider so they can smell and touch noses with each other) with plenty of supervised floor time to help them maintain their bond!
 
Poor little guy! Fortunately vision is not the dominant sense in guinea pigs and he will do just fine with one eye (especially being so young, they are resilient!) My elderly pig, Sundae, obviously does not see well anymore, but it doesn't hinder her that much- the only way I can tell is that she sometimes has a hard time navigating her way to the door of the cage if the pigloo or food dishes have been shoved in the way. She seems to find her way by following the same path- to leave she makes the same wide turn to the door every time. I think when she can't follow that exact path she isn't sure where the door was. She is fine with her companion pig and she has no problem finding food and finding her way around familiar places (she can smell find and knows that layout of the area where she gets play time.) Please keep us posted, I'll be thinking of him!
 
Ah no! You poor thing.

Just keep lots of his favourite veg on hand, use critical care but if he does not like that, put some warm water on some pellets and mash them to syringe into him. Mine hated critical care but loved the mashed pellets. Don't forget probiotics to help against the antibiotics. Pro lapis is excellent and you can get it from your vets usually.

As others have said, keep him with a friend as much as you can. Lacey's husboar went with her to the vets. Also ensure the vets have some of his favourite food to give him when he wakes up. Mine go with a 'hospital bag ' with their favourite hay, food, fleece..

Good luck for today, we will be thinking of you! X
 
HI All,

I am so so soooooo pleased to say that I have had a call from the vets earlier to say my little Bob has pulled through and made surgery. He is stable and I will be picking him up in an hour! I can't wait to go and get him and give him a cuddle.

I want to thank you all for your advice and how friendly you have all been, you have definitely helped me in many ways.

I think i have a difficult road ahead of me in terms of re-introducing him back to his brother Fred. I wont begin that one until he is fully healed, but last night i let them be with each other for 5 minutes, whilst i supervised and it was almost as if Fred was growling at Bob and then he was doing some kind of bum swaying at him as well, constantly sniffing his bum. So I separated them again. Of course, until Bob is fully healed I will not let them be together but this worried me slightly. Fred has definitely always been in charge, but before this it was like his took Bob under his wing and looked after him, so I hope we can get back to that.

I have the critical care feed for Bob and the whole weekend off work to look after my baby!
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top