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Gunky eye and head tilt - advice please

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lovelygirl

lovelygirl

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Furby was fine this morning had her veggies but has been quiet this evening, and i thought it was down to Fi visiting she always sulks afterwards. Fi thought she had a wet eye earlier but there was nothing to see and she seemed fine, well i have not seen her eat this evening and just got her out for a bedtime cuddle and she has a right gunky eye and her head is tilted to the same side.

a) what do you think is wrong with her?
b) what can i do to help her?

it would happen when my bf is away from the flat for the night!8...8...
 
I'm sorry Furby seems to be ill, Eleanor - what rotten luck!

My initial thought is, possibly an ear infection. Would it cause a gunky eye - I'm not sure but I wouldn't say it's not possible for a single condition to cause both symptoms. The gunky eye could be a coincidence, but I would suspect that whatever is causing the head tilt is the primary problem.

If I am honest, I'm not sure what to advise - without having a firm idea of what could be causing Furby's condition, I'm reluctant to discuss ideas as I normally would. It's worth PMing alcesterpigs and seeing what ideas he can come up with.

Is Furby eating ok this evening? Is she very lethargic, sitting puffed up, or is she behaving normally but just quieter than usual?
 
she is being quiet and hiding in her hut, though still wriggly when i hold her! when do i know i have to syringe feed her? going to get some pepper from the fridge and some parsely
 
If she is eating on her own, especially hay, there's probably no need to syringe-feed. Weigh her daily for as long as she is unwell; if she starts losing weight then you'll know she is not eating as much as normal and needs a little supplementing with some syringe-feeds.

You can always offer her some critical care/mashed food on a plate if you are worried - many pigs will help themselves when they're not keen on eating normal food (and even when they are!).
 
well we are munching our favourites and i am going to open the excel herbage and put the food downstairs so she does not have to deal with the ramp
 
So sorry Furby is poorly. HOpefully Alcesterpigs can offer some advice..
 
have told chris and he is coming home early tomorrow now i just hope i can get a vets appointment tomorrow! at the minute she is munching hay so going to leave her alone food wise.
 
well on a better inspection with multiple lights i cold see a hay splinter sticking out of her upper eyelid not her eye from the inside which i have now removed, but you can see the eye is cloudy and ulcerated so vets as soon as possible tomorrow for a through going over and undoubtably some eye drops - she has now gone to sleep on my chest bless her after giving me kisses
 
Problem solved, good. You can get eye drops from the chemist, chloraphenicol.
 
Well she is munching fine this morning and back to running away from me as usual when i want to catch her. Her eye is still closed a bit but much less gungy than last night and eyelid seems less red and inflamed, now just waiting for my oh to phone back and say we have got an appointment with the vet today. Furby now also has her head back on straight i think tilting her head to deal with the pain of a splinter in her eye!
 
Well we went to the vets for the first time and they were very nice. Poor furby has a ulcer on her eye (keratinitus). The vet put some local anaesthetic in her eye and some dye in her eye and had a really thorough look in her eye, and could see no more foreign bodies. She has been prescribed fucithalmic eye drops and is going back next wednesday for a follow up.

She was her usual grumpy self travelling in the car! poor cottonbud got told off as per usual!

Feel much happier about it all and thanks for all the support last night!
 
Sorry I didn't see this till now.

Glad you got her sorted and she's on the mend with meds.
 
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