Hay Lodged In Eye

[Hemmy]

This morning when I checked on the pigs I noticed that Daphne had a piece of hay stuck in her eye. About 2 cm was sticking out perpendicular to her eye and I could see that there was some more wrapped around the inside corner of her eye. She was squeaking and in visible pain.

I flushed her eye with contact lens solution which didn't help. When I tried gently pulling on the hay it didn't move at all.

It took about 20 minutes of flushing, wiping with cotton wool and gentle pulling until I finally got the hay out. It was about the length of my little finger and covered in gunk.

Her eye looks immediately better and is now a lot less swollen. It is slightly red but the layer of white gunk which was there this morning is now gone and she gobbled up her morning veg.

After losing Beatrice-pig just before Christmas I am beside myself with worries and insecurities.

My plan is to keep an eye on Daphne and take her to the vets if the eye is still swollen or if there is any discharge.

Is this the right thing to do? Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

I have had 2 hay pokes in my time of owning piggies, both the same piggy and the same result, pulled out, flushes with cool water, as you say it looks better initially, but both times her eye went cloudy for a few days, but both times went back to normal again, i have been lucky though, other members have had piggies eyes removed due to rupturing, keep a very close eye on her. And always worth avoiding using any human products on aniamls, especially in such sensitive areas as eyes. clean cold water on a clean cotton bud/pad. Fingers crossed x

 

[Abi_nurse]

I get the odd bit of hay that i have to take out at home, i usually treat at home with eye ointment. I would probably take her due to the size of the piece you took out, if it managed it round the back of the eye then you don't want an infection starting there. She may also be fine though, hard to say for sure?

Good Luck.

x

 

[Jess]

Thankfully I've haven't had any hay in the eyes... touch wood!
One of my past piggies his eye had swollen up so bad because of a little bit of hay that got stuck, managed to coax it out and the swelling went down almost immediately... I always dread the day I have to pull out hay from my current piggies eyes!

 

[Claire W]

I would suggest a vet visit just to be on the safe side.

My Enoch had a hay poke a few weeks ago. Apart from the eye looking slightly watery with a blue rim covering the eye, he didn't look injured at all.

After my Eliza has recently had an eye removed, I took Enoch to the vets to be on the safe side. Good job I did as it turned out his eye had ulcerated and he needed antibiotic eye drops. The ulcer couldn't be seen by the naked eye but only when the vet put a drop of dye on the eye and shone the ultraviolet light on his eye.

 

[Hemmy]

Thanks everyone.
She's much happier now, eating and playing just like normal. I've had a good look at her eye with a magnifying glass and a light and rinsed it thoroughly. The eye looks fine but I will most likely nip her to the vets soon to be safe.
Burying herself under a hay mountain and going to sleep is her favourite thing to do - even this morning hasn't put her off!

 

[Hemmy]

Vet used some dye and has prescribed some eye drops and a check up next week.
Thanks everyone.

 

[piggyfan]

I hope your little one recovers soon.

 

[Chief Guinea Pig]

That sounds terrible, if one of mine had hay in their eye, I wouldn't know what to do, to help!
Hope Daphne recovers soon...

 

[Pebble]

I'm glad this has a happy ending but for the benefit of anyone viewing this thread at a later date, can I just issue a word of caution here please regarding how to treat piggies when hay or hay seeds are stuck in the eye:

Firstly - please do not use contact lens solution - depending upon their constituents some can actually excaerbate damage to the eye particularly if they contain disinfectants and/or are in a saline base solution ...and will be really painful for the piggie. Remember these are used to physically clean contact lenses of gunk before they are inserted back into the eye....not to be used in large volumes to directly flush out contaminants from eyes. There is a big difference in the two processes and the types of chemicals suitable for each. Far better to use an eye solution which is specifically geared towards eye irrigation e.g. optrex eye bath. Do NOT use saline. Do NOT use solutions containing disinfectants on guinea pig eyes.

Secondly, if there is any resistance to getting the foreign body out, please go to the vet. Not only can they can apply a local anaesthetic to reduce the pain/stress for your piggie...but if it is wrapped round the eyeball then in-expereinced tugging could do more harm than good with potentially permanent damage.

Thirdly - if you suspect a hay poke injury then always go to the vet to get an examination with the flourescein dye for ulcers etc and associated eye ointment/drops. Hay is covered in bacteria...it is 100% certain that they will have been introduced into the eye with the hay and will set up an infection at the trauma site causing an ulcer that is invisible to the naked eye The standard UK treatment is fucithalmic eye ointment but in some cases the bugs are resistant to this and you may need other eye drops with different anitbiotics in. Best one is Tiacial as this contains gentamycin which kills almost every possible bug including the nasty antibiotic-resistant ones such as Pseudomonas that commonly infect eyes and ears

Fourthly, please do not underestimate how serious even minor eye injuries can be to piggies. Vet visit same/next day please! Once infection sets in, if it isn;t treated/cleared with antibiotics there may be no choice but to take out the eye. If your pig is already challenged health wise and may not be able to withstand a GA then, like me, you may be faced with having to put your piggie to sleep rather than them go through an op to remove their eye.

Finally - just to be clear, I have not posted this as a cirticism of the poster who started this thread...But as information on best practice etc for people who may be facing similar issues and are looking for advice from the forum and may find this thread at some point in the future.

x

 

[Briony_S]

Glad she has drops so will be on the mend. It may take a while. When sophie had her hay poke I was given vets drops anx it took about 2 weeks to full look better. I would watch the area below her eye too as it can get sore from the eye watering

 

[Poppy'sMum]

I second what Pebble says

I used to leave a pile of hay in with previous piggies, they would on the odd occasion burrow under & get a small piece of hay in their eye. I would never attempt to remove it myself if it looked inflamed, or the eye was swollen etc. After reading about a few serious eye pokes on this forum I decided with my current piggies I would cut the hay shorter (I use long stranded Timothy hay) & put it in a bowl in a litter tray with newspaper in, so that they eat from the bowl rather than bury themselves in the hay. I know it's not natural for them, but it's what they are used to & I can say it's the best decision I made as I have had no problems since & I would rather they miss out a little on natural behaviour than ever lose an eye or worse

 

[Hemmy]

Would just like to point out that this solution states it is safe for direct use on (human) eyes. It is not a 'standard' disinfectant and doesn't contain H2O2 or any other harsh substances. I would not put something in Daphnes eyes without checking the labels. At the time using this (sterile) solution allowed me to wash her eye more effectively and the vet has said that I did the correct thing. Obviously this is not the case for contact lens cleaning soln or those solutions used in '2 step' cleaning programmes.

 

[Veggies Galore]

Dear Hemmy,

Thank you for posting this thread as it has brought this matter to my attention. It must have been horrible for you when you discovered Daphne in this predicament. I wouldn't have known what to do.

I wasn't aware that hay was so risky. I was advised never to get straw for my piggies because of the risk of it poking their eyes but I was told that hay is OK. My piggies love burrowing in it and I am loathed to stop them doing this as they look so happy when they are given a fresh pile of hay.

Like a lot of other situations in life - forwarned is forearmed. I doubt that I will stop giving my piggies free access to hay as they love it so much. I know that I need to be vigilant now. Now I have read this thread, I know what I should be looking for.

 

[Briony_S]

Dear Hemmy,

Thank you for posting this thread as it has brought this matter to my attention. It must have been horrible for you when you discovered Daphne in this predicament. I wouldn't have known what to do.

I wasn't aware that hay was so risky. I was advised never to get straw for my piggies because of the risk of it poking their eyes but I was told that hay is OK. My piggies love burrowing in it and I am loathed to stop them doing this as they look so happy when they are given a fresh pile of hay.

Like a lot of other situations in life - forwarned is forearmed. I doubt that I will stop giving my piggies free access to hay as they love it so much. I know that I need to be vigilant now. Now I have read this thread, I know what I should be looking for.

I have been keeping pigs for over 5 years now and until just before Christmas I had never had a hay poke. I wouldnt worry too much just ensure you get to vets asap and dont use timothy for bedding as its very stalky

 

[helen105281]

We have had a few but was mainly with Terk who walked into hay with her eyes wide open, dopey pig. Were always given Fucithalmic at the vets and the dye put in to check there was no damage.

 

[Tinsel]

Hi, I've just had a similar problem with Tansy. Her eye went cloudy and the vet could see an ulcer when he dyed it. She's been on fucithalmic ointment three times a day for a week now. She has a follow-up appointment soon (she's already had one and he said it's healing well). The eye is now looking almost normal - does anyone know how long is she likely to need to stay on the ointment? I will keep her on it until the vet says otherwise, but am just wondering what the time frame is likely to be (it affects where she's housed).

Any advice welcomed!

 

[Veggies Galore]

I have been keeping pigs for over 5 years now and until just before Christmas I had never had a hay poke. I wouldnt worry too much just ensure you get to vets asap and dont use timothy for bedding as its very stalky

You're right about Timothy Hay .
I asked my husband to look after my boys once when I went away for a conference and he couldn't believe they had different types of hay - one for eating, one for bedding (and a pinch of readigrass for a treat).