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Hay Poke?

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Pippy & Daisy

Pippy & Daisy

Junior Guinea Pig
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I think my Pippy might have a hay poke as last night I noticed her eye seemed to be irritating her a little bit and she was kind of twitching her head (the best way I can describe it but not really accurate!) as though something was bothering her but I couldn't tell if it was her eye or her ear or something else. She didn't do it again this morning but then did the same thing this afternoon a couple of times but then stopped again. I checked her ears and they seemed fine and her eyes seemed fine, although one did look a little watery but I thought that was just my imagination going wild with worry as no one else seemed to think it was watery at all. Then this evening I noticed she did the head shake thing again and then squeezed her eye almost completely closed so I figured it must be that that's irritating her. I took her out and checked her eye and it doesn't look to be swollen and I can't see anything in there but it was definitely bothering her. She has it open now and she's eating and behaving in every other way as usual so my guess is that she just has something in there or poked herself in the eye - she does like to dig through the hay and I've seen her nearly get poked a few times - but I'm going to take her down to the vets tomorrow (only a week after having Daisy in there, they'll be sick of seeing me haha) to get it seen to and hopefully fixed up.

Just to try and ease my worry, does this sound like just a hay poke or as though she has something stuck, or could it be something else? It definitely only popped up last night so I really don't think it's been going on for long at all but I do worry about them whenever something isn't normal. It's not swollen or cloudy and there's no pus, just a little watery and irritating for her.
 
Just realised it mightn't have been clear in my original post, it's just the one eye that's bothering her. The other is completely fine.
 
Maybe she has a tiny bit of hay or grass seed in her eye? Sometimes they can really get it caught in there. Best to take her to a vet as soon as possible as whatever she has done to her eye may need treatment or a bit of hay removed. Does the eye look cloudy?

EDIT: Sorry just realised you said it wasn't cloudy. But there may be something there irritating her
 
When my piggy had hay poke his eye had a white blob in it and his eye was slightly blue in colour. What i did was get boiled water and wait for it to cool down then got a cotton wool ball got it damp and stroked it across his eye (Only use one cotton wool ball ONCE to avoid infection) and after about 3 strokes with 3 different wool ball i saw a tiny little bit of hay poking out his eye to i poulled it a little and out came a peice of hay about the size of a thumb. He had another bit in there a little smaller. After than i just wiped his eye 3 times a day for a week and hes completly fine now. Vision is perfect, as if nothing happened :)
However when my guinea pig had hay poke he was acting as normal before hand, eating fine, still being himself. Only noticed it when i was holding him. Your description doesnt sound quite like what i experienced, unless theres different levels of siriousness like how much hay have got in their eye but I'm sure its nothing to worry about :) It may not be hay poke exactly but it does sound like shes got something in there. Maybe some dust or something. but as i said, I'm sure its nothing to get overly worried about. ive heard its quite common for guinea pigs to have a sudden eye issue but then turns out to be nothing :) Hope everything goes well at the vets.
 
because eyes can become damaged quite quickly, i would get to the vet as soon as you can. they will put some dye in to see if there is anything stuck in there and if there is any damage like a scratch or ulcer etc. this is what happened when maisie had a hay poke. she was given eyedrops aswell. you're doing the right thing going to the vets. eye issues can become serious so not worth trying to treat by yourself if you're not sure exactly what it is that's wrong :)
 
Thanks for your help, everyone! Glad to hear it just sounds like something stuck in her eye. we'll be off to the vet to get her all fixed up and I'll keep you updated :)
 
You're welcome :) Hope everything goes well and its nothing too serious :)
 
I agree it sounds like something is stuck. Hopefully the vet will be able to get it out. My Rose has a haypoke at the moment and is on drops and pain relief.
 
Just got back from the vets and she's got a scratch in her eye so we've got some eye cream and some pain relief! As horrible as it is knowing it's hurting her, I'm extremely relieved to found out it's just a scratch rather than an infection or something :) I've been told to bring her back in a week to make sure it's healed but hopefully she'll be good as new in a couple of days :)
 
She's doing very well, she doesn't enjoy the eye cream whatsoever (can't say I blame her) but she does enjoy the treats and cuddles she gets afterwards! She tends to mostly only have her eye closed now after the cream has gone in so it doesn't seem to be bothering her as much but I can see that it's still a bit red (which I hadn't noticed until the vet had a really good look). She gets the eye cream 3 times a day and is also on pain meds for just a couple of days until it starts healing better. I've never dealt with eye problems in piggies before, though, so it's a bit hard to tell if she's doing really well/average/not as well as she could be. It was only yesterday she went to the vets so I don't expect any enormous change just yet but does all of this sound normal? She'll be back for a check up next week anyway but how soon should I start to see it getting better? Is it alright that she still squints a bit today?

The stress of having both of them on medication at once is driving me crazy!
 
Aw I'm glad its nothing stuck in her eye :) sorty i cant exactly answer your question. But as its a scratch, hopefully it will clear up nicely. Xx
 
Good news this morning! Just got home from the vets to see how Pippy's eye is going and it's completely healed, yay! :)
 
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