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Hay poke?

George.pickle_ pumpkin

George.pickle_ pumpkin

Junior Guinea Pig
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I have just got one of my pigs out about 10 minutes ago and realised her eye was very cloudy and she was being really off and not moving I realised she had a bit of hay stuck in her eye so I got it out and over the last 10 mins it has got less cloudy. I will put pictures of both her eyes but I was wondering do I need to do anything?
 

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She needs to see a vet. The vet will put a special dye in her eye to see if it has ulcerated, you will then get a prescription antibiotic eye drop. Some vets also give a lubricating eye gel which the forum also recommends. I use Visco Tears when mine have hay poke which can be purchased over the counter. The gel needs to be administered some time after the antibiotic to give the AB time to work, I wait about an hour.
 
It’s good that you were able to remove the hay from your guinea pig's eye, and it’s a good sign that the cloudiness has started to improve. The cloudiness may have been caused by irritation or a slight injury from the hay.


Here’s what you can do:


  1. Monitor her closely: Keep an eye on her behavior and the condition of her eye. If the cloudiness continues to improve and she starts moving normally again, she’s likely fine.
  2. Check for any signs of infection: If the cloudiness doesn’t improve or gets worse, or if her eye starts to discharge or looks swollen, it could be a sign of an eye infection or another issue. In that case, you may need to consult a vet.
  3. Gentle eye cleaning: If you feel it's needed, you can use a saline solution or an eye wash specifically for pets to rinse her eye gently, just to make sure there's no lingering irritation.

If she continues to act off or if her eye looks abnormal even after the cloudiness fades, it’s best to get her checked by a vet to make sure everything is okay. Let me know how it goes!
 
Persimmon & Clementine said:
It’s good that you were able to remove the hay from your guinea pig's eye, and it’s a good sign that the cloudiness has started to improve. The cloudiness may have been caused by irritation or a slight injury from the hay.


Here’s what you can do:


  1. Monitor her closely: Keep an eye on her behavior and the condition of her eye. If the cloudiness continues to improve and she starts moving normally again, she’s likely fine.
  2. Check for any signs of infection: If the cloudiness doesn’t improve or gets worse, or if her eye starts to discharge or looks swollen, it could be a sign of an eye infection or another issue. In that case, you may need to consult a vet.
  3. Gentle eye cleaning: If you feel it's needed, you can use a saline solution or an eye wash specifically for pets to rinse her eye gently, just to make sure there's no lingering irritation.

If she continues to act off or if her eye looks abnormal even after the cloudiness fades, it’s best to get her checked by a vet to make sure everything is okay. Let me know how it goes!
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I’m afraid not. When a haypoke occurs the only safe course of action is to go straight to a vet.
Eye injuries are treated as urgent and given priority by vets given how quickly they deteriorate.

Cloudiness is a clear sign that ulceration has occurred and this always requires antibiotics and painkillers.

Please do not give advice in the health section. We welcome new members to give support but not to advise - This section is monitored by those of us with badges in our signatures to ensure the advice is correct and, importantly, remains within the UK law.
 
I’ve been looking everywhere but I can’t find a vet that does Guinea pig infections or anything like that my local vets only do checkups does anyone know what to do? It is slowly going but I still want to make sure she’s okay
 
George.pickle_ pumpkin said:
I’ve been looking everywhere but I can’t find a vet that does Guinea pig infections or anything like that my local vets only do checkups does anyone know what to do? It is slowly going but I still want to make sure she’s okay
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Any vet should see an eye injury, it doesn’t matter if they don’t specialise in exotics - an eye is an eye no matter the species.
 
George.pickle_ pumpkin said:
I’ve been looking everywhere but I can’t find a vet that does Guinea pig infections or anything like that my local vets only do checkups does anyone know what to do? It is slowly going but I still want to make sure she’s okay
Click to expand...
A general vet can deal with eyes, it doesn’t have to be a specialist.
 
No definitely doesn’t need to be an exotic for eyes especially.

A lot of us don’t have an exotic vet at all but instead use a general vet who has a keen interest in small animals, or is willing to learn/do the research to treat them. This is certainly the case for me.
An exotic can be helpful for some things but equally not all exotics have an interest in guinea pigs

Keep us posted
 
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