Hay poke

[Lis-piggysteve]

Hi. This morning I noticed one of our guinea pigs had a really sore looking eye and was not able to open it fully. I rang the emergency vets and got Draco in for an appointment. They have pulled out a very long piece of hay from his eye and put a yellow dye in to check how far the damage went. He has had a pain relief injection to last 24 hours and he’s had eye drops. The eye drops are 3 times a day so I will continue the treatment but since getting back home he seems a little bit quiet. He is eating but he is sitting in his hide and seems a little hunched up. Could this just be normal as he’s had a stressful day? The picture I have added is of his eye after he had the dye put in (his eyes are usually red in colour) Thank you

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear that

Yes - a haypoke is painful and can make them subdued.
Were you given pain relief to give him going forward?

 

[Lis-piggysteve]

No I wasn’t given any to bring home. I did question them and asked if I needed to give him pain relief until it’s healed and the emergency bet said no but if he seems in pain I can go to my usual vet tomorrow. So I think I will book him in as I feel he needs something to help keep him comfortable

 

[weepweeps]

Sending Draco healing vibes for a speedy recovery

 

[Lis-piggysteve]

I’ve just been to give him his antibiotic drops and his tummy was making a gurgling noise and he had some diarrhoea could this be from medication/stress? I did phone the out of hours vet that saw him earlier to ask if he needed to be seen again and they said to keep an eye on him. I’m panicking but also don’t want to take him if it’s not needed as the price I already paid today was extortionate

 

[Piggies&buns]

The medication hasn’t gone through his digestive tract so it shouldn’t be from that

Remove veg from his diet, increase hay intake and start daily weight checks. Give him some fibre rich syringe feed (either critical care if you have it or mushed pellets as the emergency alternative) to help increase his fibre intake. Give a probiotic if you have it or ideally poop soup made from the very fresh poops of a healthy companion.

Its good you’ve called the vet. If it is full liquid diarrhoea then he will need to see the vet due to the dehydration risk

I hope he is ok

Wiebke's Guide to Poops
First Aid: Immediate Care Measures and Non-medication Products
Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels

 

[Lis-piggysteve]

Thank you for your reply. So I kept a close eye on him through the night and offered syringe feed throughout. I phoned our vet this morning to have him checked. She thinks it was a mix of these 2 medications he was given at the emergency vets.
Inj 0.10 x Buprecare 0.3mg/ml Injection MDV (Buprenorphine)
Inj 0.10 x Metacam 2mg/ml Injection for Cats (Meloxicam) /ml
(Sorry I copied them from the invoice!)
He has still had some small amounts of diarrhoea today but it seems to be getting better. Our vet gave him a gut stimulant and told us to keep up with the syringe feed. I will take him back if need be.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Well that is very unexpected! If it was an oral medication then an upset digestive system would be more understandable, although even oral meloxicom is well tolerated and rarely causes GI upset.
Buprecare is a very strong opioid painkiller - and not something I would normally expect to be given for haypoke so it must have been a bad injury

Hopefully it will all resolve very quickly and he will be feeling better in no time!

 

[Lis-piggysteve]

Thank you. I’ve had piggies before but never had one with hay poke so didn’t know what to expect I’ve just bathed his bottom again so he’s not uncomfortable and he’s had his eye drops. He has bitten me and my daughter today (a soft bite) he has never done that before but I’m guessing he’s just not feeling great and we must be getting on his nerves with keep giving him medication and bottom baths!

 

[Merab]

Poor boy.
Hope he recovers quickly