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I think Minky may have a cataract.

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Stewybus

Stewybus

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I was just watching my girls eating & noticed that one of Minky's eyes looked fairly white. She's an Abby & her eyes are normally a shade of red. It's only one eye, the other is normal. I think it may be a cataract because our 14 year old dog, Ozzy has them & it's very similar. I've read that Abby's are more prone to cataracts. Can she be treated for this or do I need to give her different care, she seems happy enough and eating OK / not losing weight.
 
Hi, this happened to my boy and it wasn't a cataract but he'd scratched his eye and the clouding over is a way of trying to protect it........maybe see if you can see if something is in the eye?
 
Please have the eye checked by a vet for an injury first; it could be a hay poke instead! The ulcerated cornea looks white/blue. Cataracts usually grow slowly over several weeks/months time from tiny pinpricks; they don;t appear from one day to another.

http://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html#signs
 
Wiebke said:
Please have the eye checked by a vet for an injury first; it could be a hay poke instead! The ulcerated cornea looks white/blue. Cataracts usually grow slowly over several weeks/months time from tiny pinpricks; they don;t appear from one day to another.

http://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html#signs
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Thanks for this info. I've just checked her eye through a magnifying glass & cannot see any foreign body around the rim. I've tried to manoeuvre her eye lids but I can only see the white of her eye around the edge. Would it be OK to give her an eye bath in the morning either boiled water cooled down or is it OK to use Optrex?
 
Sandy Pandy said:
Hi, this happened to my boy and it wasn't a cataract but he'd scratched his eye and the clouding over is a way of trying to protect it........maybe see if you can see if something is in the eye?
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Did his eye heal up afterwards? I'd didn't think that she'd injured it but it is possible. Whatever the outcome tomorrow I'll get her to the vets on Monday morning.
 
Is the white on the surface of the eye or inside the eye? If it is on the surface, then you are dealing with an ulcerating injury.
 
It seems to be on the surface or just below. It's a cloudy white where it would normally be pinky red.
 
Wiebke said:
Is the white on the surface of the eye or inside the eye? If it is on the surface, then you are dealing with an ulcerating injury.
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I checked Minky again this morning & there seems to be a slight improvement. Her eye is still cloudy but not as much as last night. You can see a pinky red rim around the cloudy bit where it was all cloudy last night. I'm phoning the vet's first thing tomorrow & hopefully get her in to get checked later in the day. I haven't attempted to wash or bathe her eye because I don't want to possibly aggravate it.
 
Good that you are having the eye seen by a vet (of course these things usually happen over the weekend...)!

If in doubt, leave your fingers off the eye, as you can do more damage than good if it is an injury and there is nothing to treat if it is indeed a cataract.
 
Wiebke said:
Good that you are having the eye seen by a vet (of course these things usually happen over the weekend...)!

If in doubt, leave your fingers off the eye, as you can do more damage than good if it is an injury and there is nothing to treat if it is indeed a cataract.
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I think you're more likely to be right saying it is probably damage caused by hay. They have lots of it & don't seem to close their eyes when burrowing into it. I'll let you know what the vet says.
 
If it is an eye injury the vet can put a dye in to see the extent of the damage.
 
crystal is a week into her eye meds having got a hay poke monday. Its looking really good and nearly all cleared up.

Having dealt with pink eye in farm animals for a long time I know how quickly things can ulcer and even the potential of serious damage to the eye, thankfully it was monday morning when I saw it but no hesitation on getting her to the vets for the cream to get her eye back on the mend. The vet put dye in the eye and had a good look, she managed to do a good job on her eye and remove a whole layer of it rolleyes £20 later and twice a day treatment its looking nearly back to normal but boy was it sore, the eye was very red beyond the eyes normal colour which is a violet blue normally.
 
Just got back from the vets with Minky.

Penny checked her eyes in the dark with what I'd call a bright light magnifier & she also put some stain in her eye but nothing showed up. She prescribed 2 drops of Fucithalmic a day plus Metacam. I have to take her back on Friday & hopefully there'll be improvement by then. It must be a pretty standard charge round the country as this cost just over £20. I've recently started a vets fund for the 4 girls & put £30 a month into this. This is really for the big bills if there is an emergency.
 
She seems happy at present. I gave her the Metacam earlier with one eye drop. I've just collected some fresh grass & her favourite dandelion stems & flowers. They're all happily munching away.
 
I hope that her eye will improve quickly on meds, especially as the there is no poke injury! Generally, eye infections tend to heal off quickly.

I find it easiest to get ointment or drops into a wiggly piggy's eyes by letting it bury its nose in a heap of grass on my lap and wait until they are absorbed by munching.
 
Minky's very good for thing's like this, I just place her between a cushion & my leg then keep her head steady while I let the drop fall into her eye. It's more like a runny cream than a liquid, I then manoeuvre her eye lids to help it spread. She then gets a treat & back in with Minnie who of course wants a treat too.
 
Aww, Minky is a good girl to have her drops like that :)

Hope it's all looking better soon
 
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