I think Poppy is loosing her eyesight :( Might Daisy loose hers too?

[piggyme234]

For a while now I have noticed that Poppy has a slight blueish tint to her eyes. It is difficult to make out the outline of her pupils. She is not sure of her surroundings and takes a minute to get her bearings when she is put back in the hutch. She can see hands coming towards her but I don't think she sees me very well.

Recently Rosie has started taking control of the food bowl, she was happy to let Poppy (who is younger) take control at first when Rosie had just lost Molly. Poppy took control originally through fear and the need to protect the others and herself because Rosie wasn't bothered about chasing the cats away.

I wasn't sure at first about Poppys eyesight because I had compared her eyes to Daisys and Daisy also has a very slight blueish tint. Now that I am quite sure that Poppy can't see very well I had a good look at all my piggies eyes and Daisys eyes are definatly not the same as my other 3 dark eyed girls. Rosie already doesn't have perfect vision and Poppys is worse, if Daisy looses her sight too there will be no guineas with perfect vision in that hutch.

Does anyone have a group of visually impaired piggies? Is there anything I can do?

 

[piggyme234]

Anyone?

 

[Wiebke]

Have you had Poppy and Daisy checked by a vet for the onset of cataracts? I would recommend that you have somebody competent look at their eyes before you panic. Cataracts can either be congenital (i.e. a genetic disposition) or they are caused by diabetes.
http://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html

I have had a piggy with double cataracts (congenital. She was just fine roaming the living room and the garden as usual once she had got used to her reduced sight. She even figured out a way to topple a hay bag and slip inside for a nap! mallethead

Here is her picture story:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=33420

 

[piggyme234]

I think Poppy and Daisy must be related in some way which makes me think that any problem they might have is congenital. They came from the same group of rescues. Poppy and several other young mums were all together in one cage with about 12 babies including Daisy. I'm going to get them checked out by the vet next week.
All of the pictures I have seen of cataracts show a whiteish blob in the middle of the eye. Poppy has dark blue eyes that looks slightly cloudy all over. I used to be able to see the brown iris of her eye but now i can't. Is this how cataracts starts or could it be something else?

 

[Wiebke]

It sounds rather like nuclear sklerosis - the whole lens going cloudy evenly, as opposed to a cataract which starts as one or several tiny white dots which are slowly growing and eventually joining up. You will find a short remark about it in that link I gave you. In the end, it won't make any difference!

My Mischief had nuclear sklerosis on the first eye that went and then a couple of months later a cataract on her other eye. But I, too, noticed a distinct blue cast to her eyes before each eye started, same as with a one sided cataract piggy (a peru) we had when I was growing up.

I am thinking about a genetic link as well, especially as Daisy and Poppy are related; cataracts seem to be more frequent in some breeds than others. At least, you do not have to worry about diabetes!
Here is what Peter Gurney had to say about cataracts:
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/cataracts.htm

Unfortunately, quite often both eyes will be affected within a few months of each other. And sadly, there is no op for piggies! But as you know, guinea pigs will adjust and can still lead a normal, happy life.

I had trained Mischief to follow my voice by working out a system of "you are going right" (goog girl) and "you have gone wrong" (uh uh uh) on her daily "walkies" in the garden. She also learned to find her way through the border by touch and smell and soon was pottering around as actively as a fully sighted piggy. If she got stuck, she'd wait to be directed or to be picked up - but the main thing is that she was still roaming freely (always under my supervision of course) and was leading as enriched a life as before!