• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Infected eye for poor Peggy

PeggyAndBettysMum

PeggyAndBettysMum

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
94
Reaction score
171
Points
275
Location
West lancs
It’s been a long while since I posted last! Hope everyone has stayed safe this past 12 months 🥰
I feel a terrible pigmum. When going to bed on Wednesday, I thought Peggy looked like she had one eye that was ‘less open’ than the other. I’ve had many pigs in the past, each with their own little illnesses and heart stopping moments, but never one with hay poke so I panicked.
I picked her up and it seemed to go back to normal. No swelling or discharge so all was well.
Then, waking up Thursday, her eye was completely white and she felt instantly thinner.
Emergency trip to the vets and it turns out she has an ulcer and it’s quite badly infected. How can this have happened so quickly? Or have I been the worst mum ever and not noticed 😩
Anyway, she has two lots of drops for it but the vet was 50/50 on wether they would work and if the only option was to remove her eye.
I was horrified by this! I’m a teacher so my lovely husband worked from hone that day so he could take her. I was in school and My poor class got the aftermath of my trauma and a half hour lesson followed about guinea pigs and then about some weird and wonderful stories from them about their nans, friends daughters dog etc.
I didn’t want to go downstairs this morning because I was so worried about what I would find. Anyway, her eye is no worse. She seems active and is munching away.
is this a good sign? What do I need to look out for? Can you give me all your advice and experience please!
I’m really worried about diabetes. I had a guinea pig many years ago who I had to inject with insulin and it was so traumatic for me and her. Peggy has excessive thirst but she has always been like that and has been checked over and scanned many times by the vet because of my worries. I was scared it could be this at first.
 
Eye ulcers are usually caused by a bit of hay or something similar getting stuck under the eyelid and they can deteriorate very quickly. The cloudiness can look worse to us than it is. It is always worth trying pain relief, antibiotic drops and corneal repair gel to see if it will save the eye. I’ve had a few that have been touch and go as to whether they can be saved. The vets usually try that first.

when is she going back for review? My vets would usually review within a couple of days to see if the treatment is working.

If it isn’t healing the eye, then enucleation surgery is carried out. I’ve never had it done on one of my piggies but there are many one eyed piggies living happy lives. @furryfriends (TEAS) has had a resident recently who had his eye removed.
 
Has your vet given her some pain relief/anti-inflammatory (Metacam) as eye injuries can be very painful and this may affect her appetite. Our vet always gives antibiotic drops, Remend corneal gel and metacam. I have been lucky so far and all three hay poke injuries my piggies had have healed well.

Hope her eye starts to show some improvement soon.
 
Yes we have both the drops and the repair gel and I have pain relief for her at home. The vet said I should notice an improvement in a few days - if it is going to improve- but not to leave it longer than 5 days before I contact them again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top