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My 3 month old guinea pig has a cloudy blue eye

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Rhymestyle

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hello guys,

I have a new guinea pig who is three months old (same age as my first guinea pig) who’s name is Tuxedo. I introduced him to my other guinea pig (Brownie) yesterday for a bit then separated them so they could slee in peace for the night.

This morning I noticed that Tuxedo’s left eye is blue and cloudy. I’m very concerned and the pet clinics that I’ve called won’t be able to see him until Monday. There pricing has been $85 for an examination which isn’t outrageous for me but I’m not sure what the cost of medication for him would be.
 
It could be a cataract, but I’m not entirely sure...
 
Rhymestyle said:
That’s one of my worries but he’s been entirely healthy for the few days that I’ve had him and he’s young.
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Cataracts are nothing to be worried about, there will be vision loss but your piggy will be fine, I’m sure there are quite a few members here who have guinea pigs with cataracts
 
I’m trying to determine if it could be a hay poke but I’m not seeing any pieces of hay sticking out of his eye.

Don’t cataracts usually appear in older guinea pigs though? Just want to make sure I’m covering all bases.
 
Rhymestyle said:
I’m trying to determine if it could be a hay poke but I’m not seeing any pieces of hay sticking out of his eye.

Don’t cataracts usually appear in older guinea pigs though? Just want to make sure I’m covering all bases.
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I'd recommend a vet visit in case it is hay poke.The eye could possibly be ulcerated.
 
Rhymestyle said:
I’m trying to determine if it could be a hay poke but I’m not seeing any pieces of hay sticking out of his eye.

Don’t cataracts usually appear in older guinea pigs though? Just want to make sure I’m covering all bases.
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They do normally occur in older guinea pigs, which is who I was uncertain whether or not it would be...
 
That’s the eye that I’m concerned about. It hasn’t been like that up until today
 
That looks a lot like hay poke, in my experience, you'll usually find a little sliver of hay under one of the eye lids, look for where the cloudiness is the deepest/most white, from that picture it seems to be the upper eyelid you'll want to gently check under. It will be sore though, eye injuries are very painful, so he might not be too happy about the process, but better to get the piece out now than leave it rubbing against the eye until he can see a vet. If you can't see anything though, prompt veterinary treatment would really be beneficial.
 
I placed him on my lap examine his eye and he often squinted. I didn’t want to hurt him so as gently as possible I tried to have a look. I couldn’t find any pieces of hay though.
 
Rhymestyle said:
Hello guys,

I have a new guinea pig who is three months old (same age as my first guinea pig) who’s name is Tuxedo. I introduced him to my other guinea pig (Brownie) yesterday for a bit then separated them so they could slee in peace for the night.

This morning I noticed that Tuxedo’s left eye is blue and cloudy. I’m very concerned and the pet clinics that I’ve called won’t be able to see him until Monday. There pricing has been $85 for an examination which isn’t outrageous for me but I’m not sure what the cost of medication for him would be.
Click to expand...

Hi!

The cost should not be outrageous. It sounds like an ulcerated eye from an injury (most likely hay poke) or something stuck under the lid. What is the cause can only be fully determined once the ulcer has come down again.
The usual treatments are either drops or gel with fucidic acid as the main ingredient or chloramphenicol in severe cases.

You can help keeping the eye hydrated by getting artificial tear gel from a pharmacy and applying it up to 6 times a day (but only ever at least half an hour after any eye medication in order to not just wash it way. Gel is better than drops because its effect is longer lasting.
 
Please see a vet it could be hay in the eye, a hay poke, or a scratch, but it is probably painful. Eye drops from the vet plus pain relief usually clears it up quickly. I don't know where you are but my vet will see a piggie with eye injury as an emergency, as untreated they can become serious. You can't always see if there is hay in the eye, I had one incident with my Primrose when I couldn't see anything, but my vet discovered a strand of hay wrapped around her eyeball.
 
I’ve had each of my pair treated for eye poke from similar looking eyes with no evidence of the offending piece of hay either time. Isathal ointment and metacam have done the trick.
 
So I’m at the vet right now. The doctor said it was an ulcer in his eye so they gave him an anesthetic and then stained his eye as treatment. I’m going to take him back in three days to check his progress.

The doctor also noticed a scab on the bottom of his stomach which we didn’t notice so they gave us Critical Care food for him.

They gave me eye drops for him also.
 
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