greensn
Junior Guinea Pig
Hello!
So I work in a pet store, and in August (2016), we isolated a guinea pig (two months old at the time) for runny (white discharge) eyes. He saw three different specialists who prescribed terramycin, gentocin, tobramycin, and various antibiotics. Nothing helped this piggy. He was in the isolation room in less than ideal conditions presenting only with a goopy eye and occasional sneezing and runny nose. Me and my coworker begged our work for months to let us adopt him, in hopes that being in a home with proper care and attention would fix it. Finally last month we were allowed to take him home and coparent him (he lives with me and we split expenses). Unfortunately his eye has not gotten better. We took him to the vet about a month ago and the vet said his eye was slightly infected, but aside from that he was in good health. No upper respiratory infection. He gets veggies every day and I use and eye antimicrobial gel drop to keep his eye comfortable, and he completed another round of antibiotics and gentocin eye drops. The infection cleared up for a couple weeks but now its looking very irritated.
It is hard to tell that its red because he is albino, but it definitely looks bad again.
My gut tells me it is allergies, which I have never personally seen in small animals, but the vet told me that albino animals are actually susceptible to allergies. I have very bad seasonal allergies and mine have been horrific since I moved to Oklahoma (U.S). When my allergies flare up, it looks like his do too. When his eyes get really goopy and irritated, I close the windows and turn the A/C on and turn the humidifier on by his cage and keep his eyes clean (I wipe them clean twice a day anyway). I also keep him on fleece and some paper pellet bedding (scent free and low dust) and keep his cage very clean.
I know no one can give me medical advice, but I need some information or some ideas! Has anyone ever seen or heard of a guinea pig with allergies? I want to help this brave, sweet little pig, but I don't know what to do
So I work in a pet store, and in August (2016), we isolated a guinea pig (two months old at the time) for runny (white discharge) eyes. He saw three different specialists who prescribed terramycin, gentocin, tobramycin, and various antibiotics. Nothing helped this piggy. He was in the isolation room in less than ideal conditions presenting only with a goopy eye and occasional sneezing and runny nose. Me and my coworker begged our work for months to let us adopt him, in hopes that being in a home with proper care and attention would fix it. Finally last month we were allowed to take him home and coparent him (he lives with me and we split expenses). Unfortunately his eye has not gotten better. We took him to the vet about a month ago and the vet said his eye was slightly infected, but aside from that he was in good health. No upper respiratory infection. He gets veggies every day and I use and eye antimicrobial gel drop to keep his eye comfortable, and he completed another round of antibiotics and gentocin eye drops. The infection cleared up for a couple weeks but now its looking very irritated.
It is hard to tell that its red because he is albino, but it definitely looks bad again.
My gut tells me it is allergies, which I have never personally seen in small animals, but the vet told me that albino animals are actually susceptible to allergies. I have very bad seasonal allergies and mine have been horrific since I moved to Oklahoma (U.S). When my allergies flare up, it looks like his do too. When his eyes get really goopy and irritated, I close the windows and turn the A/C on and turn the humidifier on by his cage and keep his eyes clean (I wipe them clean twice a day anyway). I also keep him on fleece and some paper pellet bedding (scent free and low dust) and keep his cage very clean.
I know no one can give me medical advice, but I need some information or some ideas! Has anyone ever seen or heard of a guinea pig with allergies? I want to help this brave, sweet little pig, but I don't know what to do
firstly is he a genuine albino also known as lethal white? Or is he a pink eyed white which is an actual breed of guinea pig? If he is an actual albino (lethal white) then they do come with medical issues and one issue I know they suffer from is blindness and eye issues. Can he see okay or is there a chance he could be blind? Could you post a picture of him so other members with experience of lethal whites could identify this or if he is just a normal breed of guinea pig. Secondly if he is just a pink eyed white My one called frankie was very sensitive. He was, I would say allergic (had some reactions to certain medications) although it was never confirmed by a vet that he had allergies but that's what I would say it was being that he had reactions. I'm assuming he could have an allergy as other animals can get allergies as people can. I wouldn't have thought piggies could be any different. What bedding does he have?
Did the vet put any dye in his eye to check for ulcers or any damage to the eye? I would say his eye does look red because you can see the whites of his eye in the other pic and I think if it was allergies it would affect both eyes but I'm no expert. Sorry I did read that you said you keep him on fleece, you'll have to excuse me I'm abit sleepy. I would take him to the vets again as it could be something as simple as needing a longer course of antibiotics or he could have something stuck causing irritation. By the way it's lovely that you and your coworker saved him and took it upon yourselves to get him back to full health 