Suspected Blindness ?stroke?

[Elliegirl]

I collected 2 rescue guineas from the vets on Friday morning for a rescue I foster for. They were castrated on Wednesday. I was mortified at how swollen and sore they were and both looked more like they'd had implants in rather than anything removed One of the pigs did well considering and by Sunday was eating and behaving as normal. The other has given me concerns from the off. The vets had mentioned neither had been eating well and this guy certainly wasn't, his gait when he did move was a shuffle and he was more swollen than his brother and despite passing tiny poo due to lack of appetite he is impacting, I suspect due to the swelling. At this point I was working on the assumption that he was like this due to pain and a rough week. I stepped in and started syringe feeding him regularly and at 3am today he was searching out the syringe for more and when he returned to the cage started on some carrot.
Watching his behaviour I now think he is blind and I suspect this is recent from his unwillingness to move and wall hugging. He is also showing other subtle signs (I don't think I'm imagining them) a minor head tilt and slightly wonky walk on his front legs which make me question whether he has had a mini stroke. The vets mentioned nothing other than he was the quieter of the two. I now wonder if his lack of eating was due to loss of vision over pain......
This morning he has been seen eating hay and vegis as long as they are placed directly in front of him and seems brighter though still unwilling to move.
As a VN, regular guinea fosterer and Mum to multiple pigs I know strokes happen and my feelings are that the stress of being rescued from an inadequate home, being at the vets for 5 days, being castrated and being in so much discomfort may be the trigger. What I am wondering is - if this was a stroke is there any chance however small that his sight may return? I know it's early days just wanting peoples thoughts.
TY x
PLEASE NOTE: this is not the rescues regular vets, the one we usually use castrates gigs and they don't swell at all and recover in a day.

 

[helen105281]

Poor boy he has been through a lot. Could your regular vet check him over? I don't have lots of experience of strokes but I was told that the first 48 hours are the most important and if they get through that then they have more chance of recovery. If I remember correctly I think anti-inflammatories like Metacam can be used and so can water therapy. Maybe run that past your vet?

I have not come across blindness from stroke before though.

 

[DM030819]

I've had a couple of pigs with neurological problems and anti-inflammatories and antibiotics were the first port of call.

I haven't had a pig go blind with it, but one did have cataracts before which seemed to progress quicker after.

The other had trouble walking and bumped into things but their pupils reacted to the vet so it was more likely a balance issue causing it.

I have no experience or knowledge but I would hope that sight could recover, as other parts of their body can.

 

[Freela]

Poor little guy! I would think you might have to wait for him to be a bit more recovered to see how he does, as wall hugging/reluctance to eat food may be due to pain and reluctance to move due to rather than inability to see (sense of smell is a lot more important in terms of guinea pigs finding food than sight- I have a bling pig due to cataracts that developed pretty quickly, and though we could see that she was losing vision in other ways, mainly that she would misjudge distances or have a hard time finding the door out of the cage, etc., she never had any issue sniffing out food at all.) The head tilt and wobbliness could be neurological, though. He may bounce back somewhat, the brain is remarkably plastic. I hope he shows some improvement!

 

[Elliegirl]

If I put food in front of him he yums it down now with much enthusiasm.....fruit, vegis, readi grass, hay and museli. He does have Excel down too but he's eating the museli and right now I can live with that until he levels out when I will start changing him over. The swelling is gradually reducing and I'm keeping him on the loxicam.
I guess it's wait and see .........