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Swollen Eye, Nasal Discharge & X-rays

Teddy-Boys

Teddy-Boys

Junior Guinea Pig
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My guinea pig has been ill for a couple of weeks now with a swollen eye & nasal discharge (seems to all be one sided), which I posted about the other week. It started a few weeks ago with white fluid from his right nostril, he had baytril for 7 days which seemed to clear the nasal discharge up. He was then prescribed ranitidine as he went off his food a couple of days into the antibiotics. Then his right eye suddenly started bulging, the swelling has reduced a bit from how it initially was but you can still see a lot of the white part at the front of the eye which looks raised & the eye is weeping. Yesterday he had X-rays whilst awake (pics below) which didn’t show anything wrong, however they said he’d need an anaesthetic to take X-rays from a different angle to be 100%. So he’s been put on another course of baytril, along with isathal eye drops & fibreplex to see if that works first. I’m also feeding some critical care as his weight has dropped from 980 to 830g in 2 weeks. Has anyone been through anything similar, or have any medical knowledge to comment on the X-rays below?

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7 days of Baytril is unlikely to get rid of an infection and it seems like he could have quite a tough infection. It could take at least a fortnight, maybe longer to kill off any infection.
 
Yea they thought they’d try another course of antibiotics to rule this out before putting him under for further X-rays due to the risks associated with general anaesthetic.

Thanks for sharing Cedric’s story, do you know if a retrobulbar abscess would show up at all on the X-rays I’ve already had?
 
Teddy-Boys said:
Yea they thought they’d try another course of antibiotics to rule this out before putting him under for further X-rays due to the risks associated with general anaesthetic.

Thanks for sharing Cedric’s story, do you know if a retrobulbar abscess would show up at all on the X-rays I’ve already had?
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Abscesses don’t often show on X-ray and they aren’t very clear anyway. Baytril isn’t the best antibiotic for dealing with something like this. Ideally you would want to be using Zithromax (azithromycin).
 
I’ve asked my vet if they will prescribe azithromycin & they’re going to let me know tomorrow. Really hope they will, the eye looks more red & swollen tonight so
don’t know if the eye drops are aggravating it, so worried :(
 
My poor baby :( so much worse today, he’s booked in for a possible removal with Simon on Friday. My local vet won’t prescribe the azithromycin, is there anything I can do to help in the meantime? I’m at my wits’ end

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Teddy-Boys said:
My poor baby :( so much worse today, he’s booked in for a possible removal with Simon on Friday. My local vet won’t prescribe the azithromycin, is there anything I can do to help in the meantime? I’m at my wits’ end

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Try not to worry. You're going to the right man, who will sort this for your boy. Simon is amazing! It does look like he will need the eye removing, but they cope absolutely fine with one eye. In the meantime, keep him on a good dose of metacam, twice a day. Does he seem better in himself now the eye has worsened. I often find that once the abscess bursts out, the pressure is relieved and they feel better, despite looking much worse. xx
 
One of my Teddy/Rex type pigs had exactly the same happen to his eye. It was a blocked tear duct that ended up causing an eye infection. He had his eye removed.

Try not to worry too much as they don't have the best vision anyway, so he can cope with just one eye.
 
Thanks for all the support, it really means a lot. I have managed to get him booked in with Simon tomorrow instead & taken him to the local vets tonight for metacam & some lubricant eye drops.

He is still eating & seems relatively ok otherwise in himself considering, so I just really hope he doesn’t feel as bad as he looks. Hopefully I can start to get it sorted tomorrow - so nervous!
 
Teddy-Boys said:
Thanks for all the support, it really means a lot. I have managed to get him booked in with Simon tomorrow instead & taken him to the local vets tonight for metacam & some lubricant eye drops.

He is still eating & seems relatively ok otherwise in himself considering, so I just really hope he doesn’t feel as bad as he looks. Hopefully I can start to get it sorted tomorrow - so nervous!
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What time’s your appointment tomorrow? Simon and Kim are amazing vets and your piggy couldn’t be in safer hands. They’ve saved the lives of so many piggies here at TEAS xx
 
Thinking of you and praying all goes well tomorrow.
I have a blind piggy - it hasn’t cramped her style, she’s just a little more cautious moving around outside the cage.
No reason why your lovely boy won’t cope perfectly well post op.
 
Thanks for all the positive recovery stories. He made it through the operation today (had his eye removed) & we are just starting our journey home now. So thankful the Cat & Rabbit Clinic was recommended to me on here, I would never have heard about them otherwise. Just hoping for a smooth recovery now, he’s back for a check up on Tuesday so just praying for no more emergency vets visits between now & then!

Now I have a bit of a dilemma, I am visiting my Mum for a belated mother’s day this weekend & can’t really cancel as she’s been through a tough time recently. Do I take the boys with me (it’s an hour’s drive each way in the car) or do I leave them at home but leave on Saturday afternoon & return early Sunday afternoon? Which would mean missing out on 1 dose of metacam in total & 1 eye flush as I won’t be there Sunday morning. If I take them with me he wouldn’t miss the Sunday morning dose but is yet more traveling going to cause more harm from stress?
 
Glad all went well. Simon and Kim are amazing and so caring too. Personally, I would be inclined to take the boys with you. When I go and visit my daughter in Coventry and have a post op pig or a piggy needing syringe feeding, I always take them with me. Piggies travel really well and it would save you worrying too, as you won't enjoy the time with your Mum if you are fretting about what might be happening at home. x
 
I'm sorry you are going through a difficult time.I agree with all the above comments,cavies travel very well.i put cucumber and lettuce in to help with hydration.:hug:
 
Oh my goodness! Your poor boy! That last picture had my mouth hanging open. I'm so glad you've managed to get him in for an op so quickly, he's a lucky boy to have such a caring mum. I hope he recovers very soon, I'd imagine he's relieved with the pressure gone as well :)

I'd also take him with you just in case, I never mess with anything eye related. Best to keep it clean :)
 
Thanks for the advice again, I was going to take him with me but the bad weather stopped me going altogether. After having Thursday off work at such short notice & then half a day’s holiday next week for his check up, I couldn’t risk not being able to travel back for work tomorrow! So it worked out for the best for him really.

I noticed a bit of stringy pus from the eye this morning (sorry for anyone with a weak stomach) but otherwise he seems better in himself, although that does mean he’s now trying to resist the medicine/eye flushing instead of just sitting there! Hopefully they’ll say he’s doing ok at his check up though

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Thank you, I really hope so! Ahh are you, mine’s at 3:40 so depending on when yours is I might bump into you there
 
He’s doing well so far thanks :) his appetite seems to have come back since he had the operation, although he still has weight to put back on as he’s only 790g when he used to be just under 1kg. He seems to be eating constantly though so hopefully the weight will go back on with time. He’s got a check up in a couple of weeks just to make sure it’s healing ok, so fingers crossed!
 
Thank you, doing all the various medicines 4 times a day has been tricky at times but it’s easier now he willingly grabs the syringe to take it.

Just so grateful to this forum for recommending the Cat & Rabbit Clinic so he could get the treatment he needed, as I was at a complete loss otherwise.

Only slight thing is I noticed some copper coloured urine the other day, so hope it’s not blood. Not sure if it’s him or his brother & when I separated them for while neither did a wee so I’m not sure who it was. So got to keep a close eye on that, really hope it’s nothing
 
Teddy-Boys said:
Thank you, doing all the various medicines 4 times a day has been tricky at times but it’s easier now he willingly grabs the syringe to take it.

Just so grateful to this forum for recommending the Cat & Rabbit Clinic so he could get the treatment he needed, as I was at a complete loss otherwise.

Only slight thing is I noticed some copper coloured urine the other day, so hope it’s not blood. Not sure if it’s him or his brother & when I separated them for while neither did a wee so I’m not sure who it was. So got to keep a close eye on that, really hope it’s nothing
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I find Zithromax can colour the urine orange. Nothing to worry about.
 
He’s not actually been put on Zithromax yet as it seemed to be healing ok without it. However he’s on marbocyl I think it is, which is a small light brown tablet, so that’s a good point as I hadn’t thought it could be that.

Weighed him tonight though & he was 750g :( on Sunday he was 790g. I don’t know why he’s losing weight because he seems to be eating all the time, he ate 40ml of critical care tonight as well as hay, pellets & some veg. He did a few light sneezes too, although his breathing didn’t sound bad.

He’s got his next check up a week on Saturday so I hope he stays stable until then. I’m out of metacam now so hopefully will get some more from my local vets tomorrow. Just want him to be better now
 
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