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Toffee's eye

Toffee321

Toffee321

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi,

My 10 year old guinea pig Toffee has had cataracts for years but the last two days her left eye seems to have swelled and looks like it is bleeding inside, anyone have any idea what this could be? I've given her some pain relief but I don't know what it could be and what I should do. Any ideas would be welcome.

Thanks
 
My piggie sausage had the same issue. While I don't remember the exact details some of the tissue inside his eye had blocked a duct or gland which in turn led to a build up of pressure inside the eye. This caused his eye to bulge and eventually haemorrhage. Your vet can do a pressure test, which will not be so useful in telling you what is wrong, as it seems fairly obvious there is a pressure build up, but will be very useful in letting you know when the pressure has eased, as it is not always a given that the eye will reduce in size again. My vet prescribed eye drops to ease the swelling and made my piggie much more comfortable, but the eye was damaged too much to fix. It did not seem to bother him in any way, didn't impair quality of life, and didn't need removed, it just looked a bit weird.
While pain relief will help your pig feel more comfortable, your next move should be a vet visit, as it may be as easy as getting the right eye drops and all fixed, but worst case there could be something life threatening if left untreated, especially with an elderly piggie.
I'm assuming pain relief came from a vet already and dosages etc have been worked out by the vet, but if not, then that's another reason to have a vet check it over.
Hope all is OK for Toffee and well done getting her to 10!
 
That looks extremely painful and definitely not just her cataracts. Id get her to a vet as it definitely needs treated. Although not a priority, her nails will be making walking difficult, if you arent comfortable cutting them yourself id get that done whilst at the vet too. Hope she's on the mend soon!
 
Adelle said:
That looks extremely painful and definitely not just her cataracts. Id get her to a vet as it definitely needs treated. Although not a priority, her nails will be making walking difficult, if you arent comfortable cutting them yourself id get that done whilst at the vet too. Hope she's on the mend soon!
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Yes we are taking her to the vets tomorrow hopefully. Her nails are very hard to cut as she was adopted and they hadn't cut her nails in about a year so they are all curled in now. We cut them regularly but they still grow funny
 
Toffee321 said:
Yes we are taking her to the vets tomorrow hopefully. Her nails are very hard to cut as she was adopted and they hadn't cut her nails in about a year so they are all curled in now. We cut them regularly but they still grow funny
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If that eye isn't looking any better, which I doubt it will sadly, time really is of the essence. Eye issues progress rapidly and in order to save the sight and the actual eye itself, prompt vet treatment is recommended. Shes gorgeous btw, hope she heals up soon.
 
I have nothing to add. A swollen eye is an emergency and needs a vet asap. I was lucky with Lily's eye as I went straight to the emergency vet and she ended up on eye drops for the best part of 3 weeks but we managed to save the eye which was the most important thing. The vet warned me twice that I could still be faced with a £200+ operation to remove the eye so a £60 emergency vets visit plus medication was worth it
 
Did you manage to get Toffee to the vets today?
My poor little Orca's eye is all red too at the moment, hers isn't bulging quite like Toffees looks to be though.

Orca had a vet visit earlier & the vet said she's got an infection/inflammation of the eye & a small bleed too :(

She's had a slightly rattly chest too, which hasn't helped :(
I've got to carry on with baytril & loxicom.

Are Toffees teeth ok as she may need checking for a retrobullar (sp?) abscess
Fingers crossed for a full & speedy recovery to Toffee.
Xx
 
Her eye is much better so we phoned the vets and they said to keep an eye on it and if it dosen't get any better or it gets worse then take her back in
 
Hi, update on Toff. She has been diagnosed with glaucoma, but because of her age, the vet does not want to remove it surgically. Her swelling in her eye has gone down so the vet said we should continue with the loxicom and if it gets worse again to take her back in and we will put her down as glaucoma is meant to be really painful. Thanks for all your support. x
 
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