What Would You Do In My Position?

[Claire W]

Emma's eye doesn't look reddish but the lens of her eye does look blue / milky like Milan's which is a cataract.

The reddish part of Milan's eye looks much better than the first photos you posted which I'm not sure @Wiebke has seen?

 

[Sian25]

The left photo was when he first had the injury (or whatever it was- still unknown) and the right is now @Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

They always looked black inside but I think they did have a slight red tinge when in natural light outside but not 100% sure because he's not really been outside since I've started checking his eyes properly the last few weeks

Thanks! Just compare with his other eye. If they look the same, then there is nothing to worry. it doesn't look highly infected to me, but you are right to keep an eye on it. Cataract eyes tend to look opaque and they also turn purple and then blue in flash light when they are fully developed.

 

[Sian25]

Thanks! Just compare with his other eye. If they look the same, then there is nothing to worry.

This is his other eye.. It seems to have a slight blue tinge but not as bad as his other eye. I'm just so panicky as I know there was talk about possible glaucoma initially although the vet didn't think that was the issue. Left photo is the eye that had problems and right photo is his other eye. Although it's maybe not a very accurate comparison as I've just taken the latter photo and it's not as sunny

 

[Wiebke]

View attachment 45842
This is his other eye.. It seems to have a slight blue tinge but not as bad as his other eye. I'm just so panicky as I know there was talk about possible glaucoma initially although the vet didn't think that was the issue. Left photo is the eye that had problems and right photo is his other eye. Although it's maybe not a very accurate comparison as I've just taken the latter photo and it's not as sunny

Get glaucoma out of your mind, please! The eye is not bulging whatsoever, as it would with glaucoma or an infection behind the eye!
It also doesn't look drawn in (smaller) than the other, which is usually a sign of pain. The two eyes look pretty similar to me.

If I am worried, I usually check one eye against the other (healthy) one as reference. It is normal that a guinea pig gets cataracts in both eyes, but the onset can vary a few weeks to a few months, as can the speed.

 

[Sian25]

Get glaucoma out of your mind! The eye is not bulging whatsoever, as it would with glaucoma or an infection behind the eye!
It also doesn't look drawn in (smaller) than the other, which is usually a sign of pain.

Thanks wiebke! You're right, I should get glaucoma out of my head! The vet did say that she didn't think it was that but the test for glaucoma was going to be the next option if his eye was no better. She said the eye was better but it's a bit of a shock how different his eyes look indoors as opposed to out in the sun!

Is there a way of me being able to test if he can see out of both eyes?

 

[my4piggies]

yes I think you are making the right choice

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks wiebke! You're right, I should get glaucoma out of my head! The vet did say that she didn't think it was that but the test for glaucoma was going to be the next option if his eye was no better. She said the eye was better but it's a bit of a shock how different his eyes look indoors as opposed to out in the sun!

Is there a way of me being able to test if he can see out of both eyes?

Eyes can look so different in varying light; The longer you have your piggies, the more you will know what is normal or not.

To be honest, I would not bother with eye testing. Cataracts usually come on gradually. It is like holding an increasingly thicker sheet of paper in front of your eyes. In the amount that their sight decreases, the other senses kick in and gradually start compensating.

The worst mistake you can make is to pamper a cataract/blind piggy. The more you challenge them to live a normal life, the more they will do so and can enjoy a full life.

My cataract group enjoying their normal free roaming time on the living room floor. You can see the differently developed cataracts in the three sows on the right, from the fully developed one in Taffy to the 20% cataract in Tegyd's good eye (the other eye was about 80% blind at a guess.) Mali's in the middle were about halfway.

 

[Claire W]

Here is a photo of one of Emma's eyes when she was first diagnosed with cataracts last August. Her eyes have got a slightly worse since then.

I was heartbroken when Emma was first diagnosed but I have met @Wiebke cataract piggies in person and it is amazing just what a wonderful life they enjoyed. Through Wiebke and her cataract group, I feel much more reassured and positive about Emma's future.

Emma and Ellen are currently living in a two tier ferplast 120 and Emma manages the ramp perfectly well. Whether that will change in the future if her eyesight becomes worse, I just don't know but I shall cross that bridge when and if I come to it. I guess that the worst case scenario will be that Emma will not feel comfortable using the ramp and will be happy living on one level or I remove the ramp altogether and convert the cage in to a single story ferplast 120 but I'm trying not to worry about that yet.

 

[Sian25]

Thank you both

My worst fears with Milan is that he will find it more difficult and 'scary' meeting a new piggy and consequently not accepting them. I don't know how true this 'fear' is though.

There is a blind dog that walks around the park at the same time as I walk my dog and she is really aggressive towards other dogs because she is blind and must feel fearful. I guess I just worry that Milan will act in this way with new potential wives. I don't want him to live a lonely life

 

[LisaAli]

We have a blind piggy called Hunter and he is the most friendly piggy. His nose goes into overdrive as he obviously hones his other senses in more than usual as he cant see. He is a happy wee soul who seems to have a happy life with us. We fostered a couple of baby boars and he looked after them and even joined in their boyish antics. It is quite funny when we clean out his cage as no matter how we arrange his cage he always moves things around to suit himself and he can smell dill from about 50 yards and he lets you know that its for him.

Lisa & Ali...x

 

[Claire W]

Thank you both

My worst fears with Milan is that he will find it more difficult and 'scary' meeting a new piggy and consequently not accepting them. I don't know how true this 'fear' is though.

There is a blind dog that walks around the park at the same time as I walk my dog and she is really aggressive towards other dogs because she is blind and must feel fearful. I guess I just worry that Milan will act in this way with new potential wives. I don't want him to live a lonely life

Don't worry. I am sure that @Wiebke has bonded partially sighted / blind piggies before with very few problems

 

[Wiebke]

Don't worry. I am sure that @Wiebke has bonded partially sighted / blind piggies before with very few problems

Don't you worry about Milan's reaction when he meets a sow for the first time! Testosterone doesn't need eyes!

This is a picture from the rescue bonding of Terfel with my then two cataract ladies in July 2011. Tegyd on the left and later 5 year old Mali arrived both here because of their cataracts. It went as swimmingly as you could wish for, despite both sows being on the dominant side!

 

[Sian25]

To be fair, Milan is not very dominant at all anyway. He is very laid back and more interested in food. It's Hugo that would constantly hump him. Milan does rumblestrut but that's as dominant as he gets. I don't favour any particular piggy and never would but there's something different about Milan. My eyes are filling up right now haha but I just adore them and they will both make perfect husboars!

 

[Wiebke]

To be fair, Milan is not very dominant at all anyway. He is very laid back and more interested in food. It's Hugo that would constantly hump him. Milan does rumblestrut but that's as dominant as he gets. I don't favour any particular piggy and never would but there's something different about Milan. My eyes are filling up right now haha but I just adore them and they will both make perfect husboars!

I am sure they will! AND very happy ones, too!

 

[Sian25]

Both boys are eating, they just don't seem to be as interested in their nuggets as they normally are but have had a pick. They're eating hay and veg. Hugo scoffed a large amount of warm nugget slop off a spoon before and I give Milan a small amount by syringe. Both boys hate being syringe fed though so I will keep a close eye on their weight and will only step in if needed now as I don't want to stress them out unnecessary. Last time after their neuter I panicked even though they were eating some on their own and I didn't go to bed for over 48 hours as was constantly trying to syringe feed as they were spitting it out and I think that made the situation worse as I was exhausted, stressed out and extremely grumpy. Of course if they are loosing weight then I'm more than willing to stay up with them all night but at the moment the situation doesn't seem that critical

 

[Wiebke]

Both boys are eating, they just don't seem to be as interested in their nuggets as they normally are but have had a pick. They're eating hay and veg. Hugo scoffed a large amount of warm nugget slop off a spoon before and I give Milan a small amount by syringe. Both boys hate being syringe fed though so I will keep a close eye on their weight and will only step in if needed now as I don't want to stress them out unnecessary. Last time after their neuter I panicked even though they were eating some on their own and I didn't go to bed for over 48 hours as was constantly trying to syringe feed as they were spitting it out and I think that made the situation worse as I was exhausted, stressed out and extremely grumpy. Of course if they are loosing weight then I'm more than willing to stay up with them all night but at the moment the situation doesn't seem that critical

As pellets make only about 5% of the daily food intake, I would not panic. Keep weighing them before you give them their dinner (when tummy and bladder are hopefully empty) and only step in if they lose ca. 50g or more in a day or two. Give only as much as they will take. All antibiotics are appetite dampeners, but as long as it is only minor, their poos are normal looking and they are still eating pretty normally, there is no reason to worry.

 

[Sian25]

As pellets make only about 5% of the daily food intake, I would not panic. Keep weighing them before you give them their dinner (when tummy and bladder are hopefully empty) and only step in if they lose ca. 50g or more in a day or two. Give only as much as they will take. All antibiotics are appetite dampeners, but as long as it is only minor, their poos are normal looking and they are still eating pretty normally, there is no reason to worry.

I'm not worried about them not eating many nuggets specifically but as they both normally love their nuggets (especially Milan), then when they're not eating as many, it gives me an indication that they're not feeling 100%. On their weigh in last night, they hadn't lost any weight.. Well I'm using average kitchen scales as my electronic ones seem to have broken so it's not as easy to get a precise number but if they have lost any weight, it's only a very small amount so far and definitely nowhere near 50g

 

[Sian25]

What I have noticed though is that normally they love the green softer pieces of their Ings hay and leave the rest but they seem to be eating the more yellow and brown pieces instead. Strange!

 

[Wiebke]

What I have noticed though is that normally they love the green softer pieces of their Ings hay and leave the rest but they seem to be eating the more yellow and brown pieces instead. Strange!

Guinea pigs tend to crave rough and very low grade fibre when their guts are unbalanced from a strong anitbiotic or after a major illness/operation. I would recommend to also offer brown cardboard or paper for that purpose; kitchen roll and toilet paper inners are also a big hit at such time; they will love it!

As long as there is no major loss of appetite, then you need not worry. Things are going to right themselves as soon as they are off the antibiotic again.

 

[skittlepower]

I've been reading through this thread and I have no advice to give.. But I wanted to say, I'm so sorry to hear about all you've been through with your 2 pigs. I hope they're both feeling great again soon, ready for their wives big hugs to you, you have clearly been through a lot and you've been so strong through it all! X

 

[Sian25]

Guinea pigs tend to crave rough and very low grade fibre when their guts are unbalanced from a strong anitbiotic or after a major illness/operation. I would recommend to also offer brown cardboard or paper for that purpose; kitchen roll and toilet paper inners are also a big hit at such time; they will love it!

As long as there is no major loss of appetite, then you need not worry. Things are going to right themselves as soon as they are off the antibiotic again.

How long approximately do you think they will need the Zithromax for? I don't have high hopes of it working as their abscesses are not open How long do you think they should be left on the Zithromax before decided whether or not they need an op?

 

[Wiebke]

How long approximately do you think they will need the Zithromax for? I don't have high hopes of it working as their abscesses are not open How long do you think they should be left on the Zithromax before decided whether or not they need an op?

4 weeks I would think; that is generally the course I have been given for any abscess piggies of mine. @furryfriends (TEAS) will know better.

 

[Sian25]

4 weeks I would think; that is generally the course I have been given for any abscess piggies of mine. @furryfriends (TEAS) will know better.

Oh gosh, that really is a long time. So 4 weeks even though they have been on marbocyl for about 4 weeks already? To be honest I hoped that I would know sooner than that whether it was going to work or not

 

[Wiebke]

Oh gosh, that really is a long time. So 4 weeks even though they have been on marbocyl for about 4 weeks already? To be honest I hoped that I would know sooner than that whether it was going to work or not

It is a long time, but my Hywel has been on zithromax for 6 weeks for another (life threatening and inoperable) issue 5 years ago - as you can see, he is still here and has had the most happy of boar lives in the meantime!

It is a matter of getting on top of the abscess. If the marbocyl is not doing the trick, then a full course of Zithromax can hopefully do it, but you have to give it time to do the trick.

 

[Sian25]

It is a long time, but my Hywel has been on zithromax for 6 weeks for another (life threatening and inoperable) issue 5 years ago - as you can see, he is still here and has had the most happy of boar lives in the meantime!

It is a matter of getting on top of the abscess. If the marbocyl is not doing the trick, then a full course of Zithromax can hopefully do it, but you have to give it time to do the trick.

Even if the abscesses are now closed though? Of course I'd much much much rather a long course of antibiotics than surgery but I've always thought that the abscess would not disappear unless it was opened and left to drain

 

[Sian25]

Also what dose of metacam should I be giving now?

 

[flintstones]

When I had Fred on Zithromax I stopped the course at 2 weeks. Fred was really struggling with it and that was the minimum course that the vet agreed on. His abscess wasn't opened either but it did work.

 

[Sian25]

Okay thank you @flintstones I just hope so much that this works. I also hope that the boys appetite improves. Are their appetites likely to remain off for the full course of Zithromax. They are picking but not eating near as much as normal. They are due to be weighed at 9ish before their night time veg so I will know then whether I need to start syringing.

@flintstones did you use a new bottle of Zithromax every 5 days?

 

[flintstones]

No I used the same bottle.

Fred was off food completely during the course, so the fact the boys are eating is a good sign.