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Worried about Eliza - Serious eye injury

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Claire W

Claire W

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After everything I was hoping not to be posting in here for quite some time and had hoped that my run of bad fete where it came to my piggies was over, it seems I am wrong :(

I came home from work this morning to find Eliza with a nasty looking eye injury but convinced myself it was a hay poke.

We went to the vets and she has a tear on her eye so her eye has essentially ruptured :( You may remember back in May when Erin had a similar thing although hers was a corneal ulcer that had ruptured and her only option was to remove the eye but the vet felt it would be too much for her as she had only had a bladder flush the day before and the illnesses were playing off against each other so we sadly had to have her pts :(

Anyway, the options are:

1) To remove her eye but Eliza is nearly 6 years old and I am worried about the risks.

2) To try her on medication and hope the tear knits itself back together.

My vet felt that the second option is worth a try first and he certainly wouldn't recommend pts at this stage but I am so worried I feel sick.

So, Eliza is having Fucithalmic eye ointment twice a day along with a dose of baytril and fibreplex. She doesn't appear to be in much discomfort right now but has had a shot of metacam to last her until Wednesday. I have to take her back on Friday unless she becomes worse, I'm concerned or she's in pain but he'd like to give the eye drops and antibiotics a chance to kick in first hence the Friday appointment.

He also suggested that I separate her from her friends for the time being so she is currently in the hospital cage in the shed so she can still be with them. The vet said this was fine as it is till nice and warm. I have been in and out checking on her all morning!

I am also due to move house within the next month. Thankfully just down the road but this has came at a real bad time with other things that are happening in my life also.

Any advise / opinions on what to do would be more than welcome.

After losing 3 piggies already this year, I can't lose my baby Eliza too, I just can't :0
 
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I am very sorry that you are going there with Eliza yet again; it is always so much worse if you are faced with a similar issue after you have lost a piggy to one.

To me, it sounds very reasonable what the vet has prescribed and recommended; it is certainly worth a try. By separating you prevent other piggies from licking Eliza's eye; you can also monitor better how her eye is doing. it is also good that he has urged you to bring Eliza in as soon as you notice a deterioration.
 
Thank you Wiebke. She has been sleeping this afternoon but has hay in a hay ball (she's bedded on fleece) to prevent any nasties from irritating her further and has demolished that.

I am glad the meds and recommendations sound good.

Good point about the others not being able to lick her eye as I imagine that's what they would do?

Thankfully Chris came with me and Jonathan (vet) showed him the eye. I couldn't look as I don't do well with eyes but Chris said it didn't look pleasant but was nothing like Erin's which I am trying to stay positive about. It still looks a mess though :(
 
Hi Claire.

Sorry to hear about this, I don't really have any advice, other than Minnie had a bad eye injury once from a hay poke and for a few days it looked awful and went cloudy etc, but within a week the eye returned to normal and she is absolutely fine.

Big hugs x
 
Toffeewoffee said:
Hi Claire.

Sorry to hear about this, I don't really have any advice, other than Minnie had a bad eye injury once from a hay poke and for a few days it looked awful and went cloudy etc, but within a week the eye returned to normal and she is absolutely fine.

Big hugs x
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Thanks Chloe. Her eye has now clouded over and is really watery :(

Did you have to separate Minnie from her friends? x
 
no advice Claire sorry, just wanted to send your girl my best wishes, I'm so sorry you are having such a painful year x
 
I think you and your vet have taken a sensible approach to this Claire, at least you are giving the meds a chance to do their job. We had a youngster come in with an abscess behind her eye and her actual eye was horribly infected. We thought we were going to have to remove the eye, but 5 days or so of eye ointment and antibiotics did the trick, so much so you can't tell which eye was affected and my vet was convinced she would have to remove the eye.

Sending hugs and best wishes and everything crossed that the meds do the trick x
 
No advice Claire, just wanted to send you a hug and lots of love to Eliza from Rach and me. Hoping the meds will do the trick for her x x
 
Hope shes okay Claire, a few years back I had Jake and Lentil both have eye poke injuries but within a matter of days the eye was back to normal, you wouldn't even though that an injury had occurred. I hope this is the case with Eliza.
 
Sorry to hear about Eliza, we are sending you our best.

The fact that she is eating is really good news. I really hope it will heal for her as soon as possible.
 
Eliza wouldn't take her fibreplex but she ate it once it was wrapped in a lettuce leaf. It was the only way we could get it in to her and I didn't want to stress her out after the battle with the baytril.

My heart is breaking as she is desperate to come out of the hospital cage and back with her friends. Will they bond again afterwards? They are altogether in the shed but Eliza is in the hospital cage x
 
Claire W said:
Eliza wouldn't take her fibreplex but she ate it once it was wrapped in a lettuce leaf. It was the only way we could get it in to her and I didn't want to stress her out after the battle with the baytril.

My heart is breaking as she is desperate to come out of the hospital cage and back with her friends. Will they bond again afterwards? They are altogether in the shed but Eliza is in the hospital cage x
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is the hospital cage right next to the other cage? i think they should be fine once back together. there's always a small chance they won't be but because they can all still see and smell each other then hopefully they'll be fine. :)

have been thinking of your little girl. i know you must be so worried after what has happened with the others. :( maisie had a nasty eye poke once. her eye looked terrible. :... thankfully it was ok and i hope the same for eliza x
 
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:( I am sure they will be fine bonding again Claire. It must be horrible to watch. is she on the fibreplex for a probiotic or for sloppy poo's? If it is just as a probiotic and you are having probs getting it in her maybe try avi-pro plus? Piggies tend to like that one.

Thinking of you both and lots of love and healing vibes to your little girl x x
 
biscandmatt said:
is the hospital cage right next to the other cage? i think they should be fine once back together. there's always a small chance they won't be but because they can all still see and smell each other then hopefully they'll be fine. :)

have been thinking of your little girl. i know you must be so worried after what has happened with the others. :( maisie had a nasty eye poke once. her eye looked terrible. :... thankfully it was ok and i hope the same for eliza x
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Thank you. Yes, the cage is right in the middle of the shed floor where the others are free ranging around her.
 
Thanks Lee. The fibreplex is being used as a probiotic to go alongside the baytril. Eliza is pooing for England but thankfully *touch wood* her poos are more or less normal.
 
Don't know what to do :(

Thank you for all your well wishes everyone.

I took Eliza back to the vets not long ago as I am so worried about her eye. She has the blue rim and it is blood shot in the corner now :(

She is still eating and drinking normally and the vet has said she is in lovely condition for her age but I have reached a dilemma.

It is very unlikely that her eye is going to return to normal and will more than likely lose her lose her sight in that eye although I can't be sure at present if she can still see out of it or not. I still have the two options of having her eye removed or waiting and see what it looks like in a couple of days. I asked what would happen if the eye was left and he said it would probably scab over kind of thing. Thankfully she isn't in pain right now but what if that changes?

Jonathan (vet) has said not to rush in to any decisions yet. Her metacam shot from yesterday will wear off tomorrow and then I guess I will know if she is in more discomfort than she is letting on.

I will be taking her to her original appointmet on Friday to see where we stand but I really don't know where to go from here.

Hubby is leaning towards leaving her eye alone and looking at the situation if things change where as I am looking towards eye removal BUT have my reservations as I feel I could be rushing in to it, on the other hand, I am concerned about making things worse if the eye is left and it really doesn't look very pleasant.
 
Oh god Claire, what a dilemma. It's a tricky one...

I would as you say leave it a few days before making the choice, you can see how she is reacting to it. The Baytril should stave off any infection. Cookies injured eye looked worse before it started to look better, but I am not sure if that is the general way with eye injuries. Then it's a tough choice and the only thing you can then go on is quality of life for her when weighing up the risks of removal or not. Did the vet give you any metacam for when the shot wears off? Massive hugs x
 
Personally, I'd opt for removal. Piggies lead as normal lives with limited sight and if you're concerned about further complications it you leave it, would say your instincts are the better option :)
I've met a few piggies with one eye and seen stories of success :)
Good luck and keep us posted with any news x
 
Thank you both of you.

No, I haven't been given any metcam as I am going back on Friday anyway but if she does struggle tomorrow, my vets is only a 10 minute drive away so at least I can go and get some if needed.

I think he would like to see how she reacts without it first unless she is clearly in discomfort.

The thought of putting her through surgery terrifies me. After everything, I can't bare the thought of losing her but yes, I need to weigh up the pros and cons and will have to have a serious discussion with the vet on Friday.
 
*Massive apologies to anyone who doesn't like eyes. Warning graphic photo to follow*

It may be useful if I posted a photo which I will space further down down people stumbling on the thread do not have to see if they would prefer not to. This was Eliza's eye this morning :( You will see in the bottom right hand corner towards her nose a little tear and it is this that has caused her eye to cloud over :0






































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Mr. Bailee Boy had a similar issue before my daughter or myself had taken him in. He still has a cloudy teeny little spot in his eye that has never disappeared and at times it does discharge but seems to not bother him. In the mornings I take a warm dampened tissue and gently wipe off the crustened discharge from the corner of his eye. He has had this now for over 2yrs.
 
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