Blind Baby?

[Squidgypigs]

We will get this confirmed at the vets but I suspect that one of Blondie's recent babies could be blind, possibly even deaf. She was the last to be born and is considerably smaller than her brother and sister, however is gaining weight steadily. There is nothing physically suspicious of blindness etc and she is a creamy ginger buff colour not a white lethal.

Reasons I suspect this:
Often seems very unsure of where to go.
She will try to suckle from her siblings or the wrong end of her mum.
Often find her feeding at odd times away from the main group of piggies.
When she is with them she tends to follow her mum or sister.
She ran headfirst into the side of the cage earlier after having a particularly vigorous popcorn.
My husband accidentally kicked their water bottle, the whole family scattered except for this little one who sat there obliviously eating hay.
She hates being picked up and although is easy enough to pick up is clearly very uncomfortable being held.
Her mum often stands on her (presumably she doesn't move in time?)

Would welcome any input especially from those who may have experience of blindness/deafness in babies. Am I likely to be right even?

Having said all this she has been seen racing around the cage and certainly seems to live a fulfilling life full of popcorns and a strong love of hay and kale.

Thanks.

 

[Sarah from Chucklebunnies]

Can you personally test her deafness with a finger snap just behind her head away from her eye line when cuddled? Can you also test her eyesight with a dim torch that you can look into without difficulty....does she turn her head away from it?

I have had blind piggies (cataracts in old age before) and they do fine with a herd. Not sure about deaf, though I assume they would be fine as well. Blind piggies rely on others for input and mine often lifted their half open mouths to gain extra info from scent.

 

[Wiebke]

You can test deafness by snatching your fingers behind the back and a vet may be able to help with diagnosing the blindness. Even if only one or both are confirmed, your little one can still have a normal and fulfilled life.

How old is it? Is it still suckling? If necessary, let it have one-on-one time with mum 2-3 times a day to make sure that it has the opportunity to catch up.

 

[Squidgypigs]

Thank you both. I have no idea why I didn't think of testing her hearing myself other than the fact she is incredibly squirmy and hates being held.

She's just five days old and yes she gets one on one time with mum, I believe this is helping gaining well.

She seems happy and yes I hope that she can live a full life, I certainly plan to make sure she gets everything she needs.

 

[Squidgypigs]

Obligatory piggy pics...(she is the one with her back to the camera).

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you both. I have no idea why I didn't think of testing her hearing myself other than the fact she is incredibly squirmy and hates being held.

She's just five days old and yes she gets one on one time with mum, I believe this is helping gaining well.

She seems happy and yes I hope that she can live a full life, I certainly plan to make sure she gets everything she needs.

Have a look at the various videos on The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary facebook page; they are looking after a number of lethal guinea pigs. Disabled guinea pigs often find a companion who takes on a carer role, but they learn to compensate with their other senses.
I have seen that with my various cataract piggies, who were still able to roam, use ramps and didn't mind a re-arrangement of furniture because smell and touch/feel were highly developed.
The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (for guinea pigs with extra needs)

 

[Squidgypigs]

Have a look at the various videos on The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary facebook page; they are looking after a number of lethal guinea pigs. Disabled guinea pigs often find a companion who takes on a carer role, but they learn to compensate with their other senses.
I have seen that with my various cataract piggies, who were still able to roam, use ramps and didn't mind a re-arrangement of furniture because smell and touch/feel were highly developed.
The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (for guinea pigs with extra needs)

Thank you! I will check them out. Our other nursing pig Football has cataracts in both eyes and is missing half her ear one side and does really well :-)

 

[Squidgypigs]

Just wanted to follow up by reporting that yes, little Britney is indeed blind but can hear at least partially in at least one ear.

She continues to do well considering.

 

[Wiebke]

Just wanted to follow up by reporting that yes, little Britney is indeed blind but can hear at least partially in at least one ear.

She continues to do well considering.

It is great that she has got at least partial hearing. It makes it that little bit easier on her. Hopefully, one of her siblings or her mum is going to become her special carer-companion.

Here is another lovely video of a lethal boy and his brother, this time at Cavy Corner Sanctuary, so you can see that her disabilities are not a deterrent to a very happy, fulfilled life. No-one is ever going to tell her that she is disabled; for her it is just life!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1059662734045417

 

[Freela]

Just wanted to follow up by reporting that yes, little Britney is indeed blind but can hear at least partially in at least one ear.

She continues to do well considering.

Just curious, but how can you tell that she is blind? Sundae appears to have lost most of her eyesight in old age... she mostly copes well, but has obviously difficulty in finding the door out of the cage (she will miss it sometimes and I have to put my hand in and touch her nose to let her know the door is in front of her- she will also put out one little paw and tap around to find the step up so she knows where the door is, which makes me believe she can't see it at all.) Just wondering if there's a more official way of testing vision, as I'm curious about what she sees at this point, as I don't know if she's completely blind or not.

 

[Wiebke]

Just curious, but how can you tell that she is blind? Sundae appears to have lost most of her eyesight in old age... she mostly copes well, but has obviously difficulty in finding the door out of the cage (she will miss it sometimes and I have to put my hand in and touch her nose to let her know the door is in front of her- she will also put out one little paw and tap around to find the step up so she knows where the door is, which makes me believe she can't see it at all.) Just wondering if there's a more official way of testing vision, as I'm curious about what she sees at this point, as I don't know if she's completely blind or not.

Could you try to scent mark the door frame and step? It has helped my cataract piggies to navigate ramps etc.

 

[Freela]

Could you try to scent mark the door frame and step? It has helped my cataract piggies to navigate ramps etc.

How would I go about doing that?

 

[Wiebke]

How would I go about doing that?

I've tried rubbing a small piece of cucumber or other favourite veg on the edges and used a bit of old carpet for scent marking for my ramps; occasionally I replaced the douple-taped piece of old carpet, but I would wipe a rag with the old scent over the new bit to help my blind piggies over the change. But I never had an accident with my cataract piggies using the somewhat less steep ramp. And over time, confidence would build up as the piggies rebuild their internal map according to the new sensory input.

You can see in this video with my 7 year old Mali (who by then was totally blind with fully developed cataracts) how she is following her own scent spoor when waddle-zooming around the living room floor during cage cleaning time. She loved to create new loops!
Is My Piggy Likely To Have Diabetes?

 

[Freela]

I've tried rubbing a small piece of cucumber or other favourite veg on the edges and used a bit of old carpet for scent marking for my ramps; occasionally I replaced the douple-taped piece of old carpet, but I would wipe a rag with the old scent over the new bit to help my blind piggies over the change. But I never had an accident with my cataract piggies using the somewhat less steep ramp. And over time, confidence would build up as the piggies rebuild their internal map according to the new sensory input.

You can see in this video with my 7 year old Mali (who by then was totally blind with fully developed cataracts) how she is following her own scent spoor when waddle-zooming around the living room floor during cage cleaning time. She loved to create new loops!
Is My Piggy Likely To Have Diabetes?

Thanks for that! I will try it. She does very well out of the cage, I think she is either following her previous scent trail or the smell of food. It makes sense that the cage door would be harder, as I wipe it down weekly with vinegar and probably remove a lot of the scent.

 

[gizzy]

l have had several blind pigs, l found no spesial care needed , they "very" quikly addapt to there suroundings

 

[gizzy]

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...ggaMAA&usg=AFQjCNGO0z-qbeKuozmiqIBcVKj4fzqfkw

very limertid imfo on pigs , hear is some imfo on cats ,

 

[Squidgypigs]

Sorry for late reply @Freela Baby Britney doesn't respond to light or movement around her eyes. I don't believe there is a way of determining the amount of vision loss though. Today Britney is raging around her home like a mad thing.

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks for that! I will try it. She does very well out of the cage, I think she is either following her previous scent trail or the smell of food. It makes sense that the cage door would be harder, as I wipe it down weekly with vinegar and probably remove a lot of the scent.

Yes, one of things I had to learn when having blind piggies is that they rely heavily on scent, so I had to either stop deep cleaning quite so often or restore the scent artificially with a wipe whenever I did.