Cloudy and red eye

[TaraS-D]

I came downstairs to check on my guinea pigs and I saw one of them had a cloudy eye with red around the edges, I took her out and checked for any hay but I couldn’t find any and wiped her eye just incase.None of the other guinea pigs have any eye problems. I cant book a vet appointment until the morning, Is there anything I can do in the meantime to help?

 

[Wiebke]

I came downstairs to check on my guinea pigs and I saw one of them had a cloudy eye with red around the edges, I took her out and checked for any hay but I couldn’t find any and wiped her eye just incase.None of the other guinea pigs have any eye problems. I cant book a vet appointment until the morning, Is there anything I can do in the meantime to help?

If you can get to an out-of-hours vet, please do. The emergency care guide link below tells you how you can find them. Eye treatment and medication is the same for all pet species, so you do not need to see an exotics vet; any general vet will do and they do have the necessary medication in any clinic.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Eye injuries can deteriorate very quickly; the sooner you can step in with treatment, the better. Make sure that you are given a lubricant on top of the antibiotic eye drops if possible and also ask for some metacam (analgesic) for comfort and to help with the healing (it is an anti-inflammatory and not just a painkiller).
If you are only given the antibiotic eye drops or gel (either isathal or chloramphenicol), then please get some plain artificial tear gel from a pharmacy. The gel is longer lasting in effect than drops. it helps with the rehydration and supports the healing process, especially deeper in the eye. You always have to wait at least half an hour after the medicated eye drops/gel in order to allow to be fully absorbed before you can apply the tear gel, but it really makes a difference with the healing process.

All the best! Ulcerated hay pokes don't look nice.

 

[TaraS-D]

If you can get to an out-of-hours vet, please do. The emergency care guide link below tells you how you can find them. Eye treatment and medication is the same for all pet species, so you do not need to see an exotics; any general vet will do.
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Eye injuries can deteriorate very quickly; the sooner you can step in with treatment, the better. Make sure that you are given a lubricant on top of the antibiotic eye drops if possible and also ask for some metacam (analgesic) for comfort and to help with the healing (it is an anti-inflammatory and not just a painkiller).
If you are only given the antibiotic eye drops or gel (either isathal or chloramphenicol), then please get some plain artificial tear gel from a pharmacy. The gel is longer lasting in effect than drops. it helps with the rehydration and supports the healing process, especially deeper in the eye. You always have to wait at least half an hour after the medicated eye drops/gel in order to allow to be fully absorbed before you can apply the tear gel, but it really makes a difference with the healing process.

All the best! Ulcerated hay pokes don't look nice.

Thank you so much for the fast reply!

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much for the fast reply!

Eye injuries are in the UK classed as an emergency; they are usually seen pretty promptly.

The good news that as long as the eye itself is not damaged, the eye will heal perfectly well, the quicker the sooner you can catch it.

 

[GPTV]

If you can't get a vets appointment until the morning, sometimes dripping in some boiled cooled water into the eye can help to keep it hydrated & wash away any debris that's in the eye (I used to use a piece of clean paper kitchen towel as a wick & drip the water in).

If it's red in the eyeball my Orca used to get that, it was either a small bleed or infection in the eye.
It looks grim, but with eye drops (I used Tiacil regularly) & painkillers Orca used to heal reasonably quickly, it would take about a week of drops two or three (sometimes four, depending on the severity!) times daily.
I keep in eye drops called 'Remend' Remend Corneal Repair Gel - 3ml
on standby in the first aid kit, it's also an eye rehydration product.

Speed is definitely of the essence, try & get her seen ASAP.

Healing vibes & speedy recovery to your gorgeous girl.
Xx

 

[TaraS-D]

Eye injuries are in the UK classed as an emergency; they are usually seen pretty promptly.

The good news that as long as the eye itself is not damaged, the eye will heal perfectly well, the quicker the sooner you can catch it.

I’ve booked a vet appointment tomorrow afternoon as that’s the soonest an experienced guinea pig vet is free unfortunately. should I keep an eye out for anything?

 

[TaraS-D]

If you can't get a vets appointment until the morning, sometimes dripping in some boiled cooled water into the eye can help to keep it hydrated & wash away any debris that's in the eye (I used to use a piece of clean paper kitchen towel as a wick & drip the water in).

If it's red in the eyeball my Orca used to get that, it was either a small bleed or infection in the eye.
It looks grim, but with eye drops (I used Tiacil regularly) & painkillers Orca used to heal reasonably quickly, it would take about a week of drops two or three (sometimes four, depending on the severity!) times daily.
I keep in eye drops called 'Remend' Remend Corneal Repair Gel - 3ml
on standby in the first aid kit, it's also an eye rehydration product.

Speed is definitely of the essence, try & get her seen ASAP.

Healing vibes & speedy recovery to your gorgeous girl.
Xx

Thank you for the reply! I’ve booked an appointment for tomorrow afternoon as it’s the soonest time available unfortunately! I have wiped the eye with cooled boiled water and checked for any hay. Is there anything else I should look out for or do?

 

[Wiebke]

I’ve booked a vet appointment tomorrow afternoon as that’s the soonest an experienced guinea pig vet is free unfortunately. should I keep an eye out for anything?

See a vet sooner if possible. You do not need a piggy savvy vet. Eyes and eye treatment are the same in all species.

What is important is how soon you can step in with the appropriate treatment. Most of my piggies have been seen as emergencies by general out of hours vets; in at least one case, the speed has made the difference between his eye making a recovery or not. Out of hours services should still be running in the UK.

 

[TaraS-D]

See a vet sooner if possible. You do not need a piggy savvy vet. Eyes and eye treatment are the same in all species.

What is important is how soon you can step in with the appropriate treatment. Most of my piggies have been seen as emergencies by general out of hours vets; in at least one case, the speed has made the difference between his eye making a recovery or not. Out of hours services should still be running in the UK.

Ok, I’ll see if there are any other vets available sooner! Thank you for the advice!

 

[Wiebke]

There is nothing that you can or should do to the eye. It needs to be put on antibiotic eye drops and if necessary an oral antibiotic additionally as soon as possible to prevent the infection penetrating deeper into the eye.

 

[Wiebke]

Ok, I’ll see if there are any other vets available sooner! Thank you for the advice!

All the best! I know that it looks rather horrible, but the sooner it is treated properly the better and the more quickly it will heal.

 

[GPTV]

If you tell the vets you need the appointment for an eye issue & describe that it looks like it's got a bleed (some vets will accept photos at the moment, to back up your concerns).
ask if you can get an appointment sooner with a general vet or you'll accept a cancellation, hopefully you can get seen a bit quicker.
Eyes can deteriorate rapidly & are prone to cause other complications without prompt treatment.

Try & make sure the eye isn't drying out though, again if all else fails drip some boiled cooled water into her eye until you get to her vets appointment.
... Ps try not to touch the eyeball when wiping around it, the eye looks cloudy as though its starting to ulcerate already. You don't want to accidentally damage/scratch it further. Just drip any water in & she'll shake any excess off her hair.

Good luck, fingers crossed & speedy recovery gorgeous girl.

Xx

 

[TaraS-D]

If you tell the vets you need the appointment for an eye issue & describe that it looks like it's got a bleed (some vets will accept photos at the moment, to back up your concerns).
ask if you can get an appointment sooner with a general vet or you'll accept a cancellation, hopefully you can get seen a bit quicker.
Eyes can deteriorate rapidly & are prone to cause other complications without prompt treatment.

Try & make sure the eye isn't drying out though, again if all else fails drip some boiled cooled water into her eye until you get to her vets appointment.
... Ps try not to touch the eyeball when wiping around it, the eye looks cloudy as though its starting to ulcerate already. You don't want to accidentally damage/scratch it further. Just drip any water in & she'll shake any excess off her hair.

Good luck, fingers crossed & speedy recovery gorgeous girl.

Xx

I wasn’t able to get an earlier appointment as they were very busy but we have been wiping her eye with cool boiled water! She’s behaving normally with healthy poops and the eye this morning doesn’t look worse than last night! Hopefully it goes smoothly