Eye issue or just natural colour?

[Animallover2245]

Hello everyone. My guinea pigs Pete (multicoloured) Rusty are nearly fully grown. I just have a question about there eyes? As there eyes and pupils seem very white and not round. It wasn’t like this when they were younger but I’m unsure if it’s a sign of a eye issue or just a change with them being adults. Or them just having white eyes?

I’m asking as I’m going on holiday next week and my friend is looking after them. So sorry if it’s a silly question

 

[Wiebke]

Hello everyone. My guinea pigs Pete (multicoloured) Rusty are nearly fully grown. I just have a question about there eyes? As there eyes and pupils seem very white and not round. It wasn’t like this when they were younger but I’m unsure if it’s a sign of a eye issue or just a change with them being adults. Or them just having white eyes?

I’m asking as I’m going on holiday next week and my friend is looking after them. So sorry if it’s a silly question

Hi

The eyes look normal to me?

 

[Animallover2245]

Hi

The eyes look normal to me?

Thanks I couldnt remember if the white
Lines were part of eyes or not. I originally thought the white bits were meant to be round and not a weird shape q

 

[Wiebke]

Thanks I couldnt remember if the white
Lines were part of eyes or not. I originally thought the white bits were meant to be round and not a weird shape

Oh, I'd thought they were a light reflection! Please have them checked out.

They can be a deposit of some sort on top of the eye surface and should be vet checked; if they are inside the eye, then they are soft eye tissue that has turned into bony tissue, which can happen in older piggies but is comparatively rare.
You may want to review your diet (including any treats) in the first case because it is uncommon; even more so in two piggies at the same time. There is nothing you can do in the second. It is not painful and there is likely a genetic disposition for it.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[Freela]

From the pics I'm confused as to whether the white areas are reflected glare from light/camera or whether your pigs actually have white deposits in all light conditions and settings. My initial read was normal reflection of light, but if they actually have white areas in their eyes it's worth being checked by a vet.

 

[Animallover2245]

Oh, I'd thought they were a light reflection! Please have them checked out.

They can be a deposit of some sort on top of the eye surface and should be vet checked; if they are inside the eye, then they are soft eye tissue that has turned into bony tissue, which can happen in older piggies but is comparatively rare.
You may want to review your diet (including any treats) in the first case because it is uncommon; even more so in two piggies at the same time. There is nothing you can do in the second. It is not painful and there is likely a genetic disposition for it.
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

I’m confused now. What do you mean by deposits? They’ve only recently just turned fully grown. So their not old or do you mean it’s more common in older Guinea pigs and rarely in younger ones?

I know this may be a weird thing to compare so sorry if it’s not helpful. If it was reflection wouldn’t other animals similar to guinea
pigs. for example like a Capybara also get reflection in there eyes, because I checked from when I used to volunteer at wildlife park where they had capybara and the capybara had no white bits. Same with there wild guinea pigs.

Is there any way of taking photos without getting reflection? I also don’t know if this is
important but I have noticed Rusty squint quite often but I thought this might just be down to the weather since they live outside

 

[Hannah_xx]

I’m pretty sure that’s just light reflection.
Animals outside in natural light, such as capybaras will not have artificial light reflection.

 

[Animallover2245]

Something I forgot to mention to ^ is when I take pictures of pet/animals I never have the flash on

 

[Wiebke]

I’m confused now. What do you mean by deposits? They’ve only recently just turned fully grown. So their not old or do you mean it’s more common in older Guinea pigs and rarely in younger ones?

I know this may be a weird thing to compare so sorry if it’s not helpful. If it was reflection wouldn’t other animals similar to guinea
pigs. for example like a Capybara also get reflection in there eyes, because I checked from when I used to volunteer at wildlife park where they had capybara and the capybara had no white bits. Same with there wild guinea pigs.

Is there any way of taking photos without getting reflection? I also don’t know if this is
important but I have noticed Rusty squint quite often but I thought this might just be down to the weather since they live outside

I have been very confused by your post, too.

With the 'white bits' are you referring to the white in the middle of the eyes (which I assumed from your reaction you were talking about) or the sclera (the white surrounding the coloured iris)? Can you please confirm what exactly you are talking about?
The sclera is not nicely round and it can discolour and go fuzzy, especially with age. There are two different 'white bits' showing in your photos which have come with a rather vague description. We are contacted much more commonly over things inside or on the eye proper.

Please keep in mind that without hands-on access I can only go by what I see - especially as we are generally contacted over white dots on the eyes. I can only go by what I see on the photos you submit and cannot change position or have a closer look after all.

 

[Animallover2245]

I have been very confused by your post, too.

With the 'white bits' are you referring to the white in the middle of the eyes (which I assumed from your reaction you were talking about) or the sclera (the white surrounding the coloured iris)? Can you please confirm what exactly you are talking about?
The sclera is not nicely round and it can discolour and go fuzzy, especially with age. There are two different 'white bits' showing in your photos which have come with a rather vague description. We are contacted much more commonly over things inside or on the eye proper.

Please keep in mind that without hands-on access I can only go by what I see - especially as we are generally contacted over white dots on the eyes. I can only go by what I see on the photos you submit and cannot change position or have a closer look after all.

I was actually trying to ask about all the white bits. As I don’t know what eyes are meant to look like in pigs

 

[Piggies&buns]

When I look at these pictures, I don’t see anything untoward with the sclera (the white bit around the edge). The white in the middle just looks like light reflection to me.
Please do see a vet if you are concerned though as we cant tell you if there is anything wrong

 

[Adelyn]

The eyes look alright to me? The white looks like a light reflection, but it's hard to tell from the pictures. Could you show us some different photos, if you can?

 

[Princess Dustmop]

So I looked more closely, and the centers of their eyes appear to be a reflection. It looks like there's a window or bright doorway behind you in these pictures ... notice how the shape in the orange piggy's eye changes as your silhouette covers the window light differently. The reflection is slightly out of focus in the close up picture, but you can still see the silhouette; the other picture, it lines up a bit with the edge of the window, so is only bright to one side.

The reflection is crisper in the other piggy's eye ...

 

[Animallover2245]

Thanks guys. I think your right about the reflection with the white bits. There’s no window but yeah there is a door in run.

However there’s something else related to the
eyes not about the white bits this time
with Rusty (Not Pete)
I just went to give some veggies and was watching the pigs for a while and I noticed Rusty was squinting like every few mins especially when eating, or when Pete would run into him by accident, Only with his right eye. (He did stratch his eye once but I just put this down to cleaning) he started squinting as a one off a few days ago which I thought was cleaning but now it seems to be a bit more frequent. (He used to always run up the ramp but he just walks it compared his brother who runs up) just now when I watch watching is the only time I noticed him doing it more frequent. However they both still run down the ramp. I don’t know if this squinting is normal but I’m guessing it is?

 

[Piggies&buns]

No not necessarily normal - it could be that there is something in or irritating his eye. I would have that checked by a vet