Eye issue

[WobblyPiggy]

Hi,
I'm wondering if maybe more experienced piggy owners could help me weigh out risks for one of my piggies.

I currently share life with 3 senior piggies, however I have one called Butter Ball who has recently had eye issues. We believe he was injured by his now ex-cage mate (they're still in the same room just separate cages as per a vets instructions) he was taken to the vets on the 28th June and given Metacam, Baytril and antibiotic eye gel for a week. He had all his treatment however we think something upset his stomach as his pee turned a very dark brown (now clear) he went back on the third and the vet said he can either have his eye removed or we can continue on lubricating eye drops 6-8 hours every day.

Currently he is between 5-7 years of age (rescue so unsure as are all my piggies) he weighs just under 2kg and is belived to be a Cuy mix. Problem is he is very scatty and had trouble navigating at first with the now blindness in his eye. He is eating fine and runs around and interacts with his surroundings as we don't move it too much so he doesn't bump into anything. We understand for piggies in general there is a high risk when going under for surgery and with the first set of meds giving him some issues were very unsure on if we should go through with surgery or carry on with eye drops...

Can anyone help with weighing out pro and cons for it? I generally consider myself an experienced owner of small furries, but have never had to have surgeries other than general neutering/spaying.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi,
I'm wondering if maybe more experienced piggy owners could help me weigh out risks for one of my piggies.

I currently share life with 3 senior piggies, however I have one called Butter Ball who has recently had eye issues. We believe he was injured by his now ex-cage mate (they're still in the same room just separate cages as per a vets instructions) he was taken to the vets on the 28th June and given Metacam, Baytril and antibiotic eye gel for a week. He had all his treatment however we think something upset his stomach as his pee turned a very dark brown (now clear) he went back on the third and the vet said he can either have his eye removed or we can continue on lubricating eye drops 6-8 hours every day.

Currently he is between 5-7 years of age (rescue so unsure as are all my piggies) he weighs just under 2kg and is belived to be a Cuy mix. Problem is he is very scatty and had trouble navigating at first with the now blindness in his eye. He is eating fine and runs around and interacts with his surroundings as we don't move it too much so he doesn't bump into anything. We understand for piggies in general there is a high risk when going under for surgery and with the first set of meds giving him some issues were very unsure on if we should go through with surgery or carry on with eye drops...

Can anyone help with weighing out pro and cons for it? I generally consider myself an experienced owner of small furries, but have never had to have surgeries other than general neutering/spaying.

Hi!

I am very sorry; baytril does not just affect the bacteria in the eye but also those in the gut, which can in some cases be appetite dampening or even killing.

Has your vet considered using zithromax, which is a very strong, non-licensed antibiotic that is safe to use in guinea pigs. It has saved the eye after a hay poke/eye infection in two of my own oldies after two courses, even if it has meant a month of round the clock syringe feeding in one case? In my own experience with all kinds of hay pokes and eye surface scratches, just one week of eye treatment is generally too short to really heal it unless it is a very mild case.

Eye removal operations in older guinea pigs can be more risky because in order to remove the eye, you need to push on it, which can occasionally stop the heart in piggies with underlying issues (which older piggies have more often). While the majority of eye removal ops goes without a hitch (I've just had a 3 years old one going through the op this spring), it is worth asking your vet for their own risk assessment and also discuss the limits/long term benefits/risks of just hydrating the eye - in Meleri's case, it would have meant that controlling the infection (in her case caused by a bad cataract leaking proteins into the eye) would have been difficult and if she ever had scratch/hay poke in her blind eye, it would have gone VERY badly wrong.
Here is Meleri's thread if you are interested: Please keep your fingers crossed for Meleri's eye removal operation!

Eyesight is thankfully the weakest sense in guinea pigs (it is the strongest in humans). The transition phase is usually the most difficult. What one-eyed piggies usually don't like, is being approached from their blind side, so you have to take that into consideration during your interaction.
You may want to use some piggy whispering techniques to assure your piggy whose prey animal instincts are currently on higher alert due to them feeling vulnerable.
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips

Unfortunately, decisions with older piggies are often very much a weighing up of risks/benefits but there is no easy and totally safe choice, as I know from my own experiences.

I hope that this helps you?

 

[WobblyPiggy]

Thank you for your reply...I'm so glad your piggy pulled through...the antibiotic gel Butter Ball had was called Isathal it was every 12 hours...

I have no issue doing round the clock care and we do approach him from his seeing eye or put our hand in front so he can smell it...he is slowly calming down just it seems like the vet isn't giving much information on it...just keeps saying the eye should be removed and that it is high risk...which isn't very helpful...he has already had one poke in it which I managed to sort out thankfully he must have done it as I walked in to check on him...

Were just so unsure as we know just like you said the older the piggy the more risky it is and his transition period will be difficult (we haven't even had him a year yet) so we were still building trust anyway with him and his cage mate...but we also don't want to risk any infection or anything in it and waiting until it is too late per se...

He is fine in himself...yelling at us for food and running around, a part from his impaction (he wasn't neutered when I was handed him) which is kept on top of daily with cotton and warm water...we have noticed balding on his back legs...so his bedding was completely changed incase it was allergies and he was bathed and treated incase it was mites or anything...as was the other two we have...but only he has the balding which we think may be off either allergies or stress from his eye...

The below picture is his eye currently after his treatment so far...