Eye issue

[cocofudgecookie]

Hello! I think my new sow, 9 week old Coco, has an eye infection. I hope I'm posting in the right thread. One of her eyes is sunken and is producing a lot of gunk which is crusting over. We only got her and Fudge yesterday and this morning her eye was crusted shut which I cleaned with a warm damp cotton pad. This evening I also gave it a clean as it was crusting over. She is closing it a lot/squinting. It's just not as bright and as protruding out as her other eye and as her sister's. I've told the breeder who I got it from and sent her videos. She says it looks like the start of conjunctivitis, and to wash it with warm water. It's bank holiday weekend so Monday (tomorrow) vets will be closed and only open Tuesday, does anyone recommend I try and get her in to a vets on Tuesday for it to be looked at? Thank you
- a very worried new mum

 

[Piggies&buns]

You had actually posted on somebody else’s thread so I have moved your post to a thread of its own so you can receive personalised and ongoing advice specific to your own case.

Any eye issue is considered urgent and should be seen by a vet within 24 hours.
In the Uk, eye issues are prioritised and all vets have out of hours cover which means you can see a vet at any time including on bank holidays although it will cost more. However, eyes deteriorate quickly so prompt treatment it always needed. I would recommend you call to get her seen by an out of hours vet tomorrow. It may not be conjunctivitis, it may be a haypoke injury and she could be in discomfort - only a vet can diagnose based upon a hands on diagnosis.
If you are registered with a vet, then you can call their normal surgery number and their voicemail will provide details of the surgery which covers them out of hours.
If you are not yet registered with a vet, then search online for out of hours services in your area.

As an aside, please do double check their sexes yourself and confirm they are both girls. Unfortunately we do see piggies from pet shops and breeders being missexed so we always make this recommendation.

 

[Merab]

Hope you can get to a vet soon and it’s nothing serious.
Please let us know how things go.
Holding you in my thoughts

 

[cocofudgecookie]

You had actually posted on somebody else’s thread so I have moved your post to a thread of its own so you can receive personalised and ongoing advice specific to your own case.

Any eye issue is considered urgent and should be seen by a vet within 24 hours.
In the Uk, eye issues are prioritised and all vets have out of hours cover which means you can see a vet at any time including on bank holidays although it will cost more. However, eyes deteriorate quickly so prompt treatment it always needed. I would recommend you call to get her seen by an out of hours vet tomorrow. It may not be conjunctivitis, it may be a haypoke injury and she could be in discomfort - only a vet can diagnose based upon a hands on diagnosis.
If you are registered with a vet, then you can call their normal surgery number and their voicemail will provide details of the surgery which covers them out of hours.
If you are not yet registered with a vet, then search online for out of hours services in your area.

As an aside, please do double check their sexes yourself and confirm they are both girls. Unfortunately we do see piggies from pet shops and breeders being missexed so we always make this recommendation.

Thank you for your advice and moving my post to the right place. I'll find out where my nearest out of hours vets are and ring them tomorrow. Ok I will look up how to tell their sex and take a look at them. I'll let you know how she gets on

 

[piggl]

It does sound like conjunctivitis, one of my boys is currently being treated for such now, it would be great/best to get your little girl seen within 24 hours.
Conjunctivitis is generally easy to treat and you will likely find you will get prescribed some sort of antibiotic eyedrops/cream.

Good luck for the call tomorrow and hopefully your girl will be feeling better soon x

 

[Seven7]

Sorry to hear about this.
My boy Finn had an eye infection and upon examination by the vet, Finn was prescribed ointment. Within a week, Finn's eye recovered and he is doing very well. Best of luck to you.

 

[cocofudgecookie]

It does sound like conjunctivitis, one of my boys is currently being treated for such now, it would be great/best to get your little girl seen within 24 hours.
Conjunctivitis is generally easy to treat and you will likely find you will get prescribed some sort of antibiotic eyedrops/cream.

Good luck for the call tomorrow and hopefully your girl will be feeling better soon x

Thank you so much, we're at the emergency vets now

 

[Bill & Ted]

Poor little girl, hope whatever it is is easily sorted

 

[cocofudgecookie]

Update
Coco saw the vet and was a very good girl She let her look at her eye and was checked her for any respiratory issues which she's clear of, thankfully! I've got some eye ointment for her to put on twice a day for 5 days and I need to make a follow up appointment. The vet wasn't sure when she looked at the back of her eyes that she could see out of that affected eye as she could see some cloudiness in the back of the eye. There isn't any visible cloudiness that can be seen so I hope I've caught it in time to save her sight in that eye

 

[Wheekallweek]

Good job for getting her to the vets quickly! Hope her eye is better soon
If she is from Pets at Home you should get in touch with the store. They should cover your vet's bill!

 

[cocofudgecookie]

Good job for getting her to the vets quickly! Hope her eye is better soon
If she is from Pets at Home you should get in touch with the store. They should cover your vet's bill!

I was wary about Pets at Home so I thought I'll be more responsible and get from a breeder, she seemed reputable and the pigs looked well but I guess I was just unfortunate with Coco bless her I don't really know how to approach the money factor as I've just dropped about £80 for her consultation and the eye ointment..the breeder seems concerned and has asked me to keep her updated but really I'm not too happy that Coco is like this when I only got her and Fudge on Saturday

 

[Piggies&buns]

I was wary about Pets at Home so I thought I'll be more responsible and get from a breeder, she seemed reputable and the pigs looked well but I guess I was just unfortunate with Coco bless her I don't really know how to approach the money factor as I've just dropped about £80 for her consultation and the eye ointment..the breeder seems concerned and has asked me to keep her updated but really I'm not too happy that Coco is like this when I only got her and Fudge on Saturday

It depends on the breeder I guess as to how willing they are to help. From a pet shop you would be covered by consumer rights but as breeding isn’t regulated I’m not sure how things stand. With all of that said though, things happen and if there wasn’t any visible on the day got her then nobody would have known.
The only way you can really guarantee a healthy piggy is to adopt from a rescue where possible rather than use breeders and pet shops.
You’ve got her to the vet quickly though hopefully she will recover well.

 

[Wheekallweek]

It might be worth contacting the breeder again, just to let her know how Coco gets on, and slip in how much the vets has cost you. She may offer to help, she may not, at least you've asked
The main thing is getting Coco better... and good on you for not getting your piggies from Pets at Home!

 

[cocofudgecookie]

It depends on the breeder I guess as to how willing they are to help. From a pet shop you would be covered by consumer rights but as breeding isn’t regulated I’m not sure how things stand. With all of that said though, things happen and if there wasn’t any visible on the day got her then nobody would have known.
The only way you can really guarantee a healthy piggy is to adopt from a rescue where possible rather than use breeders and pet shops.
You’ve got her to the vet quickly though hopefully she will recover well.

Yeah that's true about it not being regulated. Coco seems to be recovering really well and her eye is looking a lot better thankfully! She has a follow up vet appointment on Friday so we'll see what they say about if she needs to carry on treatment and what the status of her eye is.

 

[cocofudgecookie]

It might be worth contacting the breeder again, just to let her know how Coco gets on, and slip in how much the vets has cost you. She may offer to help, she may not, at least you've asked
The main thing is getting Coco better... and good on you for not getting your piggies from Pets at Home!

Yeah, I think I'll have to slip it in there once she's seen the vet for a follow up on Friday. She was keen to be kept informed about how Coco got on so I've been sending her updates.

Coco seems to be coming out of her shell and her eye doesn't look as sore and there's not much "gunk" as before, it's practically all gone a part from the normal gunk, it's a yellowish colour so I'm not sure if that's it's normal colour. But it was green to begin with so it's definitely improved

She's eating well and is quick when I'm trying to get her out of her cage to do her eye drops and lap time she even ate (rather inhaled) coriander and lettuce from my hand as I didn't want her to associate me as the big bad giant who tries to poke her in the eye (I don't obvs but it must be horrible for her). She does tolerate it though and she does vibrate haha not sure if it's an angry vibrate or a I'm liking this fuss one though

 

[cocofudgecookie]

Coco update
This is from yesterday, she's being big and brave eating lettuce on my lap. Left is the good eye and right is the sore eye. Today she looked like she was opening it more and there was less gunk in it than yesterday, so I think the eye ointment is doing the trick. We have a follow up vet appointment on Friday afternoon to see if we need to continue with the ointment and see how her eye is doing. I hope her sight won't be compromised but she seems so much happier, we've had wheeks, vibrations (not sure if they're good or bad ones haha) and little squeaks (from Fudge too minus the vibrating). This morning she was an even braver girl and ate coriander, lettuce and a nugget out of my hand so proud of her

 

[Seven7]

Good to hear things are getting better.

 

[cocofudgecookie]

We saw the vets this afternoon and we are to continue with the drops until Thursday. The vet checked behind her eyes and the affected one doesn't seem to have lost much sight, only maybe slightly but the vet wasn't worried and doesn't think it will affect her quality of life which is good! She's currently on Daddy being stroked and happily chirping away