Flesh/Cherry Eye?

[Tory93]

Hi Guys

I'm new here so I am sorry if I am posting incorrectly.

I have a 2 year old guniea pig who has a fatty eye and also has heterotopic bone in her eye.. she has done all her life.

She is absolutely fine in herself, she eats, plays, sleeps etc, she doesnt wipe or itch her eye and she doesnt flinch when I touch it.

Last week I noticed that her eye was watering, I assumed she probably had some hay in her eye as that's pretty standard for her so I scooped her up and had a look, there was no hay but if I pulled her bottom lid down I saw a red/pinky flesh type lump. I dont recall ever seeing it before but to be perfectly honest I've never really had a need to pull her lower lid down. I called our vet immediately.. and got an appointment for Friday 2nd April, he thought that it could perhaps be a meibomian cyst, she was prescribed, drops, antibiotics & inflamatories. We had a telephone consultation on Monday 5th April just to see if any progress was being made and it was decided that she stay on the medication for a week and we booked her to go back on Monday 12th April. She has been on them for 8 days now and I havent see any change. It hasn't gotten bigger but it hasn't gotten smaller. Its still not bothering her which is good.

Having done some research I think it might be flesh/cherry eye but I cant really find any confirmation online. I was wondering if anyone on here had experienced anything similar? We are due to go back on Monday (its currently Saturday) but just thought id see if I could get any guniea pig owners thoughts.

Sorry for the essay, thought I would get in as much info as I could.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Pictures included below

 

[Siikibam]

I’m sorry I don’t have a clue I’m afraid. What did the vet say would be the next step if there was no change/improvement?

 

[Tory93]

I’m sorry I don’t have a clue I’m afraid. What did the vet say would be the next step if there was no change/improvement?

Thank you for coming back to me. No worries.

When we saw the vet initially on the Friday he mentioned possibly sedating her to do a biopsy of it, this wasn't mentioned again on the phone when we spoke the following Monday.

The vet in question carries out dentals on my rabbit regularly and he is the only vet I trust to do the job, however I have had a few bad experiences with guniea pigs and anesthesia so am very dubious about her being sedated for a biopsy especially if it turns out it isn't anything to worry about. I obviously have her best interests at heart and will do anything for her but don't want to put her under any undue stress if it isn't 100% necessary. From what I have read, flesh eye doesn't require surgery so if it does turn out to be that I'd rather not put her through an anesthesia.

 

[Siikibam]

The good thing about eyes is that the treatment is the same for all animals. So piggy eyes can be treated by a general vet. With regards to other treatments for your piggy, perhaps register them with an experienced vet. Check the link below for those near you.

How long has she been on the eye drops and medication? Did the vet say whether the lump appeared to be irritating her eye?
Vet Locator

 

[Wiebke]

Hi Guys

I'm new here so I am sorry if I am posting incorrectly.

I have a 2 year old guniea pig who has a fatty eye and also has heterotopic bone in her eye.. she has done all her life.

She is absolutely fine in herself, she eats, plays, sleeps etc, she doesnt wipe or itch her eye and she doesnt flinch when I touch it.

Last week I noticed that her eye was watering, I assumed she probably had some hay in her eye as that's pretty standard for her so I scooped her up and had a look, there was no hay but if I pulled her bottom lid down I saw a red/pinky flesh type lump. I dont recall ever seeing it before but to be perfectly honest I've never really had a need to pull her lower lid down. I called our vet immediately.. and got an appointment for Friday 2nd April, he thought that it could perhaps be a meibomian cyst, she was prescribed, drops, antibiotics & inflamatories. We had a telephone consultation on Monday 5th April just to see if any progress was being made and it was decided that she stay on the medication for a week and we booked her to go back on Monday 12th April. She has been on them for 8 days now and I havent see any change. It hasn't gotten bigger but it hasn't gotten smaller. Its still not bothering her which is good.

Having done some research I think it might be flesh/cherry eye but I cant really find any confirmation online. I was wondering if anyone on here had experienced anything similar? We are due to go back on Monday (its currently Saturday) but just thought id see if I could get any guniea pig owners thoughts.

Sorry for the essay, thought I would get in as much info as I could.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Pictures included below

Hi

This is a prolapsed tear gland, which is non uncommon in a conjunctivitis.
Links - Eye Conditions - Guinea Lynx Records

 

[Tory93]

The good thing about eyes is that the treatment is the same for all animals. So piggy eyes can be treated by a general vet. With regards to other treatments for your piggy, perhaps register them with an experienced vet. Check the link below for those near you.

How long has she been on the eye drops and medication? Did the vet say whether the lump appeared to be irritating her eye?
Vet Locator

The vet we are currently registered with has a GPCert in Small Animal Medicine and PgCert in Small Animal Medicine. I did say to my family that depending on what the outcome is on Monday I might seek a second opinion from an exotic vet, they are all quite a trek from where I live, which for me isn't a problem but didn't want to cause anymore stress on her with a long car journey.

Shes been on the drops and antibiotics twice a day, and anti-inflamatories once a day for 8 days.

No it isn't irritating her eye, its not rubbing when she blinks etc and the area around it isn't inflamed.

 

[Tory93]

Hi

This is a prolapsed tear gland, which is non uncommon in a conjunctivitis.
Links - Eye Conditions - Guinea Lynx Records

Hi thank you for your reply. We have been to the vet 8 days ago and was given some eye drops, antibiotics and anti-inflamatories, we had a follow up phone consultation a few days later, and have her booked in again on Monday as the medication doesn't seem to have helped.

I will mention to the vet when I go back about the possibility of it being a prolapsed tear gland - thank you for the suggestion. Do you know what the general remedial route would be? Just out of curiosity?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi thank you for your reply. We have been to the vet 8 days ago and was given some eye drops, antibiotics and anti-inflamatories, we had a follow up phone consultation a few days later, and have her booked in again on Monday as the medication doesn't seem to have helped.

I will mention to the vet when I go back about the possibility of it being a prolapsed tear gland - thank you for the suggestion. Do you know what the general remedial route would be? Just out of curiosity?

I don't think there is a lot you can do about it, unfortunately. If it happened as part of an infection, it would have gone back on its own by now.

 

[Tory93]

I don't think there is a lot you can do about it, unfortunately. If it happened as part of an infection, it would have gone back on its own by now.

Ahh I see, thank you. I dont think it was part of an infection as her eyes seem healthy and there hasn't been any watering (except for the day I noticed it and it was only a tiny bit briefly). I'll speak to the vet about it when we go back on Monday, she still has a few days of meds left (I doubt it will improve as it hasn't thus far). She doesnt seem to be irritated by it or anything so hopefully if nothing can be done it will continue to not be a problem for her. Thank you again