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Guinea pig eye removal surgery

Morgie16

Morgie16

Junior Guinea Pig
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We noticed a lump next to the eye on our 3 year old female guinea pig. They are thinking it is an abscess. They did x-rays to confirm that it was not due to anything dental/teeth related. Right now she is on terramycin, orbax, meloxicam and artificial tears. She is unable to lubricate the eye herself due to the swelling and the pressure put on the eye. They want to look into getting it removed so they can get back behind the eye and get whatever it is out or if it is the eye itself. She is leaning towards an abscess but isn't ruling out a possible tumorous growth as well.


Unfortunately due to where we live, exotic pet surgeons are not local. We are waiting to hear back from a exotic surgeon if they are even capable or experienced enough to do the eye removal surgery within a 30 mile radius. If they can't, we are looking at a 6+ hour car ride to a university that is equipped enough for a surgery like that.
If we choose not to proceed with the surgery we are looking at palliative care management to keep her comfortable until her quality of life dissipates which include antibiotics, inflammation, pain meds, artificial tear drops.

Has anyone experienced a dilemma like this? What did you do? Does only having one eye as a prey animal effect their daily lives? Has anyone gone through an eye removal surgery and still had an abscess issue? Would a 6 hour car ride up to university and all the way back home stress her out too much?
 
Aw, so sorry for you. I have two piggies who travel 5-6 hours each way to have conscious dental and they travel very well. I’m sure there is some forum members on here who have had piggie who’ve had an eye removed due to an abscess. there is a search box in the green bar, perhaps you could have a look through. Good luck, hope she makes a sound recovery x
 
I can't answer your questions re: surgery, but from being on the forum and reading prior threads and questions - lacking an eye is probably not going to be an issue for her. Apparently guinea pigs don't have great eyesight anyway, they tend to rely better on smell and I know there's been a few forum members with blind guinea pigs that have managed just fine :)
I'm sorry I can't answer any of your other questions, though.
 
If you can, I would definitely have the surgery to have the eye taken out. It was due to an abscess but I once had a piggy who had an eye removed and she live a perfectly happy normal life with one eye
 
Thank your for the replies! Our exotic vet in town is going to do the eye removal surgery on Monday (it’s Friday now). Of course we are hoping for a safe surgery, speedy recovery and a long healthy life for our piggy. Right now it’s a bit stressful as her eye is dying and very swollen. We are continuing with all the meds and hoping for the best until Monday. She is a strong little girl and eating and taking her meds like a champ for now.
 
Your piglet will be just fine with one eye, they do fine without eyes to be fair, I have met two leathel whites at @furryfriends (TEAS) that do great👍

I have a dopey big old boar, he has eyes and doesn't know where the hell he's going half the time 🤣
 
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Aww hope all goes well for your lil one on Monday plese let us know we'll all be thinking of you xx
 
Hello everyone, I just wanted to give an update. We are home. The surgery part was successful. They removed the eye and said the infection was all within the eye.

However since we have been home she isn’t doing well. Her surgery was this morning around 10am, we brought her home around 4pm and it is now about 9:30 pm. She has not eaten or really moved. I held her and gave her some meds and she has very labored breathing. I made her as comfortable as I can. I got a little bit of critical care down her but she was not wanting it. I have her surrounded by her hay and favorite veggies. I will be sitting out next to her all night. I don’t know what more that I can do.

This surgery was the only option that we had that would allow her to live a longer healthy life that’s why we chose to do it. But seeing her in pain and so not herself really makes me question if I chose to do the right thing.

We have a 24/7 emergency vet but they are mainly a dog/cat vet. I can’t think of anything that they could do that would be worth even more stress to rush her too.

Does anyone know about anything that I’m not thinking of or could do? I am so heartbroken 💔
 
Keep syringe feeding little and often and call your vets back as soon as they open again for further advice. However if she goes downhill then I would go to the emergency vet
 
I agree. Keep her warm and comfortable and phone your own vet for advise. You could even phone the emergency vet if needed.

But please be assured that you made the right decision. She couldn’t have gone on with her eye the way it was
 
Immediate post surgery can be rocky.
You made the only possible decision for her.
As advised - a little syringe feeding often to help get her guts working.

What meds do you have?
Is her pain well under control?

Holding you in my heart.
 
Thinking of you both today. Keep up with the syringe feeding, a little and often.
My fingers are crossed for your little one x
 
She is on .2 mL of Enrofloxacin 2 times a day
and .3 mL of Meloxicam every 24 hours, however she got a .15 mL boost last night after surgery because she seemed to be in a lot of pain. After that is when she did eat a little bit of green leaf lettuce and a little cilantro
I have gotten some critical care down her. At one point she did latch on to the syringe, it didn't last long but she did take a little willingly. She still seems quite out of it, very slow moving around. She seems a little disorientated, but i'd imagine that's normal waking up and only have vision on one side of her head.
Her incision site is not swollen or draining at all.
She was purring at me while I got her out and was trying to give her some medicine, which is a good thing to me. She seems a bit dehydrated, but there is at least some water in the critical care and i make sure there is water on her veggies if she decides to eat them. Of course i have a water bottle in there but i don't know if she will be feeling well enough to drink out of it.
She was not taken care of well by her previous owners and since her adoption 2 years ago she really just isn't a people person and extremely shy, so I'm sure this is very stressful for her given her personality. i am hoping that she will maybe get out a little more since everyone will be gone and the house will be quiet for her.
I have a camera on her and can watch 24/7 while I am at work. I will be going home over lunch to feed her some critical care. so she will not go more than 4 hours without getting something in her stomach.

I tried calling her vet this morning to update her but she has some dental surgeries this morning. I will hopefully hear from her in between those.

If i compare her between last night and this morning i would say i do see improvements. I am just concerned that she doesn't have any appetite. I know that it's so important to keep the nutrients flowing in their system.
 
You could make the critical care a little sloppier so she gets extra water perhaps. Wondering if she would be better with pain killer twice a day as their metabolism is very fast, perhaps you could discuss this with her vet, someone may come along on the forum who could advise you, all the best, hoping she makes a good recovery x
 
Whenever we have a guinea pig that went under anaesthetic or operation, we always make sure we constantly provide syringe food (CC) and water. This will help him/her to release the anaesthetic out of the body quickly (by peeing and pooping). Also, better talk to your vet about the meloxicam. Like what @Bill & Ted said, it is better to have it 2x a day.
 
Hi everyone! I just wanted to give another update. they did bump her up to twice a day in pain meds for a couple of days. Yesterday and today we have seen immense improvements. We have not needed to use critical care at all today. she is eating a healthy amount of hay, pellets and veggies. She has been staying hydrated as well. I am so proud of her! I would say the biggest thing is just that she misses being with her sisters. She can hear them every time I open the refrigerator or rustle a bag around. But she will be back with her clan soon enough. She is getting better learning how to manage with one eye. She used to kind of circle around to get in all of her surroundings, but she has learned her cage set up a little better and doesn’t need to do that now. I am finally easing up on my worries now that she is really recovering well. She had a few dry bits around the incision but they said that was part of the healing process and nothing to worry about as long as there was no draining or swelling.
I also want to thank everyone for your great advice and for sharing your experiences. Everyone really helped us get through this a little more smoothly with all the tips, information and positive thoughts. I really appreciate it!❤️
She has a follow up appt with the doctor next Tuesday. I am confident things will continue to heal and she will be back to normal in no time. Here is a picture of our sweet girl Kaia in all of her one eyed glory ❤️EAB8716A-F3F1-478B-AAA7-A19301CA8F7E.webp
 
I'm glad she's doing well! What a cutie!
 
What a beauty.
So glad she’s on the mend.
You could offer her some sweet potato grated and mixed with oats. @PigglePuggle recommended it to me and mine have loved it. It’s great for boosting weight in a post op piggy
 
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