Guinea pig is squinting

[Aisling]

Hello,
When feeding my guinea pigs this evening I noticed Lou was squinting.
I took a quick look at her eye and saw a piece of hay but I didn't try to take it out incase I hurt her.
Apart from the squinting she seems perfectly fine.
I won't be able to call the vet before tomorrow morning,
but for now should I try and clean it out or should I just leave it?

Any advice or information would be appreciated,

 

[Siikibam]

See if you can take the piece of hah out but leave it if it’s a struggle. I am assuming that vets in Ireland don’t have to provide 24/7 vet care?

Hopefully she will be okay and can be seen quickly tomorrow. They’re classed as an emergency (eyes) and can be seen by any vet. Good luck and hope she’s better soon.

 

[Aisling]

See if you can take the piece of hah out but leave it if it’s a struggle. I am assuming that vets in Ireland don’t have to provide 24/7 vet care?

Hopefully she will be okay and can be seen quickly tomorrow. They’re classed as an emergency (eyes) and can be seen by any vet. Good luck and hope she’s better soon.

My vet does offer 24/7 care but I can't really bring her right now.
I'm going to try to flush it out with some water.
We do still have eye drops from the last time she got a hay poke,
but I'm not sure if they'll help,
plus I don't know if they expire.
Aside from the squinting she is behaving normally so I'm hoping she'll be fine until tomorrow.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I think eye drops need to be used within six weeks of being opened.

 

[Free Ranger]

My girl had a horrible squint one night and she actually had a bit of a slender thorn stuck in the soft red bit around the eyeball - the bit that would have been the inside of the eyelid if she hadn't had such fatty eyes! I must say I didn't think whether to pluck it out or not - I just did it. There was a bit of a squeal but she felt better straight off. She still needed the eye gel though.

 

[Aisling]

I think eye drops need to be used within six weeks of being opened.

Yeah I checked and they expire a month after opening and I've had them for about a year,
so I kind of missed that boat .
I tried to clean out her eye but she's a very squirmy guinea pig and she was having none of it,
I got to clean it a tiny bit but I doubt it did any thing.

I will try to bring her to the vet as early as possible tomorrow.

 

[Aisling]

I brought Lou to the vet today and the vet said she has a fairly big eye ulcer.
The vet is unsure if the ulcer will heal properly but she says it should and they did manage to get the hay out .
I feel guilty for not making time to bring her last night though.
I thought the piece of hay came out but I was wrong it was still in poor Lou's eye all night.
She is on eye drops and the vet wants to see her again on Saturday to see if the ulcer is getting better.
I have to apply the eye drops twice daily for 5-7 days,
so her and my other guinea pig chomper are currently in a c&c cage on my living room floor.
Hopefully her eye heals up well.

Also if anyone has any ideas on how to make their current setup extra comfortable for them please let me know,

and thank you all for the replies.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Best wishes for her recovery.

If you would like advice on your set up, then do post a new thread in the housing section of the forum

 

[Aisling]

I brought Lou to the vet today and the vet said the ulcer is fully healed
Thanks everyone for the replies,

 

[Free Ranger]

Always nice to hear a bit of good news!

 

[Merab]

Glad the eye has healed now

 

[Aisling]

Always nice to hear a bit of good news!

Glad the eye has healed now

Yeah unfortunately this is not the first time this has happened to Lou.
In fact it's the the third time however the other times the hay just scratched her eye but this time it got stuck in her eye.
Surprisingly her friend Chomper has never gotten a hay poke,
so it must just be the way Lou burrows,
but it's a relief her eye healed