Hi guys, we just experienced our first hay poke and I felt the need to make a post about the details as I struggled a bit getting the right info and wish that I knew all of this.
What happened:
We ordered some emergency Timothy hay as our larger batch was going to arrive later. I’ll explain later why this is relevant. We found out she had an eye poke when my partner noticed that her eye was cloudy. I was worried it was a cataract because that’s what it looked like, however from what I found cataracts do not trigger inflammatory responses and don’t get infected so they won’t look inflamed nor will they cause discharge around the eye. While hay pokes will result in discharge likely due to infection.
Prevention:
The best treatment is prevention which is where the hay comes in. Timothy hay is known to be coarse however another factor is the cutting. First cuttings are always higher in fibre and coarser so getting second cuttings is a much better option as they tend to be softer decreasing the risk of hay pokes.
Why is the eye cloudy:
The issue with hay pokes is they cause damage to the cornea which is a very thin layer of tissue, when it has any lesions it will lift off of the eye surface and liquid will fill the pocket causing the cloudiness. She likes to thrust her face in the hay bag and this combined with the emergency hay coarseness was our baby’s downfall. I think she has learnt her lesson as she has since been eating from the top of the bag
Treatment
Now for the treatment, you HAVE to get an appointment to ensure it is healing, they’re responding to medicine well and they don’t have any reactions or worsening infection.
The main reason why I am writing this is because often it will be difficult to get a same day appointment because the vets may not see it as an emergency but eyes can deteriorate very quickly. It is understandable, your Guinea pig isn’t the only pet in need of treatment and most of the time they will be fine however for us we wanted the best odds.
So, here is what we did, I’m not a professional but if you find yourself in the spot where you need to take action i think having accurate information could be the difference between losing an eye or not. We bought optrex infected eye drops from the pharmacist, these have an antibiotic called chloramphenicol and so you can only get it at a pharmacy, anything you get online with no prescription is likely fake. Chloramphenicol is used to treat conjunctivitis in humans and they will not sell it to you if you are buying it for your Guinea pig so we didn’t tell them that. Please let your vet know you are giving antibiotics because you do not want to double dose your piggie’s eyes. It is unsafe so whatever action you take without the vets advice you must let them know. They need to be kept in the fridge, applied 3 times a day UNTIL the eye is healed. I saw a post mentioning 4 day use which I now assume is how long it took for them to heal, likely a minor scratch and thought we should give it for 4 days but don’t do that, you don’t want to come off and on an antibiotic which we now have to do.
The vet will likely give you remend drops, these provide the ideal conditions for your piggies eyes to heal, the right moisture and all. You get this at the vets but you may be able to buy this online. Not sure, we didn’t so if you do I cannot guarantee it is the real stuff but I don’t see why you couldn’t get it online. The vet will likely tell you this but, antibiotic first, wait AT LEAST 10 minutes and then apply the remend, the antibiotic gets absorbed quicker but if you apply remend first, it will affect the antibiotic absorption so make sure you do it in the right order.
This is the stuff I wish I knew and wish was easier to find.
TL;DR:
1. Prevention is key: softer hay and softer cuttings will lower the chances
2. If I can’t get a same day appointment I would take action of my own accord
3. I’d get hold of optrex for infected eyes, there are other chloramphenicol drops for humans but I haven’t used them so I would just stick to the optrex, believe it was like £13
4. When I’m able to see the vet, mention the optrex, let them know it was from the pharmacy so they don’t worry about the legitimacy
- I don’t think it is a vets place to judge acting with urgency to save your piggies eyes, all the vets we saw about the hay poke were understanding so make of that what you will
5. Consider seeing an eye specialist because of the equipment available in case of really bad ulcers, it does cost more so if you can’t just see your usual vet. Godard’s Group South Woodford branch has an eye specialist, Adam
6. Antibiotic first, wait at least 10 minutes but ideally longer. Then apply the remend when you have it This should be 3 times a day until the eye is healed which the vet will tell you. Please do not assume that it is healed because you can’t see anymore cloudiness, you don’t to want risk your piggies eyes.
7. Antibiotic drops should be spaced as evenly apart as possible, we try to do every 8 hrs but it’s not always possible unfortunately but just do your best.
What happened:
We ordered some emergency Timothy hay as our larger batch was going to arrive later. I’ll explain later why this is relevant. We found out she had an eye poke when my partner noticed that her eye was cloudy. I was worried it was a cataract because that’s what it looked like, however from what I found cataracts do not trigger inflammatory responses and don’t get infected so they won’t look inflamed nor will they cause discharge around the eye. While hay pokes will result in discharge likely due to infection.
Prevention:
The best treatment is prevention which is where the hay comes in. Timothy hay is known to be coarse however another factor is the cutting. First cuttings are always higher in fibre and coarser so getting second cuttings is a much better option as they tend to be softer decreasing the risk of hay pokes.
Why is the eye cloudy:
The issue with hay pokes is they cause damage to the cornea which is a very thin layer of tissue, when it has any lesions it will lift off of the eye surface and liquid will fill the pocket causing the cloudiness. She likes to thrust her face in the hay bag and this combined with the emergency hay coarseness was our baby’s downfall. I think she has learnt her lesson as she has since been eating from the top of the bag
Treatment
Now for the treatment, you HAVE to get an appointment to ensure it is healing, they’re responding to medicine well and they don’t have any reactions or worsening infection.
The main reason why I am writing this is because often it will be difficult to get a same day appointment because the vets may not see it as an emergency but eyes can deteriorate very quickly. It is understandable, your Guinea pig isn’t the only pet in need of treatment and most of the time they will be fine however for us we wanted the best odds.
So, here is what we did, I’m not a professional but if you find yourself in the spot where you need to take action i think having accurate information could be the difference between losing an eye or not. We bought optrex infected eye drops from the pharmacist, these have an antibiotic called chloramphenicol and so you can only get it at a pharmacy, anything you get online with no prescription is likely fake. Chloramphenicol is used to treat conjunctivitis in humans and they will not sell it to you if you are buying it for your Guinea pig so we didn’t tell them that. Please let your vet know you are giving antibiotics because you do not want to double dose your piggie’s eyes. It is unsafe so whatever action you take without the vets advice you must let them know. They need to be kept in the fridge, applied 3 times a day UNTIL the eye is healed. I saw a post mentioning 4 day use which I now assume is how long it took for them to heal, likely a minor scratch and thought we should give it for 4 days but don’t do that, you don’t want to come off and on an antibiotic which we now have to do.
The vet will likely give you remend drops, these provide the ideal conditions for your piggies eyes to heal, the right moisture and all. You get this at the vets but you may be able to buy this online. Not sure, we didn’t so if you do I cannot guarantee it is the real stuff but I don’t see why you couldn’t get it online. The vet will likely tell you this but, antibiotic first, wait AT LEAST 10 minutes and then apply the remend, the antibiotic gets absorbed quicker but if you apply remend first, it will affect the antibiotic absorption so make sure you do it in the right order.
This is the stuff I wish I knew and wish was easier to find.
TL;DR:
1. Prevention is key: softer hay and softer cuttings will lower the chances
2. If I can’t get a same day appointment I would take action of my own accord
3. I’d get hold of optrex for infected eyes, there are other chloramphenicol drops for humans but I haven’t used them so I would just stick to the optrex, believe it was like £13
4. When I’m able to see the vet, mention the optrex, let them know it was from the pharmacy so they don’t worry about the legitimacy
- I don’t think it is a vets place to judge acting with urgency to save your piggies eyes, all the vets we saw about the hay poke were understanding so make of that what you will
5. Consider seeing an eye specialist because of the equipment available in case of really bad ulcers, it does cost more so if you can’t just see your usual vet. Godard’s Group South Woodford branch has an eye specialist, Adam
6. Antibiotic first, wait at least 10 minutes but ideally longer. Then apply the remend when you have it This should be 3 times a day until the eye is healed which the vet will tell you. Please do not assume that it is healed because you can’t see anymore cloudiness, you don’t to want risk your piggies eyes.
7. Antibiotic drops should be spaced as evenly apart as possible, we try to do every 8 hrs but it’s not always possible unfortunately but just do your best.
