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Holly - bad tempered and gets a 'gummy' eye

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pelicano

pelicano

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Hi. :) Really not sure if anyone will be able to help me, but I just wondered what you all thought. My vet comes back from holiday on Monday, and I have an appointment booked in for my rabbits and Holly, who is a sow who is nearly 2.

I can't put my finger on what is wrong, but she keeps getting a 'gummy' eye - nothing drastic, but just a bit crusty. She also drinks a fair bit, and is incredibly bad tempered and takes it out on the other pigs constantly. She's always been a bit of a bully, but is extra bad at the moment. She seems to alternate between bullying and being lethargic.

So... although I can't really explain much more than that, I just know that something is wrong. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. :)
 
No, it's just a slight crusting and not all the time. I've put Brolene in it which sorts it - then it comes back about 2 weeks later.
 
Hmmm, well is does state:
Abnormal These signs warrant an examination by an experienced veterinarian.
Signs:

Crusty eyes

The best bet is for you vet to diagnose it :)

Hope I was a little help anyway :)
 
With the eye problem you should defiantly get it checked by a vets. The bad temper could be a number of things. Do you think she is ill? ? :)
 
What sort of mood does she go in? Like what does she do when she is in these moods? When you pick her up does she squeel at all? (Sorry seems like 21 questions lol)

You could always check on google for 'abnormal aggressive guinea pig behavior' :)
Hope shes ok anyways, vet will tell you :) Best of luck for her :)
 
I have heard of guinea pigs getting more bad tempered with age (becoming an old woman). It could also mean that your guineas may need more space to establish their territories. By the sounds of it she is the dominant guinea pig in the environment, if she is ill another or younger guinea may take advantage and challenge her for dominancy, which she will not give up with out a fight, meaning her bad temper may be her way of making sure none of the others think they can become the dominant guinea. However, this is just three reason why she could be like this, it could be a number of things. :)
 
Hi how is Holly today?
Are you able to take her for an appointment soon?
I bathe sore eyes in a very very diluted boiled and cooled down water, remember to check the temperature of the water with your wrist not finger, cause your wrist is more sensitive and this will be more like her little eye. Bathe away from the corner of the eye so, wipe from the corner to the back of her eye (ie the head) hope this makes sense. This way you will not be putting any infection back into the eye. Please get this checked out by a vet O0
All the very best with your little sweetie :smitten:
 
My thoughts at the moment 'if in doubt go to the vet'

they should have a revolving door for me...I'm always in there for something or another ::) ;D
 
Yeah, me too. My vet is very knowledgeable and knows me well enough now to trust me that something isn't right (I hope), even though I can't be specific. Unfortunately, the other vet there is absolutely useless and incredibly patronising too.
 
I normal find the female vets are very helpful, where as the male vets just want you out of the surgery ASAP. >:( How is Holly today? :)
 
Actually, it's the other way round at my place! My new vet is male, and very knowledgeable (plus I think also very caring, but hides it in a male way! ;)), but the other 2 vets there are women, and patronise me no end (but seem to know less than I do!) ?

So glad he's back from holiday tomorrow, as I'll be glad to get my bunnies and Holly to see him. Holly's eye is fine, and she's eating, but she's drinking a lot (I've put a bowl in as well as the bottle, which she seems to like), and I just have a bad feeling...... :-\
 
Try not to worry to much. Could she be drinking a lot because of the warmer temperatures? :)

pelicano said:
My new vet is male, and very knowledgeable (plus I think also very caring, but hides it in a male way! ;))
Click to expand...

;D
 
I don't know... I think sometimes you just know that something is wrong. Just hope it is something minor. Roll on tomorrow! :)
 
Just to update, have got back from the vets. The vet says her bladder looks fine, and from her urine sample, all OK there (no blood or cells etc). He says she has gassy bloat, which is the same as one of my other pigs (oddly enough). So, I have metoclopramide and prepusid to give her, plus got to give extra vitamin C, probiotic, and no veggies. Sukie is like this - she is fine with grass but veggies bloat her up.

He couldn't see anything wrong with the eye (it's actually perfectly all right at the moment anyway), but thought it might be a lack of fatty acids in her diet, so I've got to give her a few drops of olive oil a day too.

Anyway, the slightly worrying part is that the vet thinks that there is a chance that she has caught E. Cuniculi from my rabbits, but it doesn't seem likely, as they are kept no-where near each other, and have separate runs. Seems a bit of a coincedence that she is on the same medications as my bunnies, but I'm really hoping that's all it is (ie a coincedence). If she doesn't respond to the medicines, the vet will want to treat for E. Cuniculi I think. I know that Sukie started her problems before the bunnies even got here, so it isn't that with her.

The other possibility is something more serious going on in her bowel, but will have to cross that bridge when/if I come to it.
 
Poor girl, hopefully it is not anything more serious. Keep us updated. O0
 
I'm still not sure what's going on with Holly... Have been giving Metoclopramide and Prepulsid for 9 days now - the vet wanted to speak to me in 2 weeks. I also treated them all for mites, as they were all a bit itchy, and I thought that might be the cause of Holly's gummy eye. She seemed to perk up after the mite treatment (follow up due on Saturday), but today I noticed her eye is bad again. What seems to happen with it is that she scratches it, causes all the milky stuff to form, which then dries to form a slight crust.

She's also still bloated. I've fed no veggies for 9 days - just grass. Also put a decent probiotic in the water. Oh she's also had 25 mg of vitamin C a day.

She's been really cute about taking her meds, to the extent that I just put my hand in the pen with the syringe and she sucks on it like a straw! I've never known a pig like it! :o ;D

Anyway, the point to this ramble is that I wonder if anyone has any ideas about the eye problem, which may or may not be linked to the bloat.
 
I am pretty sure her eye isn't linked to the bloat. Have you got a picture? :)
 
Nothing would really show up in a picture, to be honest - it's very very slight. Someone less paranoid than me probably wouldn't think there was anything wrong with her eye! :embarassed: ;D Basically, there is a tiny amount of orangey coloured crust just above one of her eyes (and it's usually the same one). I saw her about a week ago (before I treated for mites) with her eye looking slightly wet, where she'd obviously rubbed at her eye. I left it alone, as I thought I'd see if it dried the orangey coloured crust, and it did. So this is what she must be doing.
 
Don't really know what to suggest. :-\ What have you tried to treat it with? :)
 
Try Otodex in her ears for the mites, available from SPH Supplies. Could it be teeth or the beginning of a dental prob? Has she had Ivermectin? Could just be the duct is blocked.
 
Sorry for no response. I'm still worried about Holly. :( She's had her follow up ivermectin. To be honest, I'm not so worried about the eye (it seems a pretty minor problem now - my Brolene has gone out of date, and her last bout the other day just went by itself), as her lethargic behaviour and the bloat. I just watched her, and she looked like she was straining in some way, and there was a tiny squeak (barely audible) - trouble was, I couldn't tell whether it was a pee she was having, or something else.

I was so convinced when I took her to the vets that he would say it was a UTI, but he tested for it, and said there were no bladder cells in the urine, or abnormal bacteria levels.

Oh why can't animals talk and tell us what is wrong?! :( ::)
 
I can't remember, have you been to see a rodentologist? If not you really need to. I am not sure what is really up with Holly, the signs she is showing are linked to all sorts of problems. Has she been checked for bladder stones? :-\
 
My vet is a small animal specialist. Going to persist with him. Stones haven't been ruled out.
 
Sorry for last very brief message! ;D

Well, he said it was intestinal gas, so I had prepulsid and metoclopramide to use. I can't say that it's helped much (although may have a little). I am going to put her separately to the others tomorrow to get a good look at her poos - can't tell which are hers' at the moment.
 
Well keep us updated, I don't think there is much more advice I can give you. If I think of anything else I will let you know. :)
 
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