How Do You Tell If Your Piggy Is Blind?

[BambiPaws]

One of my girls is very skittish and frightened of me, more so than my other two. I've started to notice that when I first approach the cage the other two scatter as soon as they see me and she doesn't until I touch the cage.
My other two will then approach me but she cowers away. While I know it is normal for Guinea pigs to be skittish, it only seems to be a reaction to noise.
I took a photo of her today and there is a white reflection in her eye.

 

[Wiebke]

Please have the eye checked in case it is an ulcer on the eye surface from an eye injury; that is treatable with eye drops and gels. The sooner it is treated, the better as eye injuries can deteriorate quickly.

If it is a cataract (in rare cases a guinea pig can be born with them), then there is nothing you can do. However, it is a matter of training and working out things to enable her to live a normal life.

Use a constant flow of talk to alert your girl that you are in the room and create different "melodies" for each regular ritual. Train yourself to form pictures in your mind about what you are going to do around and with your piggies. Use guinea pig body language to reassure your little girl and to make friends with her.
I would recommend to feed any pellets and veg in a bowl each in portions that can be eaten in one go 2-3 time a day to make sure that she is getting her fair share. Up to 80% of the daily food intake should be hay. Make sure that you have plenty of hideys; ideally one for each piggy and - if possible - one extra. If you are worried about bullying, make sure that they all have two exits. Rub any new furniture with a rag that you have wiped on used furniture. Blind piggies orientate themselves mainly be smell and hearing, which are both sharper than our human senses anyway (unlike sight in guinea pigs). Contrary to mos advice you'll find, blind guinea pigs cope well with changes to the layout as long as you cater for their sense of smell.

You may also want to have her checked for deafness by your vet, just in case.

You may find these links here from cataract piggies of mine comforting. I've had a number of them, and at some point had a dedicated group that still had their free roaming time on the floor, lawn time and shallow ramps in their cage.
This is a little picture story about my cataract sow Mischief:
Turning a blind eye on mischief - another piggy story

And this is a video about old (and somewhat arthritic) blind lady Mali still enjoying herself. She'd only just discovered a new loop two days before her heart suddenly gave out at 8 years old.

The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary looks after several blind/deaf true albino guinea pigs with dental issues (so called lethals). You can find lots of videos on their facebook page.
The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary (for guinea pigs with extra needs)

 

[Freela]

It could possibly be a cataract... a vet can confirm this for you with a simple exam (and can rule out anything more serious as well.)

One of my pigs developed cataracts in her older age. We began noticing that she was having trouble seeing before we could actually see anything wrong with her eyes ourselves. She was always a cautious pig, but got more cautious about tasks requiring visual acuity (like getting in and out of the cage... she had some trouble finding the door, and would either hesitate to jump out or jump way too soon... she obviously was having a hard time with depth perception. During this time she had a routine checkup and the vet confirmed that she had cataracts in both eyes. As time went by, the cataracts thickened to the point that we could actually see them in natural or bright light (she had red eyes, we basically could see the lens of her eye whitening from the outside inwards.) However, she adjusted very well and you honestly would have had a hard time figuring out she was blind once she adjusted. She learned to navigate by scent and by following her sighted companion around. The only real sign was that she would often stand up on tiptoes with her nose in the air (either smelling or listening, I think- something she didn't do before she went blind.) She also sometimes got taken by surprise by her cagemate if something spooked her and she made a sudden dash... Sundae couldn't see her coming and get out of the way, so a few times startled Hadley basically ran into her or over her due to a scary noise! But sight really isn't their primary sense, and even if she is blind she will likely lead a very normal piggie life.

 

[BambiPaws]

Theyre such lovely stories, thank you.
I know it isn't the same but I have s lot of experience with cataracts, my youngest daughter was born with cataracts and is blind, this is her Guinea pig and she's so gentle with her she's the only person she will go to.
I will be taking her to the vets today for a check up. Will let you know the outcome.

 

[BambiPaws]

Hi,
I took bambi back into the vet at pets at home as they cover the vet fees.
The vet was quite rude & said that she is definitely not blind & "we would never sell you a blind Guinea pig so I'm not sure why you brang her back in" he got quite worked up about it but I'm not convinced

Would you say this looks normal for a gp eye?

 

[brillmini]

I would take her to another vets for a second opinion as you really can't be sure by looking at a photo. Hope she's ok x

 

[Freela]

It's hard to tell from the picture, as there can be glare from the flash even in a normal eye. You may need to get a second opinion to be sure.

 

[BambiPaws]

Ok thank you, she's got an appointment on Tuesday.
What bothers me is this was taken without a flash but will get the second opinion

 

[Swissgreys]

I think it is wise to get a second opinion.
It sounds like the vet you saw was quite defensive, and may not have had your piggies best interests at heart.
Well done for taking it further.