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I just removed a huge hay poke from inside my guinea pig's eyelid. What should I do now?

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thatoneguyouknow

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Hi, I woke up this morning to find one of my guinea pigs very lethargic and unresponsive. After a closer look. I noticed a few small-looking needles poking out of one of her eyes. I figured it was just a few small hay pokes. I never had any experience with hay pokes, so I ended up going to the vet, but unfortunately there were no walk-ins available that I could go to, everywhere was booked/full for a while. Eventually, I decided that I would just use saline solution and some tweezers to try to get it out. After a few tries, I managed to get a hold on it, and suddenly, after my guinea pig recoiled, a huge hay poke came out (it was probably 1.5cm or so and looked like a small flower). It looked like it was tucked behind the upper eyelid almost completely, and I'm pretty concerned there's going to be eye damage as a result. My plan is to use an animal anti-bacterial eye dropper a few times a day for the next few days, but is there anything else I should do? I was not expecting such a large piece of hay to be pulled out, but luckily my guinea pig returned back to normal (except for some swollen eyelids) as soon as the piece of hay was removed. My main questions are, is it possible I damaged the eye by pulling something like that out, do I still need to go to the vet for this, or if my guinea pig is back to normal after a few days do I not have to worry about it anymore, and are there any extra steps I should take now that the hay is out of the eye? I would prefer to avoid the vet if at all possible, as the costs are a lot, especially now given the fact that I'm going to college in the fall, but if it is necessary to keep any further complications, I'm open to it. Thank you for any information you can provide!
 
Lorcan said:
She should still see a vet even if you think you've got it all - eye injuries, even seemingly minor ones, can go downhill quickly. They need to make sure nothing else is there, plus see if there's been any damage and recommend appropriate treatment for it.
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I just wanted to add that the only vet I know of that is walk-in doesn't really have any specialist vets trained for guinea pigs, would it still be effective to see all of this and create a treatment plan? I want to make sure that I can get a decent visit, since the price for a consultation at the vet clinics/hospitals I'm familiar with are over $150, which I feel like is pretty steep, and the only one I could get service in a relatively quick manner is almost $200, without any added medications that may be prescribed, which is why I'm reluctant to go in.
 
thatoneguyouknow said:
I just wanted to add that the only vet I know of that is walk-in doesn't really have any specialist vets trained for guinea pigs, would it still be effective to see all of this and create a treatment plan? I want to make sure that I can get a decent visit, since the price for a consultation at the vet clinics/hospitals I'm familiar with are over $150, which I feel like is pretty steep, and the only one I could get service in a relatively quick manner is almost $200, without any added medications that may be prescribed, which is why I'm reluctant to go in.
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This is roughly what I paid $200, for my Finn's eye infection and his medication at the vet. I am in Michigan.

Unrelated to his vet visit for eye infection, I did take out a hay poke from Finn's eye similar to the size you described, and he quickly recovered afterwards. I did keep an eye on him and if things got worse, I would have taken to him to the vet again, but he was fine.
 
If you are concerned, I would take him to the vet. You will feel much better for having taken him to the vet even if nothing needs to be done.

For me, I already had taken him to the vet for his eye infection, so I felt more comfortable looking after him after pulling out hay poke. But if things got worse, I would have taken him back to the vet, but he recovered very quickly.
 
Eye injuries can go downhill fast. Luckily most of them heal nicely if treated quickly with the right kind of antibiotic eye treatment. But the vet has got to check if the cornea was danaged as well.
In the worst case, an eye infection can lead to your guinea pig loosing her eye - and I'm sure that the costs for this operation would be much higher. (Though I can understand your problem with the vet costs.)
On a plus side, eye injuries are pretty much the same in every animal, so even a vet who doesn't know much about guinea pigs should be able to help your girl.
 
I agree - please see a vet. We never advise any attempts to treat it yourself with any over the counter medication, a vet needs to use dyes to check for damage and prescribe accordingly, often including pain medications.

Eyes are the same across species so you do not need a vet knowledgeable in piggies.
 
Good luck at the vets. Well done for getting the hay out yourself. 👍🏻
 
I had a piggy with haypoke and I was treating it for 4 months here is the thread if you are interested.

Thea has a gunky eye

It may be a good idea to start up a vet fund so that the money is there when needed and won't drain your bank account or put a strain on your credit card. Put what you can afford into a separate account each month and only use it for vet fees. A lot of Forum members do this.
 
Viennese Furbabies said:
Eye injuries can go downhill fast. Luckily most of them heal nicely if treated quickly with the right kind of antibiotic eye treatment. But the vet has got to check if the cornea was danaged as well.
In the worst case, an eye infection can lead to your guinea pig loosing her eye - and I'm sure that the costs for this operation would be much higher. (Though I can understand your problem with the vet costs.)
On a plus side, eye injuries are pretty much the same in every animal, so even a vet who doesn't know much about guinea pigs should be able to help your girl.
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I noticed that my guinea pig's eye is starting to get cloudy - is this a sign that I need to take her to the vet sooner rather than later, or is it a potentially good sign of healing? My mother is very reluctant to go to the vet about this, and I don't know if she'll budge unless something actually bad shows up.. I'm also going to be going on a week-long vacation on Friday, so I don't have much time to see the vet before then. My mother read that flushing out the cloudy stuff for a week with saline and then seeing a vet if it does not improve after that is how she wants to go about it. Is there any validity to this? I'm just really getting worried, as I'm getting two very mixed signals about this from what I'm reading and what my mother is reading.
 
thatoneguyouknow said:
I noticed that my guinea pig's eye is starting to get cloudy - is this a sign that I need to take her to the vet sooner rather than later, or is it a potentially good sign of healing? My mother is very reluctant to go to the vet about this, and I don't know if she'll budge unless something actually bad shows up.. I'm also going to be going on a week-long vacation on Friday, so I don't have much time to see the vet before then. My mother read that flushing out the cloudy stuff for a week with saline and then seeing a vet if it does not improve after that is how she wants to go about it. Is there any validity to this? I'm just really getting worried, as I'm getting two very mixed signals about this from what I'm reading and what my mother is reading.
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It’s a sign of it getting worse, please see a vet as soon as possible. Eye issues should be seen by a vet within 24 hours of the first symptom as they tend to deteriorate quickly.
 
Betsy said:
You can't flush out the cloudy stuff. It's a sign that the eye is ulcerating. How would she like salt water on her eyeball every day for a week?
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By the way, I can only see a very slight increase in brightness from the hurt eye and the normal eye, was I correct in calling that a cloudy eye?
 
I'm afraid what your mother is reading is highly incorrect and frankly dangerous.
Your piggy’s eye is clouding because it is damaged and ulcerating, it is already getting worse.

Eyes need to be seen by a vet within 24 hours of the injury first occurring.
Eyes deteriorate very quickly and delaying correct treatment increases the risks of irreparable damage and potential for needing the eye to be removed.
Please don’t delay in seeing a vet.
 
Piggies&buns said:
I'm afraid what your mother is reading is highly incorrect and frankly dangerous.
Your piggy’s eye is clouding because it is damaged and ulcerating, it is already getting worse.

Eyes need to be seen by a vet within 24 hours of the injury first occurring.
Eyes deteriorate very quickly and delaying increases the risks of irreparable damage and potential for needing the eye to be removed.
Please don’t delay in seeing a vet.
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:agr: See a vet asap. You don’t want it to get even worse risking your piggy and having go under even more care than it already needs.
 
Even if you can’t see a Guinea pig specialist a general vet should be able to check the eye and diagnose the issues. Eye ulcers can be so painful and can get worse very quickly without treatment. Definitely get him to a vet to get the eye checked as soon as possible x
 
I’ve had many issues with hay poke because they love to bury their heads in the hay despite me doing everything to try and prevent it, it does just happen sometimes. I’ve seen a variety of differant vets for their eyes and all have been competent and able to examine and diagnose an issue. X best of luck ❤️
 
Cloudy eye sounds serious. I would make an appointment with the vet asap.
 
thatoneguyouknow said:
I noticed that my guinea pig's eye is starting to get cloudy - is this a sign that I need to take her to the vet sooner rather than later, or is it a potentially good sign of healing? My mother is very reluctant to go to the vet about this, and I don't know if she'll budge unless something actually bad shows up.. I'm also going to be going on a week-long vacation on Friday, so I don't have much time to see the vet before then. My mother read that flushing out the cloudy stuff for a week with saline and then seeing a vet if it does not improve after that is how she wants to go about it. Is there any validity to this? I'm just really getting worried, as I'm getting two very mixed signals about this from what I'm reading and what my mother is reading.
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Please see a vet asap.
As was written above, any sign of cloudiness is a sign that the eye is getting worse.
 
I saw a vet that wasn't an expert in piggies for hay poke because it was a weekend and my usual vet wasn't in. It was definitely worth going at the weekend and not waiting as when she put dye in her eye you could see an ulcer starting to form. She was given antibiotic drops, pain killers and corneal repair gel. I would go to the vets today.
 
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