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Injured guinea pig and water bottle

prettynyguen

prettynyguen

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My nine month old guinea pig just had surgery to remove his eyeball because he punctured it with a piece of hay :( The operation was only two days ago, and he's already eating normally again. I can't, however, get him to drink out of his water bottle again. I've been giving him water with a syringe a few times a day so that he doesn't get dehydrated. I'm wondering if the loss of depth perception has made it too difficult to use the spout on the water bottle. I keep showing it to him and tapping the end so he knows where it is. Should I just get him a bowl of water instead? He is on fleece bedding, so no shavings would get inside. He has no problems finding his food dish.
 
prettynyguen said:
My nine month old guinea pig just had surgery to remove his eyeball because he punctured it with a piece of hay :( The operation was only two days ago, and he's already eating normally again. I can't, however, get him to drink out of his water bottle again. I've been giving him water with a syringe a few times a day so that he doesn't get dehydrated. I'm wondering if the loss of depth perception has made it too difficult to use the spout on the water bottle. I keep showing it to him and tapping the end so he knows where it is. Should I just get him a bowl of water instead? He is on fleece bedding, so no shavings would get inside. He has no problems finding his food dish.
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Hi

He is probably quite simply not thirsty. The need to drink comes before the need to eat. This means that a healthy eating guinea pig not drinking from a bottle is quite simply not thirsty.
Where it gets problematic is partial or full loss of appetite and hot/freezing weather when water becomes undrinkable or with a blocked nozzle/run out bottle.

The need to drink varies enormously from guinea pig to guinea pig. Some get all they need from their veg while others empty a bottle or more in a day as their personal normal - they all have the same life expectancy. Perhaps you are feeding a little bit more fresh veg or are just looking more closely? Of course, if you syringe water there is even less need for him to use the bottle.
I would just let him be.

An eye removal or cataracts//blindness have never been an obstacle for any sight impeded piggies of mine, not even the fully blind ones. They find the nozzle by smell.

Here is more information on drinking, including symptoms for dehydration: All About Drinking And Bottles

All the best with his eye recovery. I am very sorry that the injury has been to severe for a normal healing process on medication.
Tips For Post-operative Care
 
Thank you very much for all of the info :)

I actually just lowered the bottle and he started drinking right away. I'm not sure why he likes it lower now, but it seems to be working.

I noticed his eye was a bit red in the morning, and when I checked on him in the evening, it had completely swollen up. I took him to an emergency vet, and she said it would need to be removed. An exotic vet did the surgery, and she said that it was not uncommon with guineas and rabbits. He is recovering very well and will have his stitches out next week :)
 
prettynyguen said:
Thank you very much for all of the info :)

I actually just lowered the bottle and he started drinking right away. I'm not sure why he likes it lower now, but it seems to be working.

I noticed his eye was a bit red in the morning, and when I checked on him in the evening, it had completely swollen up. I took him to an emergency vet, and she said it would need to be removed. An exotic vet did the surgery, and she said that it was not uncommon with guineas and rabbits. He is recovering very well and will have his stitches out next week :)
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I am very sorry. It can occasionally happen like that - thankfully not all that often. A retrobulbar abscess behind the eye pushing it out is much more common but you don't get the blood in the eye in that case.

If the eye would not have been removed it would have burst. It is a rather scary experience, though! :(
 
I have two that rarely drink water, I rinse all their veggies with water so they get a drink that way. Sending lots of healing vibes to your brave little piggie
 
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