PLEASE HELP - Crusty Eye

[mikkysaur]

At first it was just little white flakes that would go away, assuming she cleaned them off herself. Now it’s gotten this bad in the span of 3-4 days. It’s only in her left eye, and my other piggy doesnt have it.

She also hasnt been eating as many pellets as before. Her and her sister would finish the bowl every day, but now half of it is still there (i dont know who’s been eating less, but it’s been happening for the past couple days.) I just assumed they’ve been eating more hay, and we switched from kaytee timothy complete pellets to oxbow adult pellets. We switched maybe a month ago so now I’ll switch back to kaytee to see if they’ll eat more pellets again.

Ever since we got them, they would make little puffing/sneezing sounds. They dont really make those sounds anymore, only from time to time and it hasn’t gotten worse.

Her breathing sounds normal, no discharge anywhere. I am getting her to a vet asap and buying a scale to weigh my piggies from now on.

Do you have any idea what it is so i can bring this up to my vet? And do you think it’s contagious to my other piggy? Any help is appreciated, I’m worried sick

 

[mikkysaur]

Additional info:

Other than eating less pellets, she’s been eating, drinking, and playing normally

Possible things I’ve come across: sleep, cleaning fluid, hay poke/ something in the eye, blocked tear duct, conjunctivitis, URI

The girls had ringworm in the past so that’s already been treated for

 

[Betsy]

Always treat eyes as an emergency. My vet always sees eye problems the same day. If it is dried eye cleaning fluid a vet visit will put your mind at rest. A vet would rather see a healthy animal and an anxious owner than a sick animal and an owner who has left it too late. Your Piggy is gorgeous! May we have more pictures please? Of both of them?

 

[Jesse's pigs]

I agree that a vet visit is in order and switching the food back might help increase appetite again - I haven't had that problem with my boys cos they'll eat anything, but my rabbit (Bigwig) is sooooo darn fussy I have to change his food several times throughout the year.

The fact she is still acting her usual self is a good sign as very sick piggies tend to show you that they aren't feeling quite well by going lethargic etc. But yes just a checkup wouldn't hurt.

 

[Wiebke]

View attachment 119301


At first it was just little white flakes that would go away, assuming she cleaned them off herself. Now it’s gotten this bad in the span of 3-4 days. It’s only in her left eye, and my other piggy doesnt have it.

She also hasnt been eating as many pellets as before. Her and her sister would finish the bowl every day, but now half of it is still there (i dont know who’s been eating less, but it’s been happening for the past couple days.) I just assumed they’ve been eating more hay, and we switched from kaytee timothy complete pellets to oxbow adult pellets. We switched maybe a month ago so now I’ll switch back to kaytee to see if they’ll eat more pellets again.

Ever since we got them, they would make little puffing/sneezing sounds. They dont really make those sounds anymore, only from time to time and it hasn’t gotten worse.

Her breathing sounds normal, no discharge anywhere. I am getting her to a vet asap and buying a scale to weigh my piggies from now on.

Do you have any idea what it is so i can bring this up to my vet? And do you think it’s contagious to my other piggy? Any help is appreciated, I’m worried sick

Please have any potential eye injury seen promptly. Transparent white crusts are the result of an irritation or injury in the eye, like something stuck firmly under a lid, a scratch or a penetration of the eye surface. Blinking and a retracted or protruding eye are other symptoms that something is not right in cases where an obvious serious injury cannot be missed. A blueish dot or film over the eyeball is the sign of an ulcerating injury.

Eye injuries can deteriorate very quickly with the extent of the damage only visible with a special die under UV light. the good news is that if treated promptly and correctly, most eye injuries expect of the very worst will also heal quickly and well. Your eye doesn't look like their is a massive problem, but as it is ongoing it should be investigated.

Milky white fluid and deep white crusts around the eye are from not fully absorbed cleaning fluid which guinea pigs use to clean their eyes as they do not blink and do not use clear tear fluid to lubricate their eyes.

Thick yellow or greenish crusts on eyes and nose are the sign of a well developed under- or untreated upper respiratory tract infection. You are definitely not dealing with one, just a slight sensitivity to hay dust, which has no bearing on the eye.

 

[mikkysaur]

Always treat eyes as an emergency. My vet always sees eye problems the same day. If it is dried eye cleaning fluid a vet visit will put your mind at rest. A vet would rather see a healthy animal and an anxious owner than a sick animal and an owner who has left it too late. Your Piggy is gorgeous! May we have more pictures please? Of both of them?

Hi! Apologies for the late reply, I wanted to make sure things were ok with Ginny before updating.

We took her to the vet and the doctor said it wasnt an eye infection (phew!). Unfortunately her crusties were only prominent at night so I still felt uneasy haha

We ended up gently wiping away her eye crusties with a damp tissue every night (which is when they were the worst), and massaged her in case it was a blocked tear duct. After about 2 weeks they went away! So i guess it was blocked tear duct or excess cleaning fluid? It’s been 2 weeks since then and no more crusties!

Thanks so much for your advice Here are more pictures of the chonky babies

 

[mikkysaur]

I agree that a vet visit is in order and switching the food back might help increase appetite again - I haven't had that problem with my boys cos they'll eat anything, but my rabbit (Bigwig) is sooooo darn fussy I have to change his food several times throughout the year.

The fact she is still acting her usual self is a good sign as very sick piggies tend to show you that they aren't feeling quite well by going lethargic etc. But yes just a checkup wouldn't hurt.

Thanks so much for your help she is okay now and doing great! Still picky about her pellets but since her crusties cleared up she’s been eating them more the piggies even started eating bell peppers which they hated before haha. I guess their tastes are changing as theyre getting older?

 

[mikkysaur]

Please have any potential eye injury seen promptly. Transparent white crusts are the result of an irritation or injury in the eye, like something stuck firmly under a lid, a scratch or a penetration of the eye surface. Blinking and a retracted or protruding eye are other symptoms that something is not right in cases where an obvious serious injury cannot be missed. A blueish dot or film over the eyeball is the sign of an ulcerating injury.

Eye injuries can deteriorate very quickly with the extent of the damage only visible with a special die under UV light. the good news is that if treated promptly and correctly, most eye injuries expect of the very worst will also heal quickly and well. Your eye doesn't look like their is a massive problem, but as it is ongoing it should be investigated.

Milky white fluid and deep white crusts around the eye are from not fully absorbed cleaning fluid which guinea pigs use to clean their eyes as they do not blink and do not use clear tear fluid to lubricate their eyes.

Thick yellow or greenish crusts on eyes and nose are the sign of a well developed under- or untreated upper respiratory tract infection. You are definitely not dealing with one, just a slight sensitivity to hay dust, which has no bearing on the eye.

Thanks so much for your advice! Ginny is okay now and it was most likely the unabsorbed cleaning fluid. No crusties for a couple of weeks now! (Knock on wood)