Red and white eye?

[CLK]

So today I was washing my boys and I noticed one of their eyes appeared to have a white and red ring. Slightly bulged more than the other eye. Does anyone know what this is? He’s always had a white ring around his eye as far as I can remember but the redness and bulging is new.


I'm going to get both of them to the vet ASAP to check them out but I was wondering if anyone knows what it is? And what the treatment options would likely be?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Any eye issues and bulging are considered urgent so definitely get him into the vet straight away.
We can’t say what it might be and consequently what treatment might be.
I hope he is ok

 

[weepweeps]

Good luck at the vets. I hope it’s easily sorted.

 

[Princess Dustmop]

The white, to me, looks like osseous metaplasia, abnormal bone growth in soft tissues, in this case the eye. If it is, it's not painful and only detrimental in that it causes blindness as its advances, so while there is no real treatment, there's also not generally need for intervention.

The bulging would be something that should be checked, though, as bulging could potentially cause pain, and you would want to check that there isn't another issue. Any time you're seeing changes or have concerns, especially eye related, it's worth getting the piggy checked by a vet.

Here's some information about osseous metaplasia:
Article about 'Ocular heterotopic bone formation in guinea pigs'
Forum discussion of 'Osseous metaplasia of the Eye'

 

[CLK]

I would assume the blindness is irreversible ? I had always wondered if he was developing blindness. Ive always had to put treats directly in front of him. Or if I would go to the cage he would go to different spot and stand up opposite to where I was. Blind or not he will still be loved, he’s my little fur baby. I just really hope he’s not in any pain. He’s been eating and drinking normally. I wish I noticed it sooner, but I’ve been all over the place with school, the baby and puppy lately.

I’m going to call over to the vet to take them in.

Thank you all so much!

 

[CLK]

Ugh I can’t get them in until Sunday because they only have one vet there that does “exotic animals”

I shall come back with an update! I pray it doesn’t get any worse before then

 

[CLK]

Oh God I miss understood, apparently it’s not until October 18th… I’m going to have to try to call around to a different vet.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ugh I can’t get them in until Sunday because they only have one vet there that does “exotic animals”

I shall come back with an update! I pray it doesn’t get any worse before then

Eyes are the same across all species so it shouldn’t need to be an exotic vet

 

[CLK]

Eyes are the same across all species so it shouldn’t need to be an exotic vet

For some reason the places closet to me in Massachusetts just refuse to see them because they consider them “exotic.”

 

[Princess Dustmop]

In Massachusetts, there are a few vets that will see exotics. For emergency vets (walk ins will take a bit, but you'll get seen ...), it would be Tufts in Grafton, Angell in Boston or Waltham, I think Blue Pearl in Waltham might take exotics, as well, and I think there's one out by the cape, too. Regular vets may or may not have something open before Sunday, though you could call around.

 

[CLK]

Thank you! I’ll have to go look into the Boston one. It’s always a pain to travel out there. I’m out in Malden. So I’ve been looking more so around here. I called in a few places and they all referred me back to the same vet that isn’t available until October 18th I’ll keep looking around for some where that can see him sooner.

 

[Princess Dustmop]

Angell in Boston should have a 24 hour emergency department, or you could call to see if they have a regular exotics appointment, as well ... they have specific numbers and email for the avian and exotics department.

 

[lucifermp3]

Thank you! I’ll have to go look into the Boston one. It’s always a pain to travel out there. I’m out in Malden. So I’ve been looking more so around here. I called in a few places and they all referred me back to the same vet that isn’t available until October 18th I’ll keep looking around for some where that can see him sooner.

I’m also in Malden; for emergency care, I’ve always had good luck @ Angell Boston. One of my boys was admitted there for almost a week a couple months ago & their avian/exotics team is really good. For routine care (& urgent once you’re a regular patient) Dr. O’Leary at VCA Wakefield is an amazing pig-savvy vet and I’d 100% recommend him. They also have other docs at the practice who see exotics; Dr. Storey’s seen my pigs a couple times & she’s also great. They get cancellations often, so you could try making an appointment & then calling daily to see if any have come up.

 

[CLK]

I’m also in Malden; for emergency care, I’ve always had good luck @ Angell Boston. One of my boys was admitted there for almost a week a couple months ago & their avian/exotics team is really good. For routine care (& urgent once you’re a regular patient) Dr. O’Leary at VCA Wakefield is an amazing pig-savvy vet and I’d 100% recommend him. They also have other docs at the practice who see exotics; Dr. Storey’s seen my pigs a couple times & she’s also great. They get cancellations often, so you could try making an appointment & then calling daily to see if any have come up.

I saw this late but I will definitely consider them for the future! They’re unsure what it could be, said it could be a problem with the back teeth, or it could be a abscess/tumor behind the eye The vet said without a cat scan they can’t really be sure. So I’m trying the medicine they gave for him first if it doesn’t help I’ll have to go back. It cost an arm and a leg just for medication for 14 days for both of them. Plus the tests for mites. Ended up costing me over $700

 

[CLK]

They have him on these two medications for 14 days to try it out and see if it’ll help
I hope it does

 

[Princess Dustmop]

They're both antibiotics. TMP/SMZ is the generic name for Bactrim; it's used for a number of things in guinea pigs. The ofloxacin eye drops are also an antibiotic, used for things like haypoke eye injuries; it's in the same class (quinolones) as Baytril (enrofloxacin). They're both going to treat or prevent infection, but that's about the extent of an antibiotic's functionality.

 

[lucifermp3]

I saw this late but I will definitely consider them for the future! They’re unsure what it could be, said it could be a problem with the back teeth, or it could be a abscess/tumor behind the eye The vet said without a cat scan they can’t really be sure. So I’m trying the medicine they gave for him first if it doesn’t help I’ll have to go back. It cost an arm and a leg just for medication for 14 days for both of them. Plus the tests for mites. Ended up costing me over $700

I hope that the antibiotics help! Keeping my fingers crossed for you & your boy.

 

[Freela]

Did they diagnose osseous metaplasia? Because that photo looks like an absolute textbook case of it. I'm not a vet, but a friend's guinea pig had it so I've seen it in person before. Is the eye bulging or is the vet just concerned about the ring around the eye? Can you post an updated photo?