Watery eye.

[jess496]

My guinea pig seems to have a watery eye but no sign of any issues. He's eating very well, active etc but his one eye keeps watering alot and sometimes it would build up on his hair causing the hair under his eye to go hard which isn't very nice as he's got a very tiny bald mark from the hair falling off but not very noticeable. I think it's been about 2 weeks that he's had it as I thought by now it would stop and thought possibly allergies?. He doesn't have runny nose or anything like that. Is it anything to be concerned about?.
The vets are an hour away, the exotic vet is only there every other Wednesday and Fridays but I really don't want to stress him out by taking him to the vet if it's not really necessary.
If you zoom in you can see the water in corner of his eye. Will it go away eventually?. When he gets watery eye, his other eye looks fine & clear if that helps.

 

[piggieminder]

@BossHogg please can you move this thread to the Health and Illness section where it will be picked by a health expert in the morning.

 

[BossHogg]

Done.

 

[Piggies&buns]

If it is an excess of normal white cleaning fluid then it is not of concern.

If it is clear watering or discoloured (green/yellow) then that signifies that there is irritation or an issue and should be seen by a vet.
Eye issues are considered urgent and should be seen within 24 hours if you suspect any injury.
An exotic vet does not need to see an eye issue - eyes are the same across all species so any vet can check out an eye issue. (The key with any eye issue is having it seen very quickly (within 24 hours of the issue starting)).

Thread 'How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide'

Oct 2, 2012

Overview
1 Does my guinea pig need to see a vet?
2 Emergency: Things that need immediate action
3 See promptly: Things that could wait until the next day (24 hours)
4 See during regular hours: Things that could wait a few days
5 First aid, emergency and bridging care links


1 Does my guinea pig need to see a vet?

In short - yes, if your worried its always best to see or speak to a vet or nurse about any concerns, however there are...

• Abi_nurse
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Health & Illness Support Corner

• 

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

If there is lots of clear fluid watering (irritation or pain; drying into transparent crusts if overspilling) or a build up/overflow of grey/bluish ulcerating infection gunk from an injury, then please see a vet within 24 hours of you noticing if it all possible, or as soon thereafter.
Any greenish/yellow/orange gunk or crusts on the eye or nostrils are from an advanced un- or undertreated upper respiratory tract infection (URI).

Any bleeding in the eye or any burst eye count as emergencies that should be seen out of hours or as soon as possible if not. Please ring an out-of hours or 24 hours clinic for advice.

What is harmless is milky eye cleaning fluid that dries into clear white blob outside the eye if overspilling. Guinea pigs only blink when in pain; they use this fluid to clean their eyes. It is usually reabsorbed via the tiny tear duct in the front tip of the eye.

Sometimes, however, an eye can keep watering without any obvious reason. My Tegan had that but despite several vet checks nothing was ever found. I would recommend that you use some carbomer based tear gel (any online brand will do) for comfort and rehydration in the eye.

 

[jess496]

Hi

If there is lots of clear fluid watering (irritation or pain; drying into transparent crusts if overspilling) or a build up/overflow of grey/bluish ulcerating infection gunk from an injury, then please see a vet within 24 hours of you noticing if it all possible, or as soon thereafter.
Any greenish/yellow/orange gunk or crusts on the eye or nostrils are from an advanced un- or undertreated upper respiratory tract infection (URI).

Any bleeding in the eye or any burst eye count as emergencies that should be seen out of hours or as soon as possible if not. Please ring an out-of hours or 24 hours clinic for advice.

What is harmless is milky eye cleaning fluid that dries into clear white blob outside the eye if overspilling. Guinea pigs only blink when in pain; they use this fluid to clean their eyes. It is usually reabsorbed via the tiny tear duct in the front tip of the eye.

Sometimes, however, an eye can keep watering without any obvious reason. My Tegan had that but despite several vet checks nothing was ever found. I would recommend that you use some carbomer based tear gel (any online brand will do) for comfort and rehydration in the eye.

Thankyou for your help. I think saw some sort of colour on his eye I'm not sure if it was like slight yellow, it looked abit sticky so I think this might mean an infection?. I will see if I can get him seen by the vet. It's very difficult to tell if there is something wrong or not, if it was milky fluid surely the other eye would have it too? It just seems to be his one eye.

 

[jess496]

If it is an excess of normal white cleaning fluid then it is not of concern.

If it is clear watering or discoloured (green/yellow) then that signifies that there is irritation or an issue and should be seen by a vet.
Eye issues are considered urgent and should be seen within 24 hours if you suspect any injury.
An exotic vet does not need to see an eye issue - eyes are the same across all species so any vet can check out an eye issue. (The key with any eye issue is having it seen very quickly (within 24 hours of the issue starting)).

Thread 'How Soon Should My Guinea Pig See A Vet? - A Quick Guide'

Oct 2, 2012

Overview
1 Does my guinea pig need to see a vet?
2 Emergency: Things that need immediate action
3 See promptly: Things that could wait until the next day (24 hours)
4 See during regular hours: Things that could wait a few days
5 First aid, emergency and bridging care links


1 Does my guinea pig need to see a vet?

In short - yes, if your worried its always best to see or speak to a vet or nurse about any concerns, however there are...

• Abi_nurse
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Health & Illness Support Corner

• 

Okay thankyou for your help. I think I saw a slight yellow on his eye and it seemed sticky as well so I think I better take him to the vet just in case it's an infection. Problem is I don't trust vets in my area, they are useless without sounding harsh! They just don't know what they are doing from my experience so I might have to travel an hour to Exotic vet just in case it's something underlying.

 

[Wiebke]

Thankyou for your help. I think saw some sort of colour on his eye I'm not sure if it was like slight yellow, it looked abit sticky so I think this might mean an infection?. I will see if I can get him seen by the vet. It's very difficult to tell if there is something wrong or not, if it was milky fluid surely the other eye would have it too? It just seems to be his one eye.

Unfortunately, only a hands-on vet examination can answer your questions. We can only guess. Vets use a special dye that shows up any eye damage under uv light that is not visible otherwise because it is hidden behind a sheen of moisture.

I don't think that there is anything major going on but lacking direct access we simply do not have the means to tell you whether there is an issue or not. It is the downside of remote support.

Please forget about URI - gunky eyes are way down the list of symptoms in order of appearance. You would have reported other respiratory issues several days earlier.

PS: Eye cleaning fluid that is not absorbed by a tear duct is usually one-sided because each eye has its own drainage hole.