Crusty Eyes small crusties?

rachelappel · Aug 9, 2013

I came home tonight to find that my 5ish month old piggy had a few crusties around only one of her eyes. it was only on the left eye and looked more like a little dandruff than eye crusties. I tried to find a post on here that was similar but couldn't. She has no nose discharge, and has been eating (hay, pellets, veggies) and drinking normal and her poop is normal (she's in a cage by herself right now). My normal vet is now closed until Monday and I honestly don't trust bringing her to an emergency vet, since they can barely ever figure out what's wrong with a cat or dog and they always charge an arm and a leg. Is there anything I can do until my vet is open on Monday besides just keep an eye on it? I cleaned it all off with some warm water to see if any more appear and as of yet, its still clear (its only been about an hour though). I'll definitely be monitoring her all weekend very closely, but should I up her vitamin c intake? Or do anything else special?

Note: If it does absolutely get worse before Monday I'll end up taking her in but...I just don't really trust any emergency vets around here.

PiggieGuinea · Aug 9, 2013

I think you should just keep an eye on it for now

Melissa123 · Aug 9, 2013

What color was it? One of my boys always seems to miss some of his cleaning fluid and he will end up with white crusties at the bottom corner of his eyes.

rachelappel · Aug 9, 2013

they were white, it was only on one eye and not both, and i know with other animals with URIs the discharge is usually in both and its usually runny, whereas this was just a few crusties, no running discharge

Melissa123 · Aug 9, 2013

rachelappel said:
they were white, it was only on one eye and not both, and i know with other animals with URIs the discharge is usually in both and its usually runny, whereas this was just a few crusties, no running discharge

I am guessing your piggy just missed some eye cleaning fluid then! Of course still keep an close eye on him anyways. When I first adopted Wrigley (my lazy boy!) I thought something was going on as everyday I would find white crusts. Months later and he is a healthy, happy piggy!

With URI's not every symptom will show at the same time. Some have been known just to have eye discharge; Normally yellow, greenish though.

rachelappel · Aug 10, 2013

Since last night, there have been no further developments, no more crusties or anything, so perhaps that is all it was. Her weight is still normal too, so I suppose I'll just keep an eye on her. Hopefully that's all it was

Melissa123 · Aug 10, 2013

Good to hear!

rachelappel · Aug 20, 2013

so i posted this 10 days ago and had no further developments in the crusties. but today i notice there is more. this time on both eyes (though the right has more than the left eye). i am attaching a picture of her right eye so see if this is something that the vet needs to treat or if it is in fact, just crusty cleaning fluid. when i think of URI i think of more runny/goopy nasty stuff. she has no drainage out of her nose. weight is the about the same. she's eating and drinking normally. i've just (thankfully) never had to deal with a URI in a piggy so i'm just not sure.

bpatters · Aug 20, 2013

Possibly cleaning fluid, possibly beginning of a fungus infection. I'd get small sterile gauze pads and sterile eye drops and wipe each eye (separate gauze pad for each) a couple of times a day for a couple of days. If you notice that she's beginning to lose hair around the eye, it's most likely a fungus infection and will need an ointment from the vet. An antibiotic ointment won't do, as that will just make the fungus worse. I think there are over-the-counter eye drops and ointments, but I don't see any for small pets -- I think a horse is the smallest animal I found that they're made for.

rachelappel · Aug 20, 2013

any specific brand/type of eye drops? i already have another piggy that's going back to the vet for a recheck in three days so if it does happen to get worse, i'll be bringing her with, but hopefully its just cleaning fluid.

any ideas on how she could get a fungal infection, if god forbid that's what it happens to be?

bpatters · Aug 20, 2013

Fungus is everywhere, and sometimes it just gets a foothold and starts an infection.

Any kind of sterile saline solution should do -- most drug stores sell their own brands.

rachelappel · Aug 20, 2013

well, hopefully its not a fungus, but i'll wipe her eyes out and keep an eye on her for the next few days. i'll be praying it goes away though!

foggycreekcavy · Aug 20, 2013

When pigs get an accumulation of dried grooming fluid around their eyes, it usually means that they aren't feeling well enough to groom as usual.

rachelappel · Aug 21, 2013

foggycreekcavy said:
When pigs get an accumulation of dried grooming fluid around their eyes, it usually means that they aren't feeling well enough to groom as usual.

If that's the case, where might I draw the line of waiting and take her to the vet? She hasn't developed anymore crusties or anything, her weight is constant, her behavior and eating habits are also the same. I'm not against taking her to the vet, but I don't want to take her there when now there isn't anything "wrong" with her, if that makes sense? We've already had about $3000 in other vet bills in the last few months for some other animals of ours, and my hubby is a little gun shy about vets now.

Also, this piggy only has three legs, is that something that might hinder her from being able to sit up and clean herself properly? It hasn't affected her as of yet, but now that she's growing and getting chunkier...I just don't know.

foggycreekcavy · Aug 31, 2013

Sorry, I haven't been here for awhile.

How is she? It's possible that having only three legs could have something to do with not being able to groom efficiently. Did you end up taking her to the vet or did you wait? I think if she was eating and drinking normally and hadn't had more problems, I'd wait on the vet visit.

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