Eyes/Non-crusty Lady's Eye

It's probably a hay poke, you should take her to the vet with Sugar so the vet can remove it.

I've thoroughly examined the eye as much as I can. There is no foreign object in her eye. The cloudy spot moves as she moves her eye. And I've noted a slight redness in the whites on the backside.

She does have a habit of digging hard into the hay rack, it is likely that she was a poked by the hay.

Can't get them in any earlier? Hay pokes are painful, and if an infection gets established inside the eye, it's difficult to treat. I'd call and see if I could go today.

bpatters said:

Can't get them in any earlier? Hay pokes are painful, and if an infection gets established inside the eye, it's difficult to treat. I'd call and see if I could go today.

Click to expand...

I'd like to get them in sooner. But Monday and Tuesday was all full. Weds and Thurs are surgery days, thus there are very few appointment openings.(and they were already taken).
If not better tomorrow, I could call my vet and see if she would be open to prescribing an antibiotic without seeing Lady. She doesn't have any other outward signs that would worry me. She's still very much being the boss hog and being her normal self.

This is next Friday? Or this Friday?

This Friday. Sorry for the confusion.

Would it damage the eye if you put sterile artificial tears in there to see if it helps? You might try that but Im not sure if that would do any harm..

Eye has gotten more cloudy and red.
I am picking up antibiotic drops right now
Vet will still see her tomorrow.

Lady's eye is now completely cloudy. But the redness is gone. She saw my vet today. The vet says she sees a scratch on Lady's eye. Says that she could of either gotten poked by a hay, scratched herself or someone else scratched her. The vet also said that Lady might have limited vision in this eye. She told me to continue to antibiotic drops and a check up is sechduled for a week later.

Poor Lady! I hope she feels better soon!

hopefully she will get used to the limited vision. I would try to not move everything around a lot in the cage even though its just one eye. It will help her out a bit.

That looks very similar to a hay poke injury one of my old boars had. He managed to keep his vision though, I think because he poked in the corner and not the actual eye probably (I witnessed it happen). I hope Lady manages okay with limited vision

I can really sympathize with you. Crackle also has an eye injury, likely from a hay poke. It was harder to spot with her, though, because she has cataracts, and sometimes squints her left eye. We were noticing that she was squinting more than usual, and that her eye was runny. Because of Poofters' spay surgery a little over two weeks ago, we had removed the hay racks to prevent climbing, and just piled hay where the racks had been. Crackle was having a great time lying in the middle of all that hay! Also, the hay would get all over the place. Perhaps with her cataracts she couldn't quite see enough to avoid a hay poke.

We have the hay racks back, and have antibiotics for Crackle's eye. Also, we're keeping their pillows, sleeping pads, and cuddle cups as clean and hay-free as possible.

Anyways, I really feel for you, and hope that Lady gets better quickly. Do keep us informed. Also, did the vet tell you if anything would speed up the recovery?

Thank you everyone for your support. Unfortunately I cannot keep everything the same in their cage. Especially since Lady encourages rearranging of the tunnels. Lol
She doesn't seem to have any issues seeing anything. So it must not be too limited. She sees the eye drops coming and tries her best to avoid it. Lol
The vet didn't mention anything to speed her recovery. I don't think anything can really speed her recovery. I know carrots support the eyes in humans, so maybe it works for pigs too?

Glad to hear she's still fighting fit. I have no idea if carrots have that effect on pigs, but it's worth a shot! Can't do any harm to give her a half a baby carrot a day. I only say half because if it's regular, sugar content might become an issue if it's a whole one(even a baby one)?

I believe it is recommended to give a whole baby carrot per pig. I also remembered that their pellets have limestone and I've been keeping their calcium intake limited.

MrWhistles said:

Thank you everyone for your support. Unfortunately I cannot keep everything the same in their cage. Especially since Lady encourages rearranging of the tunnels. Lol
She doesn't seem to have any issues seeing anything. So it must not be too limited. She sees the eye drops coming and tries her best to avoid it. Lol
The vet didn't mention anything to speed her recovery. I don't think anything can really speed her recovery. I know carrots support the eyes in humans, so maybe it works for pigs too?

Click to expand...

Hopefully I'm not overstepping my boundaries by asking you this in your piggy's thread, but I'm just wondering if you have any advice about administering the eye drops. Crackle's been on Voltaren eye drops for her cataracts, and that's relatively easy to administer. I hold her while my husband puts in the drops. Because it's a liquid, we always manage to get it in, even if it rolls off her eyelid into her eye. We're having a terrible time with the antibiotic, though, because it's an ointment and Crackle closes her eyes tightly as soon as we even pick up the tube. She has a really strong personality, and a mind of her own! Even our vet who has over thirty years of experience had quite the time checking Crackle's eyes and putting in the dye to see if there was a sore. When the vet tech then brought me the ointment, she told me to put a strip of the ointment in her lower eyelid from one corner to the other. It's just not happening! I don't know if I'm getting enough antibiotic into Crackle's eye, and if getting it on the lids and then rubbing it in is good enough.

Is your antibiotic an ointment, and if so, are you able to get it right on the eye? Hopefully you're having an easier time!

I've thought of the carrot thing too with Crackle's cataracts!

MrWhistles said:

Thank you everyone for your support. Unfortunately I cannot keep everything the same in their cage. Especially since Lady encourages rearranging of the tunnels. Lol
She doesn't seem to have any issues seeing anything. So it must not be too limited. She sees the eye drops coming and tries her best to avoid it. Lol
The vet didn't mention anything to speed her recovery. I don't think anything can really speed her recovery. I know carrots support the eyes in humans, so maybe it works for pigs too?

Click to expand...

One more thing: I've been thinking that a bit more vitamin C than usual could help with the recovery. I usually crush one Oxbow tablet and put it over Crackle and Poofters' food, and then give another half a tablet to Crackle. She loves them so that's easy. I've been giving her a whole one now as well as the crushed one on their food to help with recovery. Hopefully it's not too much, but I feel that a bit extra can't hurt, and it just might help. Crackle has also been on probiotics for awhile now as she's prone to bloat, so the probiotics could also help with any digestive issues caused by the antibiotic. I don't think that antibiotics as an ointment are hard on the digestive system the way that an antibiotic oral medication is, but probably some of it works its way inside.

Just a couple of things that could help!

Our anitbotic is an ontiment. Lady is a pain with it as well. Though she'll usually give if I give her a lettuce leaf or carrot while I am putting the drop in. I have trouble opening the lid enough for the ointment. But I am able to apply it directly to her eye and rub it in.