Crusty Eyes My Piggy's Right Eye Seems Irritated!

[RobthePug]

Hello, my name is Robert. I recently adopted a beautiful boar named Leo, about 3 months old. I got him yesterday and before going to bed, I noticed that his right eye seemed a little irritated. Its like he's always squinting with it and blinks really often, only with that eye. His left eye, on the other hand, seems completely fine. Also, its like his irritated eye is slightly more indented into the eye socket that his other eye which looks perfectly fine. I decided to let him sleep on it, hoping that it was just some left over crust from a nap he took or something, but I guess that's not the case. I'm a first time cavy owner and I did tons of research before and after getting my piggy. However, I don't want to jump to any conclusion without getting help from some experienced cavy slaves. Please help me! I want my beautiful Leo to be as happy as possible. Here is a picture of what his eye looks like:

 

[bpatters]

First, gently pull the eyelid back and see if you can see anything trapped under the lid. Next, get some sterile saline (artificial tears will do -- NOT contact lens cleaning solution). Gently squirt it in his eye, working from the outside toward the nose, and see if you can flush anything out.

If you don't find anything in the eye that you can't get out, then he needs to see a vet. Eye injuries are painful, and can result in having to have the eyeball removed (enucleation).

For most things with guinea pigs, you need an exotic vet. But eyes are eyes are eyes, and this is one of the few things you could use a regular small animal (dog and cat) vet for. Just don't let them give your pig an oral antibiotic. They can't tolerate many antibiotics. There's a list over at Guinea Lynx of dangerous antibiotics that should be avoided.

 

[Piggyziggy]

My guinea pig Kit Kat, had this. After a little while I took her too the vet, they simply identified that she had a cataract in her eye and it may be causing irritation, but this might not be the case with your piggie. For the irritation they gave me eye drops to use, and it worked really well. She seems to be not in anymore pain but because of her cataract she cant see much in her right eye.