BrimstoneVomit
Member
Cavy Gazer
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2016
- Messages
- 6
So, my Xander man is adorable. He came with problems at 4 years old, but I thought it was pretty cut-and-dry. Apply neobacitracin gel twice a day for 2 weeks and recheck. Most likely a bacterial infection. One of the vets I work with loves guinea pigs and was excited to get experience treating them.
After the recheck we ended up uncovering more. He clearly had skin issues and parts of mites were spotted under a microscope - those suckers burrow deep! We did two rounds of injectable Ivermectin for that. But the eyes were not only still a bit goopy, there was an accumulation of discharge over the eye itself. We monitored and switched from the gel to Tobramycin drops. It largely seemed to help, but the congealed discharge remained over the cornea. At one point we decided to numb his eyes and clean them off with sterile swabs. Easy peesy. We continued Tobramycin for another week and rechecked.
When that round was over, we dropped the meds and watched. Eye goobers started again and the corneal accumulation slowly came back. Then we noticed it; The little guy isn't producing tears very well! So my vet and I looked over the boards on VIN (Veterinary Information Network) and only one clear case of chronic dry eye came up. It recommended a trial of opthalmic cyclosporine drops with the caveat that they don't ingest (much of) it, or at least get a super dilute compound. The rationale is that persisting inflammation might be hampering the tear ducts.
So I ordered 0.1% cyclosporin drops from our local compounding pharmacy for $89. Eep. But at least that stuff's going to last. After 4 weeks and two more rechecks, both of his eyes have a healthier sheen of tears with his right eye struggling a little more than the left. White discharge is still being produced, though we suspect it's because his eye is trying to collect and flush out the oily composition of the drops; there's no clinical sign of infection.
The hope is that we can taper the dosing down when/if his eyes are both producing a nominal amount of tears. Currently it's one dose a day, next step is every other day. Sadly it's unlikely he will be able to ween off the drops entirely. It's made his relationship with me a little more guarded, but at least I have the experience and can help him.
Edited by bpatters: Changed the title of the thread. Post all medical-related items for this pig on this thread.
After the recheck we ended up uncovering more. He clearly had skin issues and parts of mites were spotted under a microscope - those suckers burrow deep! We did two rounds of injectable Ivermectin for that. But the eyes were not only still a bit goopy, there was an accumulation of discharge over the eye itself. We monitored and switched from the gel to Tobramycin drops. It largely seemed to help, but the congealed discharge remained over the cornea. At one point we decided to numb his eyes and clean them off with sterile swabs. Easy peesy. We continued Tobramycin for another week and rechecked.
When that round was over, we dropped the meds and watched. Eye goobers started again and the corneal accumulation slowly came back. Then we noticed it; The little guy isn't producing tears very well! So my vet and I looked over the boards on VIN (Veterinary Information Network) and only one clear case of chronic dry eye came up. It recommended a trial of opthalmic cyclosporine drops with the caveat that they don't ingest (much of) it, or at least get a super dilute compound. The rationale is that persisting inflammation might be hampering the tear ducts.
So I ordered 0.1% cyclosporin drops from our local compounding pharmacy for $89. Eep. But at least that stuff's going to last. After 4 weeks and two more rechecks, both of his eyes have a healthier sheen of tears with his right eye struggling a little more than the left. White discharge is still being produced, though we suspect it's because his eye is trying to collect and flush out the oily composition of the drops; there's no clinical sign of infection.
The hope is that we can taper the dosing down when/if his eyes are both producing a nominal amount of tears. Currently it's one dose a day, next step is every other day. Sadly it's unlikely he will be able to ween off the drops entirely. It's made his relationship with me a little more guarded, but at least I have the experience and can help him.
Edited by bpatters: Changed the title of the thread. Post all medical-related items for this pig on this thread.
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