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Crusty Eyes Snickers' Medical Thread

LemonySnickers

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I had a previous thread about this, but it was too old to add anything, so here's the URL to it:

https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/threads/120064-Red-stuff-in-corner-of-guinea-pig-s-eye

Anyways, hi! Here's a recap on what this is about:
I have a six year old male guinea pig who has this reddish almost purplish stain-like stuff in the corner of his right eye. Pictures are in the old thread. I get concerned about it because sometimes his eye gets weepy and he squints; this only happens every once in a while, but it still concerns me. And sometimes he gets crusties that are the same color, which leads me to believe that it isn't pigmentation. I took him to an exotic animal vet on recommendation, but the vet wasn't very helpful. And this clinic I took him to has experience with guinea pigs; I made sure before taking him. Anyways the vet said he looked entirely healthy and that there wasn't anything wrong with his eye. She said that the stain was just pigmentation, but I highly doubt that because I'm pretty sure he didn't have that mark when I got him. Since it has proven to continually get weepy every once in a while, I wanted to ask again if anyone has any idea what the stain is and what may have caused it. I'm not sure if he's just in minor discomfort or pain when it tears up; he acts normal and has been eating and drinking good. I don't want to take him to another vet unless I have to because I don't want to waste any more money on a vet who can't help me. Any advice?
 

bpatters

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

One crusty eye can be caused by a blocked tear duct. I guess it's possible that it could occur in two eyes at the same time, but it seems really unlikely to me.

You can wipe the crust away with a damp cloth, and then very very very gently massage under the eye, stroking from outside toward the nose. Do this a couple of times a day and see if it helps at all.

I don't know about the pigmentation. When you say he gets crusties that are the same color, what are they the same color as? And what color are they?
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Sometimes the crusties are white and sometimes they are the same dark color as the stain. Thanks for the suggestion! I never thought about a blocked tear duct.
 

bpatters

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

The white crusties are likely the dried "cleaning" fluid. I can't imagine what the pigmented stuff is. If you find out, please post here so we'll all learn something.
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Okay. Is there anything else I can do for his eye? It's gotten worse. I've only massaged it once, last night, but I'll do it more often. And I don't know why the picture turned upside down.
 

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bpatters

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Is he squinting that eye? Does it look smaller than the other?

If so, he's probably in pain and needs some pain medicine.
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Yes he squints it sometimes, and it doesn't really look smaller than the other. Maybe a little; it's hard to tell. Is there any over-the-counter pain medicine I can get without taking him to a vet? My mom suggested holding a warm compress to the eye, so I just did that. If it doesn't get better soon, I will certainly take him to the vet.
 

bpatters

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

No, he needs an exotic vet to treat the eye. It's not fair to him to leave him in pain -- he depends on you for his medical care as well as for food and housing.

Eye injuries are painful. Please find someone who can adequately treat this.
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Okay, so I took him to the vet today (I saw a different one than last time, but still at the same place), and she said that his breathing sounded heavy, and that he could have an URI. I told her that was interesting because the last time I took him in, the vet mentioned the same thing about his breathing, but she wasn't very informative about it so I didn't feel the need to get antibiotics. Is it possible that Snickers could've had a mild URI from the time that I took him in last year to today? The vet said that the discharge from his eye could be due to that...but I never would've guessed that Snickers had an upper respiratory infection on my own. He eats and drinks normally, and is pretty active. I thought that most cases with URIs are serious and go downhill very fast.

So anyways I have him on antibiotics, and the vet also prescribed an anti-inflammatory and eye drops. Do I need Critical Care for him too because of the antibiotics? She prescribed Baytril.
 

bpatters

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

They don't always go downhill fast with a URI, but they definitely can, which is why you have to be so watchful.

He may or may not need Critical Care, depending on whether the Baytril causes him to stop eating. But he definitely needs to take the Baytril with food, and he needs a probiotic 60-90 minutes after every dose of antibiotic. The Bene-Bac in the knurled syringe is the easiest to dose.
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Okay. I'll get some of that as soon as I can. Thank you!
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Unfortunately the only pet store that carries Bene-Bac only has the powdered stuff. I can order the syringe type online, but it'll take five days to arrive. Is it important that he gets it right away?
 

bpatters

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Yeah, it is important. If he stops eating because of the Baytril, he can develop GI stasis and/or bloat. It's really important to prevent that, and Bene-Bac is the best weapon to do that. I've never used the powdered kind, so don't know how it's dosed.

Your other option is to feed him poop soup from a healthy pig, preferably the cecal poop rather than the beans. That can be hard to get, and you'll probably have to clean his anal sack to maybe get one.
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Okay. The soonest I can get it is tomorrow. I've been monitoring him though and he seems to have a good appetite.
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Okay, so should I give the Bene-Bac to him twice a day then, since that's how often I'm giving him the antibiotics? And the powdered stuff doesn't look too difficult to dose; the tricky part will be getting him to eat it, since the instructions say to put it on moist food but I'm not sure that will be the best way.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

You can try mixing the powdered stuff with 1ml of water and drawing it up in a syringe. That's what I used to do with acidophilus powder with Sly. Just make sure it's as thoroughly mixed as you can get it.

Either that, or you can mix it up with some Critical Care.
 

bpatters

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

You give him the Bene-Bac 60-90 minutes after the antibiotic dose.
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

You can try mixing the powdered stuff with 1ml of water and drawing it up in a syringe. That's what I used to do with acidophilus powder with Sly. Just make sure it's as thoroughly mixed as you can get it.

Either that, or you can mix it up with some Critical Care.

Thanks! I think I'll try that. One last question- bpatters you said to give the Bene-bac after each dose of antibiotics, but each dose of Bene-Bac is one teaspoon of the stuff. So two teaspoons a day is fine?
 

LemonySnickers

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

Last night was a nightmare trying to syringe feed Snickers a teaspoon of Bene-bac mixed with water. I think what I'm going to do is just give him a teaspoon per day and give him half after each round of antibiotics. Two teaspoons a day seems like a lot. He wasn't eating much last night so I started freaking out, because I don't have any Critical Care on hand. I think I'll try getting some, but his appetite seems to be doing a little better this morning.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Re: Stain in Corner of Guinea Pig's Eye

If you don't have Critical Care, you can soak pellets until they are a consistency that can be fed by syringe, basically water. But he'll get a lot of the nutrition he needs from that.

I believe you can get Critical Care from Amazon with one or two day shipping. It's always good to keep it on hand.
 
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