Hey, guys! First time poster on this site, long time lurker. I've always come to this place for non-medical related reasons but today is the day, I guess, that I join that club. I was hoping anyone could enlighten me as to what's going on with my piggy. I will be calling the vet as soon as they open today to book an appointment but knowing that place, it'll be a week before I can get anything.
I have a 2-year-old male guinea pig, Nibbles, that started growing a red lump from his bottom lid 3 weeks ago. At first I figured it was hay poke and used dry-eye relief drops once a day for a few days. I couldn't tell if it was getting better or staying the same, but figuring it was hay poke I thought it just needed time to heal. It wasn't growing up until this week. I stupidly thought it was a sty and went out to get him drops for that thinking it would help get rid of it. I gave him one drop two days ago and then another drop yesterday and it did not help one bit. In fact, it made it worse. Not knowing what to do early this morning, I put a warm compress on his eye and gave him the normal dry-eye relief drops. That seemed to help soothe it a lot.
He is eating well, drinking water, going to the bathroom plenty (as he usually does.) His vocalization hasn't changed, and he still comes up to the side of his cage to boop my nose.
Little bit of background towards the last month:
I don't know if this is relevant but there have been a lot of changes revolving him lately. As he was developing this eye problem (barely noticable at that point but something I was paying attention to), my first guinea pig of 6 years died. This one was Nibbles' cage companion. They weren't buddy-buddy with each other but they didn't hate each other either. I'll admit, this is when my negligence towards him started. I was so caught up in the other one's death that I didn't give Nibbles the proper medical attention. He did get his normal fruits, veggies, pellets, hay, and water for that week, but that was mainly it. I moved him into my room to make sure he had company but my mind was so clouded that I set his care back a week.
A few days after my other guinea pig died (of old age) I got another cage companion for Nibbles. This time a 1.5 month old male guinea pig. I kept them separate (thankfully) and long story short, a day after getting him I took him to the vet, found out he had pneumonia, the 2nd day into treatment he passed. That was the second blow to me, and another setback for Nibbles.
The day before Thanksgiving I got a 2.5 month old male guinea pig. Nibbles and him immediately hit it off. I made sure the new guy was healthy and they've been living together since. They do everything together: eat, sleep, cuddle, play. He's like the big brother and I can tell he enjoys it.
Besides the mess that this month has been, Nibbles has been fine. I'll post a picture of his eye and hopefully someone can give me advice on how to treat it until his vet appointment. Thank you.
I have a 2-year-old male guinea pig, Nibbles, that started growing a red lump from his bottom lid 3 weeks ago. At first I figured it was hay poke and used dry-eye relief drops once a day for a few days. I couldn't tell if it was getting better or staying the same, but figuring it was hay poke I thought it just needed time to heal. It wasn't growing up until this week. I stupidly thought it was a sty and went out to get him drops for that thinking it would help get rid of it. I gave him one drop two days ago and then another drop yesterday and it did not help one bit. In fact, it made it worse. Not knowing what to do early this morning, I put a warm compress on his eye and gave him the normal dry-eye relief drops. That seemed to help soothe it a lot.
He is eating well, drinking water, going to the bathroom plenty (as he usually does.) His vocalization hasn't changed, and he still comes up to the side of his cage to boop my nose.
Little bit of background towards the last month:
I don't know if this is relevant but there have been a lot of changes revolving him lately. As he was developing this eye problem (barely noticable at that point but something I was paying attention to), my first guinea pig of 6 years died. This one was Nibbles' cage companion. They weren't buddy-buddy with each other but they didn't hate each other either. I'll admit, this is when my negligence towards him started. I was so caught up in the other one's death that I didn't give Nibbles the proper medical attention. He did get his normal fruits, veggies, pellets, hay, and water for that week, but that was mainly it. I moved him into my room to make sure he had company but my mind was so clouded that I set his care back a week.
A few days after my other guinea pig died (of old age) I got another cage companion for Nibbles. This time a 1.5 month old male guinea pig. I kept them separate (thankfully) and long story short, a day after getting him I took him to the vet, found out he had pneumonia, the 2nd day into treatment he passed. That was the second blow to me, and another setback for Nibbles.
The day before Thanksgiving I got a 2.5 month old male guinea pig. Nibbles and him immediately hit it off. I made sure the new guy was healthy and they've been living together since. They do everything together: eat, sleep, cuddle, play. He's like the big brother and I can tell he enjoys it.
Besides the mess that this month has been, Nibbles has been fine. I'll post a picture of his eye and hopefully someone can give me advice on how to treat it until his vet appointment. Thank you.