Conditions Eye issue

[Guineapigs32]

My guinea pig had an inner ear infection about a month ago. Now her eye on same side she had ear infection stays open and will not close or blink. It is also red and watery. I took her to the vet and vet said it could be from the ear infection she had could cause her eye to be like that because the eyes and nose and ears are all connected. Has anyone had this type of experience? Any suggestions?

 

[bpatters]

Umm.... I don't think I like that idea very well. Did he stain the eye to see if there's any injury? Roll the lid back to make sure there's no hay poke? Did he give you any treatment for the eye?

 

[spy9doc]

Based on your interpretation of what the Vet told you..........get a new Vet! That is a BS explanation and one without much scientific rationale.

 

[Guineapigs32]

Vet told me to continue antibiotics that I’ve been giving for her pneumonia for 2 more weeks. If it was a hay poke would that keep piggy from closing or blinking her eye?

 

[Guineapigs32]

Also, is there something I can do myself for piggy?? I’m scared to touch her eye

 

[spy9doc]

Couple of things come to mind. Does anyone in your household wear contact lens? If so, there should be some sterile saline solution in the cabinet. I literally mean saline solution, NOT contact lens solution. Gently spread the eyelids apart and liberally rinse the eye. You might also use something like refresh tears.

The other thing would be to go to your favorite pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for some ophthalmic ointment (erythromycin or bacitracin) and put it in her eye. Pull the lower lid down and place a bit of the ointment on the lid, and then close the lids to spread the ointment. One or both of these ointments may require a prescription, so be sure to tell the pharmacist what it is for and perhaps s/he will give you a sample.

 

[Guineapigs32]

She has a whiteish hazy spot on her eye ball. Thinking she had a hay poke but I don’t know why she won’t close or blink that eye at all.

 

[Guineapigs32]

would this work? I asked my vet for eye drops but I’d like to do something in the mean time

 

[bpatters]

Those ARE eye drops.

Hay pokes are painful. She also needs some pain medication.

 

[Guineapigs32]

She is currently on baytril and doxycycline combination for her pneumonia issue. I have some metacam from her ear infection left but I don’t know if it’s safe with baytril and doxycycline.

 

[bpatters]

Metacam is fine with either of those antibiotics, but I don't know if it will give her any relief. It's designed for use for arthritis.

 

[Guineapigs32]

It’s an anti-inflammatory, pain reliever.

 

[Smileandnod]

View attachment 86581would this work? I asked my vet for eye drops but I’d like to do something in the mean time

I have used the vetericyn ophthalmic gel successfully with minor eye issues. Make sure the tip of the bottle is clean and squeeze enough in to coat the eye. Sometimes the first blobs of gel will just roll out and off the eye rather than sticking to it. Just squeeze more in, being careful not to touch the eye with the tip of the container. Use a cotton ball with warm water to gentle clean above and below the eye being very careful not to swipe across the eyeball itself. Do this twice a day for about a week and hopefully there will be improvement.

Again, this is used for minor problems.

Does there appear to be any swelling near her eye, between her ear and eye or swelling of the eye itself? I have seen abscesses that have developed behind the eye.

You would definitely want to check with a cavy savvy vet to be on the safe side especially if you aren't seeing improvement or things look worse.

 

[Guineapigs32]

There is no swelling around or near her eye. Her eye just doesn’t close or blink and it has redness and looks cloudy and dry.

 

[Guineapigs32]

Couple of things come to mind. Does anyone in your household wear contact lens? If so, there should be some sterile saline solution in the cabinet. I literally mean saline solution, NOT contact lens solution. Gently spread the eyelids apart and liberally rinse the eye. You might also use something like refresh tears.

The other thing would be to go to your favorite pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for some ophthalmic ointment (erythromycin or bacitracin) and put it in her eye. Pull the lower lid down and place a bit of the ointment on the lid, and then close the lids to spread the ointment. One or both of these ointments may require a prescription, so be sure to tell the pharmacist what it is for and perhaps s/he will give you a sample.

I thought erythromycin was a dangerous medication for guinea pigs?

 

[bpatters]

Erythromycin is dangerous if ingested, but they're not likely to absorb enough from eye drops to affect them.

 

[Guineapigs32]

Vet was going to prescribe erythromycin ointment but I don’t want them so she is going to look into a different one.

 

[Guineapigs32]

Vet supposed to be getting me a different ointment today. I gently and lightly wiped piggy eye with plain saline, and it’s looking alittle less red, but I still want ointment for her.

 

[Guineapigs32]

Vet prescribed Terramycin ointment. Is this safe??? I thought oxytetracycline was dangerous?

 

[Soecara]

First things first, a medicine may be listed as dangerous for a number of reasons, but the method it is administered has a big part to play on if it is a danger or not. Most antibiotics that are listed as dangerous for guinea pigs are listed as such because when they are taken orally they have very bad effect on their digestive systems, however when given in a different manner (such as this where it would be applied topically and directly to the eye) they can be completely safe to use.

As long as you use with care and they can't ingest a meaningful amount then it can be safe to use these antibiotics on the eye in the form of an ointment.

If you want to know more about the specifics here is a page that you can read, it is one of the pages guinea lynx links to on their dangerous medications page (keep in mind it is based on rabbits but in this context guinea pigs and rabbits are very similar). https://rabbit.org/health/antibiotics.html