Eyes/Non-crusty Hay in her eye

[00pink]

So I go to give my babies their daily vitamin c and notice that my piggy Ferrari is winking at me. When I picked her up she had a piece of hay sticking out of her eye. I've managed to get it out but her eye is still a bit watery and she won't open it completly. When I looked at her eye looks like there's a tiny piece of fur On it still. Should I be concerned or will her eye wash it out on its own? Or is there like a saline drop I can use to help it along?

 

[bpatters]

You can use normal saline to keep it flushed out, but if the hay actually penetrated her eyeball or the lining around her eye, you should see a vet for some antibiotic drops and some pain medication.

 

[00pink]

It didn't seem to hurt when I pulled it out. How will I be able to tell? And what would they give her for it I work in a pharmacy so I could just get the drops from there usually .

 

[bpatters]

The drops would be some kind of ophthalmic antibiotic.

When you pulled it out, did it look like it was coming out from under her eyelid, or was it stuck straight into the eye?

 

[00pink]

It was in the outside corner of her eye and it was more of a seed than actual hay. It's looking much better since I flushed it with some saline though. It's less watery but she's still blinking a lot.

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Flush it a couple more times, and see how it looks later.

 

[00pink]

It looks a tiny bit red but it's not watering anymore she's still blinking and keeping it closed tho. I have fucithalmic eye drops on hand (I always keep a tube around I get frequent eye infections) and I read that it's sometimes given to piggies, should I use it? The vets pretty far away and it's the weekend

 

[pinky]

Since her eye is still closed, I'd be worried she still has some debris in it. One of my guinea pigs had a hay poke a couple of weeks ago and it looked red and irritated but it wasn't closed. I took her to the vet who checked her eye and prescribed an antibiotic ointment. I don't like to mess around with eyes. Personally, I'd take her in just to make sure there's no more hay under the lid. Eye injuries are painful and a scratch or puncture can ulcerate and become a lot more serious. If she still has hay under the lid, the eye drops won't do any good. I wouldn't use them without knowing whether they're safe for guinea pigs, anyway.

 

[00pink]

She's definitly not in pain she's running around and popcorning and playing in the paper bag I put in there. It seems to be a lot better since I've been saline flushing it but I'll watch her still. From what I've read on the Internet the drops o have are what is prescribed for piggy eye infections or Ciprofloxacin drops which I can't use cause I'm seriously allergic to Ciprofloxacin. Maybe I'll just call the vet tomorrow and ask if it's safe.

 

[pinky]

If you flush they eye, make sure your project the stream of solution so it goes from the outside of the eye towards the tear duct. Going in the opposite direction will cause debris to get stuck under the lid.