Injury HELP!!!!!!

[Lovemybabies]

HOPEFULLY SOMEONE HAS THE ANSWER! My 11 month old Natasha has a laceration in her eye, is deep and her eye is all bloody now on day 3. I took her to the vet today for a follow up, and even thought she has been on eye drops the vet doesn't think is going to get any better and recommends eye removal. My husband thinks that is too hard on Natasha to be blind of one eye, that it would be cruel to keep her alive without being able to be like she used to. And I don't know what to do, I love her, she was my first guinea pig ( we have 3), she came into my life when I really needed a little loving ball of fur and I don't want to see her go, in the other hand I see her now having trouble walking because she can't see, not running at all so I don't know what to do. I'm very heartbroken and very torn.....Help Please!
Plus the vet hasn't even give me prices on the eye removal procedure, I'm trying to look on google but nothing...

 

[ellisa]

I would get it removed. Many pigs live long happy lives with only one eye or even none at all! I personally feel it is no reason to put an animal down. It will just take her time to adjust to only having vision in one eye.

 

[Inle_Rabbit]

You don't have to put her down. I had a rabbit that got a nasty infection in his eye. The infection ended up ruining his eye. The vet recommend removal of the eye. I hesitated for a long while, cleaning and caring for what remand of the eye. I finally decided to have it done and boy was I glad! My bunny perked right up once he recovered from the surgery. Sure he sometimes ran into things and you could sneak up to him on his blind side. He was more jumpy than my other bunnies since he only had one eye but he lived another 6 full and happy years.

Your little guinea is probably not moving around very much because her eye hurts or feels bad. I suggest getting the eye removed. Only having one eye is not a reason to put down an otherwise healthy animal.

 

[kathlaaron]

I completely agree with the others...there is NO NEED in my opinion to put her down, I am so very very glad you came on and asked !! I too, would go ahead with the surgery, and in time she will definitely adjust, and be absolutely fine.

 

[karwask]

I agree with everyone here. My sister had a big Akita dog that had to have an eye removed and, eventually, the other one was removed too and was fine as a blind dog. Animals are amazingly resilent and adapt to most everything. No reason to put her down.

 

[Inle_Rabbit]

I thought i would post some pictures of my bunny after his eye removal. I couldn't find any pictures of his eyeless side but look at how happy and content he looks, even with just one eye.

 

[pinky]

She's probably in a lot of pain right now and removing her eye will allow her to heal and eliminate the pain. Guinea pigs with one eye or even those that are blind learn to compensate. Good luck.

 

[KiwiCavyAdorer]

My advice when conventional medicine opts out of being able to assist the body in healing an injury is to turn to complimentary medicine whose sole job is to help the body to heal. What I would do in your situation is to go to (find) a reputable homoeopath who has years and years of practical experience under their belt.

A collegue's horse was also in the kind of situation your guinea pig is in with the same advice from the vet. After 4 days of the injury occuring she deduced that she could neither put him down, nor remove the eye, what she did was she put him on homoeopathic remedy, and colloidial silver gel around the eye, to help the skin deal with the lacrimation (eye fluid).

Not only did the eye respond very quickly, but it did not need to be removed, the swelling came down within hours and the over all progress impressed the vet enormously. Homoeopathy does not work like normal conventional medicine, each remedy is specific to the individual and the situation the individual is in, so that's why I suggest a very experienced homoeopath. Some vets have gone into homoeopathy as well so they are ideal. I wish you the best of luck what ever you choose. Stay strong.

 

[kathlaaron]

Inle_Rabbit, what a wonderful thing you did, posting a picture of your bunny who had his eye removed ! What a cutie patootie too !

 

[kathlaaron]

She's probably in a lot of pain right now and removing her eye will allow her to heal and eliminate the pain.

That is exactly what I was thinking too.

Lovemybabies--don't you feel better about it now ? I don't know how much the surgery to remove her eye would cost, but maybe someone else here knows? I can look it up for you if you want me to....

 

[Hhbean]

I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this. I agree with everybody above that your little piggie would be able to live a happy life and shouldn't be put down. I know your in a hard place right now and the expense might be more then you can manage. Check around and see what vets are charging in your area. I would also persue Kiwi's advise and have all your bases covered. Sending your piggie healing wishes!

 

[bpatters]

I'd have the eye removed. All you really need to do after it heals up is keep the cage in pretty much the same configuration so she gets used to where everything is. Between here and Guinea Lynx, we've had quite a few posters with one-eyed or totally blind pigs.

 

[Inle_Rabbit]

Inle_Rabbit, what a wonderful thing you did, posting a picture of your bunny who had his eye removed ! What a cutie patootie too !

He was a great bunny! Friendly, full of personality and had a spark to live life. Fiz-Gig was a rescue from a breeder that was going to hammer head him because of his eye infection. He is half of a pair of bunnies I will always cherish in my heart.

As for cost, I would shop around. My regular exotic vet would not remove Fiz's eye because she didn't feel comfortable with the surgery (which was a real let down for me since I got an employee discount from her!) the vet she recommended me to wanted 500 dollars! I ended up finding a vet that took pity on my poor broke college self and my one-eyed rabbit and got the surgery done for around 150 dollars (just FYI that was almost 10 years ago). Fiz-Gig was worth every penny of it as I'm sure your little hurt guinea pig is to you.

I wish you all the luck and speedy healing in caring for your guinea pig but the surgery is totally worth doing. You'll see your guinea pig return to her old self after she recovers and you will know you did the right thing for her.

 

[Lovemybabies]

OMG! Thank you so much for all the postings! And the bunny is super cute! My husband and I were talking and we live our Natasha so much that we can't imagine putting her down. I'm going to call the vet first thing in the a.m to ask about prices and payment plans if we have to.
she's eating a lot more today, walking kinda funny but eating and drinking water and I think that's a good sign. We have a appointment on Friday so I will keep you guys posted! Thank you again, I'm so happy to be part of this little cavies world!

 

[thecomfycat]

Let us know how it all goes! I definitely think you made the right decision.

 

[PIGGYandCHILLI]

i hope everything will be alright! thoughts on you and you baby!

 

[Wildcavy]

I just wanted to add some encouragement. One of our four piggies is entirely blind in one eye, and can see only minimal shadows in the other. We have to give him eye drops because of the paralysis on the left (totally blind) side that makes it difficult for him to blink. We rescued him from the pound and he had clearly been through the wringer. He went from dull, blackish hair and being mute and painfully shy to being a healthy, vibrant brindle with glossy hair and is probably the most vocal piggy you've ever heard. He recently started popcorning.

All things considered, I think cavies are really adaptive if they are loved a lot. Our Picckalo appears to seek scent more than our other piggies, and likes to play with his "breakfast bags" (paper bags) and make noise with them. When he came out of quarantine and we moved him to the main room and into a larger C&C (2x3) we were sure to guide him to his water bottle and food station...though frankly he can smell and hear food coming from a mile away, so the water was the most important part!

My understanding is that piggies don't have the greatest sight to begin with -- two of ours seem to be near-sighted, and only one seems to have "regular" sight. But you clearly love your piggy and I can tell you, if an abused blind piggy can improve the way our Picckalo has, then your Natasha already has a headstart. Best of luck!!!

 

[Lovemybabies]

Update!! Natasha is going into surgery Tuesday morning Her eye is not getting any better and it actually burst so our vet told us that it would be the best decision. She also said that she's is probably in pain righ now, and having it remove will be a relief for her.
Also my 1 year old rescue beagle ( Sophia) is getting spayed on Tuesday morning, what a way to spent my vacations!!!
Thank you again for all the help !!!!!!

 

[pinky]

Your little ones are lucky to have you in their lives. I'll keep all you in my thoughts.... Please keep us updated on how it all goes.

Update!! Natasha is going into surgery Tuesday morning Her eye is not getting any better and it actually burst so our vet told us that it would be the best decision. She also said that she's is probably in pain righ now, and having it remove will be a relief for her.
Also my 1 year old rescue beagle ( Sophia) is getting spayed on Tuesday morning, what a way to spent my vacations!!!
Thank you again for all the help !!!!!!

 

[Inle_Rabbit]

It will be a busy day at the vet Tuesday morning! I'm glad you decided to have it done. She will be a much happier pig once she recovers. I bet it doesn't take her long to be back to her old self! Poor baby though, having her eye burst. =( Fiz-Gig's eye burst as well. It is probably one of my most disgusting memories...

Best of luck to you and your babies on Tuesday morning