Chava medical thread

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:36 pm


Assuming you're calling Adobe today -- please let us know what they say. Best to her and to you.

Sweaterjunkie

Post   » Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:45 pm


As Chava's eye has not gotten worse since yesterday morning, the vet told me to go ahead and bring her in for her scheduled appointment tomorrow morning. He didn't seem to feel that the Genteal was necessary and even suggested that putting anything besides the drops in her eye would increase the chance of infection, so we have decided to forgo that idea.

Chava continues to be in reasonably good spirits, although she does seem a little frustrated with her impaired vision. I haven't noticed her picking at her eye at all, but there are a couple small hairs stuck to it that was was unable to remove. I can update again later tonight before I go to bed, and again after her appointment tomorrow morning.

No new pictures of the eye, as it remains relatively stable at this point.

Sweaterjunkie

Post   » Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:39 pm


Okay, so here's the scoop. I took Chava back to Adobe this morning, and both Dr. Derenzi and Dr. Nakamura had a look at her. They agreed immediately that Chava does NOT have a scratched cornea after all - in fact, her eye has ruptured, as the result of a deep cut by something, probably hay. Both of them have seen this type of thing before, though it is less common. Mods, if you want to add the pictures to the Medical Guide's section on eyes, I guess the medical term would be "perforating trauma of the eye." In essense, that stuff you see on the outside of her eye? Yeah, that used to be on the inside of her eye.

So, the upshot is that the eye is "dead," meaning it will never heal fully and she will never be able to see out of it again. The two options are as follows: we can have the eye removed, or we can wait for it to shrivel up on its own to the point where it will no longer be an irritation for Chava. Again, both doctors were in agreement that the eye did not look infected or like it was bothering her, and they were of the opinion that it will probably finish "dying" in about a month, at which point it will just be a curiosity. If it does appear to get worse, we can always have it removed at that point. For now, I am discontinuing the Metacam and applying the drops just once a day to maintain a clean environment in the eye.

Chava is generally a very happy pig and continues to be in good spirits, although she does hate those trips to the vet! I gave her a baby carrot when we got home and she seemed pretty happy about that.

User avatar
salana
GL is Just Peachy

Post   » Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:47 pm


I'm going to make Suzi look at this thread so she'll stop shoveling hay in her eye. Gaaaah! That makes me cringe!!

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:02 pm


What you say makes sense. Now when I look at it, I see a big gash instead of a wrinkled film.

I hope it will dry up peacefully on its own. There are a few wild animals here that have lost eyes (a couple squirrels, a racoon). They seemed to have cloudy eyes that gradually got smaller. I no longer see these animals around but did see them for months after I noticed the injuries.

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Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:03 pm


Oh poor girl!

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Topaz

Post   » Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:08 pm


I'm sorry to hear that her eye cannot be saved but am hoping for a speedy recovery for the girl!

Sweaterjunkie

Post   » Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:39 am


Thank you everyone for your support and sympathy. I'm updating to include a recent photo of Chava's eye as of 2am Pacific Time:

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m151 ... C05367.jpg

As you can see the "crust" has gotten larger as her eye continues to drain. Not sure how long this process is going to take from start to finish (the vet predicted about a month). The reason it is taking on an almond shape is that it is still soft. When Chava blinks or tries to close her eye, her eyelid naturally compresses it into that shape. She blinks often, but has not been pawing at it at all. She did eat her vegetables this evening with no problem.

[added cropped pic -- Lynx]

Image

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:10 am


I imagine continuing with the antibiotic drops will be important to keeping it from becoming infected. Thanks for the update.

Talishan
You can quote me

Post   » Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:02 pm


Ditto Lynx. It amazes me it doesn't seem to be hurting her, but I'm certainly glad it's not.

Sweaterjunkie

Post   » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:35 am


You and me both, Talishan! The eye seems to be looking a little bit better today (Although "better" is certainly a relative term). The scabby thing is larger still, but the eye itself remains crust- and discharge-free. More encouraging, the white of it is no longer tinged pink with that I assume was blood.

We're guessing that at some point in the process of the eye "dying," the scabby thing is going to fall off, or else the vet will pull it off. We don't know what it will look like once that happens.

My feelings on the situation are dichotomous; on the one hand, I wish there were previous cases we could reference in order to help us know what to expect. On the other hand, I'm glad it seems that very few piggies have ever had to go through such a thing!

Sweaterjunkie

Post   » Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:30 am


An update for the latest on Chava's eye. Here are two new pictures as of tonight:

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m151 ... CF1505.jpg

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m151 ... CF1506.jpg

If you compare these to previous photos, you will see that the mass continues to grow. Also of note in these pictures is the center of the "crust": it is still wet; that's because her eye is still slowly leaking. As it continues to do so, it builds up the crust more. I also have overhead shots if anyone would like to see these. They make it more apparent that the eye itself is shrinking.

I feel bad because at this point it is clearly bothering Chava simply due to its size; she can't even partially blink the eye anymore, hairs get stuck to it, and she keeps brushing at it with her paw. Additionally, it makes the task of giving her eye drops increasing difficult.

Her appetite remains robust and her poops are healthy, but we are going to call Adobe tomorrow to see if anything can be done about removing the crust. We are going to continue documenting this in full detail, both for our benefit (easier to keep track of changes) and for anyone who might encounter a similar problem with their pig in the future and would not otherwise know what to expect.

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