Belle's eye >> red growth thing

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KarasKavies
For the love of my girls!

Post   » Thu Apr 08, 2004 2:33 am


Hi, Jo!!

Well, like I said, I have 3 pigs with eye "things." They seem to get worse and then better but never gone. Two of them have been stained and flushed.

I sure wish it could be figured out. Swannie, your pig's eyes look worse, but very much the same.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Apr 08, 2004 9:53 am


We'd be thrilled to have you around more. The ASPCA article is also online at both the Petfinder site and the ASPCA Animal Watch site. My guess is it will be up permanently at Petfinder and removed from the magazine site after the next issue comes out. It was a real thrill for me to write it and I'm happy I had such knowledgeable people to interview.

GP Lover
My home, ruled by pigs!

Post   » Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:05 am


How is Belle today? I hope you can get her some relief. Sounds like she may have gotten something stuck up in her eye.

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swannie
For the love of pigs!

Post   » Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:20 am


Vet appt (local guy again) tomorrow at 8am (ick!). Will ask for the staining and anasthetic to have a proper look up underneath the eyelid.

It was actually looking a little more protruding this morning, I think. It's hard to tell.

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Sshadowsmom

Post   » Thu Apr 08, 2004 9:31 pm


Good luck to her. I know how I fussed over Christie when her eye looked liked that. And while she was getting her eye flushed out she managed to wee twice - just that quick.

I have been keeping my eyes on her since then and after the initial resolution of the problem we have not had a recurrence.

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swannie
For the love of pigs!

Post   » Fri Apr 09, 2004 11:42 am


The staining showed no corneal damage. The local vet now thinks it's a prolapsed tear gland (?), but he's never seen that before in guinea pigs. He says in dogs (cherry eye) treatment often involves surgical removal of the offending gland. He pushed back the her other top eyelid and showed me the same structure (it's a discrete mass, not encapsulated in the lid) in that eye--but it slid back underneath properly when he released the lid.

He gave me a new opthalmic AB ointment (chloramphenicol this time, and without the steroids) to try just in case it helps.

Has anyone ever heard of this? I am waiting on a call back from Dr. Schott, the more pig-savvy vet. Belle is still eating, peeing, pooping normally.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Apr 09, 2004 12:59 pm


Never heard of it. I take it, he did not see any foreign body in there that would have caused it to push out.

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swannie
For the love of pigs!

Post   » Fri Apr 09, 2004 1:06 pm


Well, he did retract the lid a bit (and there was nothing visible when he did), but I asked about using a topical anasthetic to numb the eye and using tools to properly lift the lid, and he said he wouldn't do that unless the pig was put under because they are so squirmy and there would be a great risk of the pig moving, resulting in eye injury.

Hopefully I'll hear from the other vet soon. I've also emailed Josephine, in case she doesn't see the thread.

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JoePig

Post   » Fri Apr 09, 2004 3:36 pm


Another option may be to ask for a referrel to a veterinary ophthalmologist.

My pig, Benji, had something similar looking as your poor Belle. It came on just as suddenly, but thankfully not as severe. The eyes were stained and no scratches were found; no foreign objects either. The vet (normal vet, not a specialist) gave me some ointment with steroids to reduce the swelling. It did take 4-5 days before I noted improvement.

I believe I have figured out the problem: Benji is allergic to the new brand of bedding I had put in his cage. The bedding was removed and the cage washed down. The problem has not re-occured - so far.

I hope this information is helpful to you! Your poor little pig! I hope it feels better soon!

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swannie
For the love of pigs!

Post   » Fri Apr 09, 2004 4:28 pm


She's bedded on towels, and has been for some time now. No very recent changes in the hay, either.

A consult with a veterinary ophthamalogist will be the next step if the other vet has nothing else to offer.

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swannie
For the love of pigs!

Post   » Sat Apr 10, 2004 11:28 am


Never got a call back from vet #2, but I did get a call back from Dr. Thomson at The Animal Medical Center in Manhattan who said guinea pigs have a third eyelid that can prolapse, but not a tear duct (that she knew of, anyway). She said I should make an appt. to bring her in and see one of the exotics specialists during the hours when one of the ophthalmologists is in, so they can consult if need be.

The only glitch is that they're waaaay on the east side in Manhattan, and since the eye drs. are generally only there on weekdays, it would probably mean taking Belle in with me to work and then getting a taxi to the animal hospital from my office. And probably taking the afternoon off work to do it. Thank goodness next week is a slow week! I'll have to wait until Monday to call so I know what my work schedule is like and get the hours off approved, if need be. I might also call around to the other, like, 4 board-certified veterinary ophthalmologists in the state of NJ to see if they a) have lots of exotics experience or b) work closely with a regular vet who does. But the AMC is meant to be an excellent facility, so I am happy to get Belle there despite the fact that it's not so convenient.


I think her eye looks a bit better today--will try and post a pic shortly.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Apr 10, 2004 12:15 pm


Getting a positive diagnosis of what's going on and what should be done will help greatly. I need to do an eye page -- hopefully your experiences will help others.

What ever detail you can add on the board will be appreciated -- and see if they can tell you what causes this.

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