Poorly guineapig

[mrsflibble]

my guineapig, chocolate, is ill.

it's either an eye infection (severe) or it's a tumour. in his little eye. poor little tribble.

if its an infection it should respond to the antibiotic drops i have to put in 4 times a day, but he may still be left blind because his right eye appears to be blind or possibly very partially sighted. that could have been since birth. the vet agrees.

i put him down on the vet table, and he made a run for it. thankfully the vet caught him as he lept off the edge and said "so he's blind then?" and then "OH,eurgh, oh... erm... ok..." when he saw the poorly eye.

ok, if it's an infection and it clears we have a partially sighted (possibly blind) guineapig. we should keep him indoors in an enclosed space, still handle him lots and feed him more fresh veg than a normal pig because getting water in him will be harder as he wont be able to find it. a saucer of water is better than a dripper bottle too. already done, he is temporarily in a catbox with the plastic lid from a pot of coffee, filled with water.

he has to stay separated from phil because phil being the dominant male would probably see the weakness and attack chocolate; chocolate being blind would probably not survive cos he can't see to fight back. he's also lost weight, i think phil might have been eating all the food.

if it doesnt respond to the drugs, its a tumour. in that case it's gonna be best for him to have him put down. I dont want to do it, but guineapigs don't have a good chance under anaesthetic or chemical cancer treatments. i'm not tellng sophie until we know whats wrong, and chocolate is living indoors in a catbox until at least monday on the vet's advice.

i said wouldnt that be too dark for him, but the vet said "he's blind. he wont notice"..... erm, d'uh.

so, i now have one guineapig with depression and one blind one lol.

[snapdragon]

Commiserations MrsF - poor skinnypig

[Millymollymandy]

Poor Chocolate.

[mrsflibble]

good news, his eye is much less angry right now, still has a lump in the middle of it but he seems brighter today. fingers crossed.

[becks77]

Hope Chocolate is on the mend soon

[Martina]

Get well Chocolate.

Martina

[Gert]

Any update on the pigglywig? Hope all is well.

[yugogypsy]

Did your vet check for lice?

Mine were terribly prone to them. Get out the dish pan and some baby shapoo and scrub well (there will be lots of squeaks) Then dry well and change out all the bedding in their cage and see if that helps.

Also check at the pet store for vitamins for small animals or vitaminized treats.

Lois
XXOO to you and Sophie