Guinea pig is one of the exotic pets that is prone to have eye problems. There are various diseases and issues that affect your guinea pig’s eye health. However some of the eye problems are not really familiar as the others.
That’s why as an owner of a guinea pig, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the possible diseases so that you will know how to deal with each eye problem your guinea pig might experience in the future.
Eye infections or eye problems are the issues that give impact to your guinea pig’s health. Eye infections in guinea pigs range from scratched cornea, infection, tumors or corneal ulcer. Let’s have a better understanding about eye infections in guinea pigs by looking at the symptoms and ways of treatment.
Symptoms of Eye Infections in Guinea Pigs
It might be
hard to diagnose eye infections in guinea pigs, but don’t worry. Here are the common
symptoms of eye infections in guinea pigs that you can observe:
- Eyes are kept close.
- Redness or even cloudiness in the eye.
- Frequent scratching or pawing at the eye.
- Tearing.
- Large bulges or masses.
- Discharge from the eye.
- Inflammation on the eye.
Some cases can be treated by home remedies at
home depending on the symptoms. If you notice any of these symptoms,
immediately arrange an appointment with your vet. Untreated eye infections in
guinea pigs might lead to blindness.
Eye infections are commonly caused by excessive amount of bacteria or fungal spores that can cause your guinea pig’s eyes to be infected. This infection can impact one or even both of the eyes.
Eye infections are commonly treated by antifungal or antibacterial medications. While having eye infection, your guinea pig may also experience hair loss, swelling and inflamed eyes, discharge and even keep the infected eye shut.
How to Treat Eye Infections in Guinea Pigs
The best way to treat eye infection in guinea
pig is by bringing it to the vet as vet knows what is best for your guinea pig.
Do not ever try to cure the eye infections by yourself as it might even lead to
worse conditions.
Your vet will conduct some examinations for
your guinea pigs and find the root problems of the infection in order to find
the appropriate treatment.
After that, he might prescribe some antibiotic
eye drops and some oral antibiotic as well.
As you bring your guinea pig home, administer the medications. When you want to administer the eye drops make sure you wrap your guinea pig so it won’t squirm away.
Clean the area of the eye, remove any discharge on it by using a soaked cotton ball. You can soak the cotton ball with warm water, saline or boric salt that is dissolved in water.
Then, apply the ointment or drops as your
veterinarian prescribed. If your guinea pig squirms away, then this might need
2 persons to do it.
How to Avoid Eye Infection in Guinea Pig
After that, you can do some actions in order to
prevent your guinea from eye infections. Here are some of the ways of
preventing eye infection in guinea pigs:
- Do regular cleaning of the bed. Any dust or dirt from the bed might further irritate the infected eye. Look at these great ideas for your guinea piggy bedding too! So, do regular cleaning to remove any thing that stimulates worse condition of the eye infection. Regarding to bedding, use dust-free bedding, such as newspaper or shredded paper. Never use sawdust or wood shavings as they are very dusty and the wood specks might get stuck in your guinea pig’s eyes.
- Do not let your guinea pig stressed. Stress can weaken your guinea pig’s immune system and as a result it can increase its risk of getting sick. Never make any sudden changes in its routine, such as diet and playtime. By having sudden changes, your guinea pigs might feel stressed and as a result, the recovery time from eye infection might take longer time too. Find the idea to make your guinea pig happy at home in DIY tunnels for guinea pig and exercise ball for guinea pig. Both of them will surely be fun for your guinea pig! No more stress!
- Quarantine the infected guinea pig. Do not let your guinea pig get in contact with other guinea pigs or even dogs and cats.
- Feed your guinea pig healthy and nutritious food, such as best fruit for guinea pig a guide of feeding and best veggies to maintain guinea pig nutrition.