Advice on eye issue

[horselo285]

Hi,





I have two guinea pig, a 5 year old male and a baby (maybe 2 months)
male who I recently rescued. They have both been very healthy and
getting along great.





They were being kept on aspen bedding, but I have switched them over to
fleece with a small litter pan containing aspen (which amazingly, the
baby is using).





On friday night, the baby came down with eye irritation. I did warm
compresses and saline drops throughout the weekend and into this week
and his eye is much better (although not quite 100%). However, my older
male just came down with eye irritation as well so it definitely
appears to be contagious.





The eye irritation in my older male only began today and I have been
doing warm compresses and saline drops since the moment I noticed it.





I am having a ton of sudden financial issues which are making getting to
a vet very tough and to top things off, I have a family emergency and
it looks like I will need to leave my boys under the care of a friend
for a few days.





I am very worried about their eyes and am putting off leaving if possible.





I have access to terramycin eye ointment through a friend. She says it
is safe to use on guinea pigs as long as it is not ingested and says she
has found it very effective against eye infections.





I know it is not ideal to treat something without a vet visit first but I am really caught in unforseen circumstances.





Could someone please advise me on the use of terramycin? I would like
to get an opinion besides my friend if possible. She said a dab in the
corner of eye twice daily. Is this accurate. She also said you use
however long it takes to clear up the eye. Is this correct?





I feel horrible about this situation and I am just trying to figure out a
way to help my babies. Please, any advice would be appreciated more
then you can imagine!





Thank you!

[alexas]

Awww.. I don't have any answers but I'm sure someone here will. I can tell you care about your piggies very much. Good luck to you!!

[Orlaith]

I've never used terramycin, so I can't advise on that, but according to Peter Gurney you can use Brolene ointment as a first resort to see if that will improve your pigs' eyes. Gently wash out the eye with saline (he says Optrex, but saline is just as good) and then pull the lower eyelid down a bit to create a tiny pocket and squeeze a little bit of ointment in there. If you have to squeeze it onto the eye rather than in the eyelid pocket then it will still work, just be careful not to poke your piggy in the eye my mistake.