Trip to the vet with Oreo. Keep a vet fund.

Two years ago we noticed Oreo had a dull patch in her left eye.  I remember seeing a programme where a guinea pig had a grass seed stuck in her eyelid, and thought this must be what was wrong.  I made a vet appointment and Oreo was fully checked.  The vet put some fluorescent dye in her eye and advised me that this was not a grass seed.  Oreo has a hole in her cornea and it went quite deep.  The vet took quite sometime trying to flush the dye back out.  He advised that hay was an unlikely suspect as it would only scratch the eye surface at most. 

Oreo enjoying the Sun

I was at a loss as to what could have happened, When Oreo is in heat she does run around trying to mount Tink (who is a kicker), but this did not seem to fit, as to make a hole Tink's claws would have to have gotten stuck (I really am not sure on this one).  It was however the only thing I could think of that would cause such damage. The vet took me through everything we could do to try and help Oreo but was not hopeful that we could save Oreo's eye.  After receiving antibiotic eye drops and a serum that could potentially heal damage to the eyes, the vet still advised that because the hole went so deep into the eye, we may not have been able to save her eye.  I was heartbroken, Oreo was not even a year old, she was not an old guinea pig but, I was hopeful that this medication would work and heal her eye.  That vet trip cost just under £100 and I learned that I needed to have a vet fund for my guinea pigs, and Hamsters.  This may not have been the end of the tale as the operation to remove the infected eye may have run into the £100's but I love my animals, so if this is what it would take to get Oreo back to full health, this is what I was willing to do.

This has wicker in it to keep it sturdy, As the girls chewed it the wicker snapped

When I got home and put the guinea pigs back into there pen, I noticed one thing that could have done that much damage to Oreo's eye. It was a sea grass hideaway; held together by thin wicker sticks.  It seemed like a great house and chew toy for them when we got it.  My fiance reminded me that a week previously we heard Oreo give out a 'wheek' that was very strange, we took her and Tink out of the cage and checked them over at the time, but they both seemed okay.  Now, in retrospect  we thought that maybe Oreo got poked in her eye by a piece of sea-grass, or the wicker holding it together.  I understand this an extremely rate occurrence, but please beware of these, or items made from these, as we now realise that this is the most likely explanation for the amount of damage to Oreo's eye.

Taking your pet to the vet is always stressful when its not just for their check up. that visit was extra stressful for Oreo and the family.  I decided to write up this post to try and save other guinea pig owners from the same anxiety and worry by advising that these items are maybe better suited in a play pen when the guinea pigs are being supervised, rather than in the permanent pen where 24/7 supervision is not possible.  This episode was not all doom and gloom however as we did get medication to clear the infection up and try and heal the cornea and also, on the way out I spotted a little Roborovski up for adoption (I will tell his tale later).  Upon Oreo's follow up appointment two weeks later she was given the all clear which was a huge relief to us all.  She is now classed as 2nd in command (General Oreo) and we now have a herd of 4 sows living, so far, happily together.

All 4 Girls enjoying there new home