Why are my piggies getting sick?

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Thu Jan 20, 2022 8:26 pm


Mr Bubbles eye hasn't improved much. I spoke to the vet and told them about the poofy third eyelid and about how the discharge is mostly clear when it first comes out and turns white as it dries. They gave him Terramycin to administer once daily following his eye evening eye flush. It has Oxytetracycline Hydrochloride and Polymyxin B Sulfate. I am supposed to put a quarter inch line in his eye. That should be fun. I will have to use a Qtip to apply it so that I dont hurt his eye with the tip of the tube. He doesn't sit very still.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:31 am


Is it a cream?

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Fri Jan 21, 2022 2:47 am


Sort of. Its a little bit thinner than a cream and thicker than an eye drop. It dissolves fairly quickly and spreads out on his eye. I didn't see this medication on this site, but I looked it up before I administered it and it has some pretty good reviews on the LA guinea pig rescue website and a couple other ones I looked at. Guineapigcages.com said it was deadly, but from what I could gather, the user was concerned about the pig ingesting by wiping it out of its eye and licking it off of their paw? Mr Bubbles doesn't do that and its such a small amount once a day so I'm not too worried about that. It's a very old post from 15 years ago and a little hard to follow. I think it's working because it drew out some nasty looking gunk and the 3rd eyelid is not as swollen. It was very easy to administer and Mr Bubbles didn't even put up a fight. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.

Here is the website for the LA GP rescue:
https://www.laguineapigrescue.com/store ... tment.html

This stuff is supposed to be good for anything from a stye to a hay poke. If it works on Mr Bubbles, perhaps we could gather more information on it and add it to the list of medications for guinea pig eyes.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Jan 21, 2022 6:36 am


It's a gel. I have used it several times over the years for general eye irritation in our guys, and it has been well tolerated. If you do a search here in the medical forum, you should find a number of references to it. Glad to hear it is helping.

I have done several flushes of Jethro's eye and *knock wood* haven't seen any more discharge.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Fri Jan 21, 2022 2:26 pm


I only looked for it under the medications and didn't see it there. Is is worth adding to the list?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:05 pm


I haven't been listing eye medications. A medication applied topically can be safe while that same antibiotic can be deadly taken orally. It sounds like it should help your guinea pig.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sat Jan 22, 2022 4:42 am


After 2 treatments with the Terramycin, Mr Bubbles still has some swelling in his third eyelid, but it is noticeably less. Less discharge too. I'm not sure if its the medicine. It has come and gone over the last couple of weeks, so it'll take a few more applications to know for sure. It does appear that he's getting some relief from it since he isn't as grumpy when I have to flush and clean his eye. I'll take that as a good sign.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:01 am


That is encouraging. I hope you see it completely clear up.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Sat Jan 22, 2022 9:50 am


I wonder if a little Metacam would help further reduce the inflammation.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Sat Jan 22, 2022 3:39 pm


Got up today and Mr Bubbles eye had quite a bit of gunk in it. I believe it is the Terramycin causing whatever is in there to expel. Some of that could be the inert base of the ointment. I expected this and we're continuing to keep it as clean as we can.. The swelling of his third eyelid is still less that it was before starting the medication, but you can still see it.

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Renonvsparky

Post   » Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:09 am


Mr Bubbles eye gunk is just lingering on. It's not very much at this point after the course of terramycin, but still there. It isn't causing him any discomfort as far as I can see. He's otherwise healthy. I was really sick yesterday so I didn't get to flush it and clean it out for him. I'm much better today and when I went to clean it, it didn't look any different than when I was treating it. If anything, it looks better than when I was flushing, cleaning and putting the terramycin in it. I am going to give it another day or two of observation and see if it keeps improving. If it looks bad, then I'll clean it out for him and contact his vet.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:12 am


Hoping it DOES finally clear up!

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