Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Health => Topic started by: jmdebb on February 25, 2010, 04:54:15 PM
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Hi..
i don't really have a question, just wanted to say my chin-chin has one wet eye. i'm thinking eye infection or something and not malo. he's eating fine, and his eye isn't dripping wet, just the fur around his eye is a tad wet/watery.. we go to the vet at 9am.. ugh.. i gave him a hard cookie and he ate it fine, so thats why i'm thinking on the infection side.. lets hope i'm right.. thats why my gut is saying at least.
jean
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So how did it go?
I hate hearing eye infections ::scaredspeachless:: many a times it's related to teeth problems.
The I hate hearing of any chin being sick.
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well she couldn;'t find anythign wrong with him.. so in a way good.. i mean his teeth looked good, his weight is good..etc... she said he could of got sand/dust in his eye and gave me some stuff to put in his eye twice a day, but it's not looking better.. i feel so bad for the guy.. if it doesn't look better in another 2 days, i'm gonna call back.
thanks for asking
jean
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Ya'know... my chin Dewey, OFTEN has a wet eye. The fur around his right eye is "usually" a little damp.
One vet told me it was a cold, and gave me eye drops. I used the drops twice a day for a week like he said, and Dewey seemed better for awhile...then it came back...I used the drops again, it went away.... and this goes on and on. I only use the drops if there seems a bit of build-up in his eye, but I feel like I use them at least once a month and it's "the norm" for his right eye to be kinda watery.
Maybe he does have teeth issues because he isn't really a chewer and is very picky about what he'll chew on. (Mineral chews & grapevine are about the extent of it)...plus he doesn't eat hay. So it's highly possible he does have teeth issues.
I am taking him into the vet this week for a runny nose, but I am also going to have him check out this eye. This is a different vet.... my 3rd since I got Dewey less than a year ago! Keep your fingers crossed he's a GOOD one and can finally help for real! I'll keep you updated on the outcome.... but I also hope your vet is right, and it's just dust irritation!
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could it possibly be conjunctivitis? i believe eye drops helps that but keep us updated! ::silly::
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i thought he was getting worse his eye was all red/pink [on the outside], his other eye was too.. i looked at him and they looked like they were bulging out of this head.. well, i leraned something new, they looked like that cuz his fur was crudded up with the medicine stuff. the vet looked him over and he was fine. i guess his whites of this eyes were red last week, but she didnt 'tell me last week.. she said he looks great and as soon as his fur dries up his eyes will look normal again. and one day without the medicine the outsides of his eyes aren't as pink/red anymore...
for those of you who have had eye issues you already know that part, dam i was freaking out tho thinknig he was in all this pain..
i'm glad he's doing better..
:)
thanks guys for caring.
jean
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Ya'know... my chin Dewey, OFTEN has a wet eye. The fur around his right eye is "usually" a little damp.
One vet told me it was a cold, and gave me eye drops. I used the drops twice a day for a week like he said, and Dewey seemed better for awhile...then it came back...I used the drops again, it went away.... and this goes on and on. I only use the drops if there seems a bit of build-up in his eye, but I feel like I use them at least once a month and it's "the norm" for his right eye to be kinda watery.
My vet said Dewey has a clogged tear duct. That as long as the discharge is clear or white, he's OKAY! If it gets yellow or green, he has an infection. But he said just to treat by wiping with warm cotton ball, and lubricating with eye drops (just regular human drops).
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i'm glad your guy is okay lindylu..
so another update..
so the vet had suggested waiting a few days to let him bath, so i did, and she also suggested not to let him take a nice long bath.. [lol] so i didn't. well that was two days ago.. last night under his right eye [but not around the hole eye like the first time] he was damp again.. so i called the vet again. should i bring him in, do more medicine????
she said to put him back on the meds for another week.
the poor guy, he is so mad at me.. everytime i go to pick him up he barks at me..i hate it!!
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That's great it's not teeth ::clapp::
Yes I've had a couple with blocked tear ducts.
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jmdebb ... does it look like this?
(with a white discharge and dampness in the fur under the eye)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/RabbidHamster/3-5-10DeweyCloggedTearDuct.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/RabbidHamster/3-5-10DeweyCloggedTearDuct2.jpg)
That's Dewey's clogged tear duct.
Medicines can screw with a chinchillas tummy, so going on & off & on & off them isn't very healthy. If it's truly an infection and your chin NEEDS the meds, then certainly do them. But if it looks like above photos....maybe just try some eye drops! (regular lubricating drops) See if that helps!
....of course your chin won't like those either! Dewey also barks at me when I try to get him out of his cage. He knows I'm up to something! (Either weighing him or doing eye drops...both of which he hates!) When I let him out to run, I just have to open the cage door and let him go out on his own. Then I use his dust house to coax him back. That way I don't have to handle him too much. So he KNOWS if I am handling him, it's probably not fun! Poor guy.
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oh dewey is sooooo cute... i want him....
anyways, its hard to tell from the picture. was he a bit damp underneath his eye?
but chin-chin was damp - not soaked but well maybe not damp.. what exactly is damp.. he was wet, but it wasn't dripping or majorly wet at all. you could just tell his fur around his eyes got a tad bit wet.
i hope tha tmakes sense.
as the the meds i won't keep putting him on an off. thank you for that bit of info, i did not know. but to be honest after i stopped it for a few days, most of the fur went back to normal around his eye, and it was just a spot underneath it that was a bit wet.. so i wonder if the eye goup is what i call it..hehe.. are working???hmmmmm i hate this.. i hate when animals get sick or have problems...
well this is what i'm thinking..
i'll keep on the eye goup for a period of another 7 days from when i started.. if when his fur dries off and it's still wet again.. i will let you know and do what you said about the drops for a tear duct.. thanks for your help.
OH DID I SAY HOW DARN CUTE HE WAS
jean
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I guess I should have posted a better comparison to the other eye photo...but yes, his fur was damp underneath it. The fur looks kinda "tufty" (like stuck in clumps) in that pic because he'd had a dust bath the day before, and it soaked up some of his wetness and just makes his fur look disshoveled. The fur under his other eye looks perfect.
Thanks for the compliment! I've always thought he was pretty cute, but I'm bias. lol
Is your chins eye discharge a yellow or green color? If so, it's an infection! If the discharge is clear or WHITE (like Dewey's) it might just be a clogged tear duct.
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at first i really didn't notice any discharge but the other night i noticed somethign aroudn his eye, and to be honest, okay i was a bad chin mommy, but only cuz he's been to the vet twice already... anyways, i didn't look close so i don't know what color it was..
ya know speaking of being biased.. mine are ..hehe only kidding.. but seriously.. isn't it funny how they all look alike, but yet so different and some are just so much cuter than others. and i feel horrible saying it that way, but it's true...
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isn't it funny how they all look alike, but yet so different and some are just so much cuter than others.
It is true! I agree. I actually think my Dewey is WAY cuter than my Daisy. I like her, she's spunky and fun. But She's got kind of a "rat face"...so I've always said Dewey is cuter. I guess I feel kind of bad saying it sometimes, but it's not like SHE knows ....she gets taken care of very well regardless of her rat face! LOL
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so here we are again.. why not.. i mean it would way to easy if when a animal of mine got sick, we go to the vet and they get better just after one trip.. that never happens to me.
anyways, so he's been off the eye goup for a few days. i let him take a bath two nights ago and it kind of felt like he might of been dam around the eye last night [i think it was last night]. i had a puppy emergency so i just didn't deal with chinny because this isn't life threatening.. anyways, well first of all bear [my puppy], is okay.. thank my lucky stars.. so when i went in the chin room this morning i look at chinny's eyes and the fur around them do look funny.. so i pick him up and place his eye part of him on my face and rub it to see if i can feel dampness, and the funny thing is.. i didn't.. but then whey does the fur look funny... i can't tell if there any discharge or not.. i mean if there is, it's just a minute piece, very small.. and ya know under normal circumstances you don't pay that close attention to their eyes, [i mean yes you make sure they aren't runny, but you don't go over it with a fine piece cone..whatever the expression] so i don't know if there is really something there or its just his eye.
let me tell you when it rains it pours and right now it's pouring on me and it's not stopping.
so i will have to keep an extra good eye on it for the next day or two and see what goes on.
but i am curious lindylu, did they tell you what causes a tear duck to clog and how does the eye drops unclog it?
thanks,
jean
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They get clogged the same as humans do.... from dry eyes, dust in the air and other irritants. The drops are basically fake tears...since the duct is clogged, it's not producing enough tears to clear out the irritants. So the drops wash out the eyes, and hopefully help clear the duct by washing away the irritants.
Sorry you're going through this.
If it makes you feel any better my Dewey is not better after 1 vet visit either.
He's gonna have to go back...
(still losing weight and having a runny nose).
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hi lindylu
didn't mean to sound dumb, i never had tear duct problems either so i just had no clue whatsoever.. thanks for the explantion. okay what tear stuff can i buy that is 100% safe for a chin.. i would rather spend a few bucks for that and do that first before going back to the vet.. if is this great healed, if not, didn't spend much money finding out.. but and NO OFFENCE MEANT.. i will ask.. if you give me a specific name of a product, do you know for 100% it will be safe.
i'm sorry about you little one.. it's a pain when they have problems isn't it.. it's never just one vet visit, its way too many!!
well good luck to both of us!!
jean
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In the couple I have had with blocked tear ducts it was because and infection caused swelling and as it healed the tiny little tear duct grows over, or seals shut.
In many cases this is permanent, but in a few the tear duct has reopened after a long period of time.
When I was using false tears , and or eye drops some would always get in the fur around the eye, so it always looked matted, worn or ruffled. Then they tend to rub it as it itches, so it does get scuffed up around the eye. I can almost see how bad it is by the state of the fur around the eye. If the fur feels damp/cool and gooey it's infection, if it feels hard and crusty with no discolouration it's usually the dried up eye drops.
I was also rubbing their faces against mine to tell for wetness, but I wouldn't recommend it. An infection and spread to your eyes. Try using the underside of your arm, around the wrist, your not likely to rub that part against your own face, and it's pretty sensitive. ::nod::
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I can't recommend a brand name, as I haven't used any drops except a prescription kind the vet gave me. BUT, his vet DID say "regular human drops" would be fine. I'd just read the packaging and see what's in it. Make sure i know what all the ingredient are, and that there are not a LOT of ingredients.
I can read on my drops I have at home and see if I'd recommend any of them - but maybe it would be better to call a vet and ask them for a brand!
I have chronic "blepheritus" myself, so I know what it feels like to have dry irritated eyes. I have several kinds of drops at home....but I fail to use them most of the time. I'll read though, and see what's in them and which ones I would use on my chin if I ran out of his prescription kind.
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okay thanks deb and lindy..
oh but now i'm feel even worse.. what if his ducts are shut.. is that painful... i have to call the vet, i'm gonna after i end this post...
oh i do hope he is okay....
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No it doesn't seem bother them much, looks worse so I felt bad. As long as it's not infected and just dry eye.
I just use true tears now, or if I'm out I'll use saline.
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hi guys. so sorry for not getting back sooner, i always thought it when i was in bed too tired to get up and it's been hectic lately.
okay so i go back to the vet.. and dr p. is like, there is nothing wrong his eye is fine. i'm like it's damp.. she's like no its not..
::) i could of sworn it was still damp.. she was very nice and sent me on my way with payign the visit [which i told her i wanted to]. and i'm thinking to myself i know it was still damp... but i get him home and i kept an eye on him for a few days, and it's not damp.. duh!!! i think i just put so much into worrying about it.. i don't know..... i really did think it was still damp...
i'm just glad he's doing better.
ejan
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Yes they can sure get us worrying, and some times over nothing.
All you can do is keep on eye on it.
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well thanks everyone for being there for me..
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jean