Midnight's Medical Topic

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AviN4
Supporter in '21

Post   » Sun Jul 28, 2019 1:01 pm


While cutting Midnight's nails yesterday, I noticed one of his eyes were blueish and cloudy. Here's a photo, though it's not that great.

Image

I took him to the vet. The vet did an eye corneal staining test and diagnosed Midnight with an corneal ulcer. The vet gave me gentocin eye drops to apply roughly every 8 hours (3 times per day) for 7 days. The vet also said if Midnight doesn't improve within 3 days, I should take him back.

A few questions on this:
  1. Does this diagnosis and treatment plan seem like a good one? I haven't done background checks on the vet's expertise, but on the surface he seems to know about guinea pigs.
  2. I'm worried I'm not getting enough of the drops in Midnight's eye. How worried should I be?
  3. The vet wanted to give me gentocin gel, but didn't have any, so he gave me drops instead. Does this make a big difference? Should I try to get a hold of some gel?
  4. How diligent do I need to be about applying the drops every 8 hours? The vet said a few hours longer here and there is fine, but I just want to make sure. I could probably adjust my work schedule if I really need to.
  5. How serious is this problem? Is Midnight at risk of experiencing severe pain, requiring surgery, or losing the eye? Or should easy treatments like eye drops be sufficient in this case?
  6. On the surface, Midnight does not appear to be in pain: He seems to be eating normally, he's gained 30 grams in weight over the past month, and I haven't noticed him touching his eye. Does this seem right?
  7. I'm worried I caught this later than I could have. I don't handle Midnight and his brother often because they don't like it, and catching them to pick them up is a struggle. Should I be more diligent about weekly checks of eyes, weights, etc.?

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Sun Jul 28, 2019 2:06 pm


I think you're overthinking this. It certainly won't hurt for the times to vary by a few hours. He's not at risk of losing the eye over a corneal ulcer. Gel would work better because it stays on the eye better, but the drops will work.

See https://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html for more info.

Side note about dosage times: In hospitals, if you're prescribed a pill to be taken four times a day, you'll usually get it at 9,1, 6, and 9, leaving you with a 12 hour gap with no coverage.

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AviN4
Supporter in '21

Post   » Sun Jul 28, 2019 10:16 pm


Thanks bpatters, I'm glad to hear I'm overworrying.

I think I've figured out the technique to get the drops in the eye and stay there, so hopefully the drops will do their job.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Jul 28, 2019 10:40 pm


Ditto bpatters. The gel would be preferable (why the vet first tried to get it) primarily because it stays in the eye better.

The drops should work.

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CavyDad
Supporter in 2018

Post   » Tue Jul 30, 2019 1:43 am


From one over-worrier to another, you're doing fine! My boar had a corneal ulcer awhile back and the treatment was pretty much what you are describing from the staining to the drops, and he recovered fine. For what it's worth, we noticed the cloudiness starting to clear up within a couple of days.

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AviN4
Supporter in '21

Post   » Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:09 am


After 8 days of the gentocin antibiotic eye drops, Midnight is doing a lot better. The cloudiness improved over time. About 6 days into the eye drops, a different vet in the same office did a corneal staining on Midnight and reported that the corneal ulcer had almost fully healed, with possibly just a scar remaining. A few days after that, I now see just a tiny bit of cloudiness, and only when I shine a bright light on his eye. Thanks everyone for your help!

I'm sure Midnight was not happy with me repeatedly removing him from his cage, but he seems to have gotten used to it to some degree. Removing Midnight and his brother Moon from their cage over the past year has been a struggle each time, so this is probably good for the long-term.

Also, for what it's worth, I was consistent about the 3 times per day, but I wasn't very good at the timing. I gave some of the drops within 2 hours apart because of time constraints.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Aug 08, 2019 8:17 am


Thanks for the update! I am so happy to hear his eye is clearing up. Hope you don't have any more eye problems in the future.

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Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Aug 08, 2019 1:41 pm


Excellent!

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AviN4
Supporter in '21

Post   » Sun Aug 01, 2021 6:36 pm


I have a slight concern about a pattern of weight loss I've been seeing in Midnight. He's lost around 7 oz over the past 3 months, including 4 oz over the past 1 month. Here is a chart of his weights over time:

Image

And here's the spreadsheet with the data.

And here's a photo of him. You can see his weight still looks normal, despite the weight loss.

Image

A few more details:
  • He is now 49 oz, the lowest weight I've seen him. The previous low was 50 oz, shortly after I adopted him. He has been as heavy as 57 oz at times.
  • I have not been as diligent as I should be in terms of weekly weighing. My weighings have typically ranged from once per week to once per month. I am now trying to do better.
  • He seems to be behaving normally and eating mostly normally. He and his brother Moon seem to be leaving over more green leaf lettuce than usual, but they seem to be eating bell peppers, pellets, and (I think) oat hay just fine.
  • He looks healthy physically. He's been a chubby boy for a while, and now he looks closer in body shape to Moon.
  • His diet has not changed significantly from here, though now I hand feed him carrots too as a treat.
  • A few weeks before his weight began declining, I accidentally tipped an almost full Midwest cage box onto him. I took him to an emergency vet (not specializing in guinea pigs) and they could not find any problem with him. This visit included x-rays, reviewed by a vet radiologist who specialized in exotics. (It was an expensive visit.) He behaved very frightened after that, but went back to normal a few days later.
  • I took him to his usual vet a month ago. The vet said he looked very healthy and saw no issues that concerned him. I have a positive impression of this vet in terms of his knowledge about guinea pigs, so I think he probably knows what to look for. I did not mention weight loss during this visit because the trend was not yet obvious.
Should I be concerned, or is this okay? Is there anything else I should do, other than resuming weekly weighings? At what point should I start being concerned?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sun Aug 01, 2021 9:15 pm


Have you looked over the guidelines for evaluating condition/weight? They are kind of in the middle of this page (a veterinarian sent me these guidelines):
https://www.guinealynx.info/weigh.html

Are you noticing any teeth issues?
https://www.guinealynx.info/malocclusion.html

Any time you are especially worried about health, I would start a once-a-day weighing. 7 ounces is quite significant. As guinea pigs age, there is a tendency toward weight loss. I am sure you want to catch and identify any illness so he can be treated if needed.

I don't know that he would be considered an "Old Timer" (possibly - I think you got him as an adult about 3 years ago?) but Vicki of JPGPR had some general advice that could help.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:04 am


How old is he?

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Aug 02, 2021 3:11 pm


I forgot to add a link to Vicki's article on aging:

http://jpgpr.guinealynx.info/jpgpr400.html

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