my ferrets eye :(

Question
I noticed before I went to bed that one of my ferrets eye was tearing up badly and he can hardly open it. I feel so bad for him. I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow but in the mean time how would I properly wash his eye out? Please help.

Thanks

Brandyn

Answer
Hi Brandyn:

Eyes are really tricky because you can scratch them soooo easily. He may have already scratched it and that may well be why it is watering.  Unless you can actually SEE something in his eye that you can remove reallllly gently with someone helping you hold his head and you using a damp washcloth to gently try to wipe the foreign object away from his eye, it would be best to just leave it alone. Nature will cause his eye to water, which will hopefully wash any foreign objects out. You never want to touch anything DRY to an eye - that's really important...and no chemicals either; only purified or clean water and a very very gentle touch with a very wet washcloth stroking from nose out to outer eye, repeat several times if necessary, but DO NOT put much pressure - you don't want to push anything into the eyeball itself. Hopefullly the vet will have a good light and magnifying lens so he can see if there is still anything in there or if he just scratched it and it will take a few days for it to heal. A vet visit is definitely in order tho.  Best of luck. I'll keep your little guy in my thoughts and prayers!

Sincerely,

Jacquie Rodgers