Guinea Pig eye

Question

His eye   Hello I recently got a guinea pig about a week ago. He's about 3 months old and when we got him we noticed a little irritation on his eye. We didn't think it was a big deal, maybe a scar he was born with our something. But recently I think it's starting to get worse and was wondering if you can help me figure out what to do. Thank you so much.

Answer
It appears to be from scratching, or has perhaps gotten some shavings or piece of hay in his eye. Guinea pigs seem to heal well from eye injuries, provided of course that they are not a real serious injury.

I would suggest you wipe the area with some saline solution. You do not need to go to the pharmacy and buy saline. It's easy to make your own at home. The reason we use saline rather than water is because our bodies (and a guinea pig's) are primarily salt water, aka saline.

If you use plain water it will sting and irritate. You've probably experienced that yourself if you get water in your eye. Saline is more compatible with the tissues and causes no irritation.

To mix it use 1 cup of water (boiled to clear it of any potential bacteria). When it has cooled just a bit, add 1/4 tsp of salt. Stir it well and allow it to cool to room temp.  What you then have is 0.9% Sodium Chloride aka saline.

Dip a cotton ball in the solution, squeeze the majority of the water out and dab the eye with it. You can reuse that solution for about a week. Keep it in the refrigerator and warm it up a little before you use it again.  This should help it be comfortable as well as aid in healing whatever it is.

Please let me know how this works for you. It does not appear to me to be infectious. It looks like more of an abrasion.  It should heal within a week or so.