crusty/watery eyes

Question
QUESTION: I noticed today that one of my guinea pigs seems to have some discharge around his eyes. He hasn't been sneezing, however, and he has been eating and behaving normally (from what I can tell). He actually gained about an ounce in the past week.  Should I take him to see a veterinarian? I've attached links for pictures of his eyes below. (Sorry, he's a little camera shy. It's almost like he knows when the picture is going to snap because he stays still right until the moment when the picture snaps, and then decides to move lol)

Also, I haven't seen any symptoms from his cage-mate.  Should I take him to the veterinarian as well?  They quoted me at $100 for one piggy, and money is tight right now, but I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Thanks!

http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq101/charlenecartwright/Guinea%20Pigs/pibbys



http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq101/charlenecartwright/Guinea%20Pigs/pibbys


Teramycin Eye Ointment   ANSWER: From what I can see on the pictures it doesn't look like anything contagious. The discharge looks like a white creamy kind of discharge seen when they're under stress.

Try using a cotton ball dipped in warm water and just washing the goo from the eyes. After you've done that put a drop of Visine eye drops in each eye. I keep Teramycin eye ointment in my piggy first aid box to use if I see any evidence of injury or infection. I don't actually think the antibiotic effect is what works, I think it's more because of the soothing effect of the ointment itself.

Some pet stores sell it. I get mine from KW Cages in Santee,Ca. They have a website and you can order it online. Here's a picture of the tube. It's very small and runs about $13. You only use a tiny amount at a time so it's not as expensive as it seems. You can get a lot of use out of the tube.

I certainly understand the tight money issue. It's not any looser here! And $100 to find out you should put Visine in his eyes seems a bit much. This may just be from irritation but not necessarily infectious. So keep washing the eyes out and see if that doesn't help.

There's another little trick I recently learned that has apparently been used by cavy breeders for year for pigs who might be under stress from shipping, traveling, etc. It's nothing more than Vit E capsules. The kind with the oil in it. Open the tip of the capsule and put the Vit E right into the mouth.

I have no idea what the actual dynamics of the treatment is, but I understand it has a fairly dramatic effect on the pig's general immunity and well being. You don't need to to this on a daily basis. Just for a couple of days during that stress period.

The person I learned this from was and still is a longtime cavy judge who lives in Washington state. He said that sometimes when making long trips for two or three days with show pigs they would sometimes just look a little "off" and not so energetic. He swears that the Vit E has done wonders for snapping them back.

Another friend of mine just moved to Nebraska and shipped nearly 80 pigs via a large transport truck.  He said he put Vit E powder in their feed and every one of them made it the entire trip without anyone showing any signs of weight loss or lethargy, any of the signs of stress.

So it's worth a try. It's a lot less that the $100 the vet would charge. Let me know how they're doing.

Good luck friend.  Nice to hear from you again.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you sooo much for your feedback!!!!!! I;m wondering now if he's stressed out because of the other (bratty) boar lol.  Could this be a cause for separation?  They seem to get along fine for the most part (even though Ponchito is def the dominant one), and Mr. Pibb (the one with the eye discharge) hasn't lost any weight or anything.  I really don't want to separate them if it isn't necessary, but I don't want poor Mr. Pibb to be bullied and stressed out!  (He is still a little skittish with me, so that could be cause for his stress also).

Answer
It's possible that the bully is making him stressed. Why don't you go ahead and separate them for awhile and see if that solves the problem? But of course as you say, he's not losing weight so he's eating. There's always a boss hog in every cage and usually the remaining pigs just deal with it. So try the separation and see if Mr. Pibb is happier that way.