how to treat blinded (in one eye) guinea pigs

Question
Hi Kat, Thanks for listening to me I absolutely love my guinea pigs and I want to help them so please listen to my story. Thanks again!
I purchased 2 girl guinea pigs in the month of august and found out that they were pregnant and both gave birth in september. One of the babies that I have, I just noticed yesterday looks like she might have been blinded by another guinea pig that she lives with. Her eye has a large white cloud on it that looks like you could just grab it and pull it off, but then underneath the cloud her eye is white and purple. I really do not want to believe that she may be blind in her left eye because I love all my guinea pigs to death and hate to see them hurt, and since she is so young I do not want her to be living blind for the rest of her life. Yes I know it sounds like she may be but I would like to know if there is anything that I could do for her in order to maybe help her or maybe even regain some of her eye sight by any chance (without going to the vet because they do not know anything about guinea pigs). So please I ask you for your help I have been a guinea pig lover almost my whole life and I would like to help out my special baby (her name is Gypsy)as much as I can. Thank you so much for your time and feedback!!
KP

Answer
Hello KP

If it's a cataract, there is little you will be able to do (to my knowledge a vet wouldn't be able to treat it either). Cataracts are sometimes a genetic defect that quickly appear in young piggies. However, it may just be an injury. If that's the case, there is a chance. Go to your local feed store and ask for Terramycin Opthalmic Onitment. It's an antibiotic ointment often used on farm animals (they have it for people too, but you'll have to get a perscription for that). Then go to your local pharmacy and get a sterile saline solution. Have someone help you if you need to. You'll have to hold the piggy down and hold her eye open (this won't be easy but it's neccessary if you want to possibly save her eye). Flush her eye with the saline and then put a stripe of the onitment across it. Do this 2-3 times a day. The eye will look worse before better. Treat for 14 days. If there is no improvement after 14 days, stop treatment. If there is improvement after 14 days, continue to treat until the eye is well. Don't be too upset though if it is a cataract. Blind Guinea Pigs can still live very happy lives. You will need to always keep her cage furniture and dishes in the same spots and that's really all the special care she should need. If it's just the one eye, she likely will have no trouble adjusting at all. If it's an injury, the meds will work. I've used it myself several times and it has yet to fail in saving the eye. Good luck.

-kkat
http://www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs