[Gpdd] health:piggie with sometimes crusty eyes

Lydia Boland lydiagboland at yahoo.com
Wed Feb 23 23:53:37 EST 2005



Satchel has a whitish discharge from his eyes and
sometimes from his nose.  Ive had two vets look at him
and they both said that it was not a disease and a
part of aging.  The same thing you see in dogs.  But
discharge is something that can be a sign of disease
so it is good to have it looked at to rule out a URI. 
If your pig is sneezing then I would definitely be
concerned.  
Usually I notice that our pigs sleep with their eyes
closed or partially closed.  Bunnies have a third
eyelid and maybe pigs do too.  I found out about this
because one time I didn't close the baby gate all the
way and Benjamin and Polly got together and fought. 
She scratched his third eyelid in the fight.  It's so
fun to go to the ER Vet and pay out lots of money. 
And for that time and money you learn about rabbit
anatomy.  Anyway, I suspect guinea pigs have a third
eyelid too that helps protect their eyes but we don't
notice it.  But they will blink if something comes
near their eye like your finger or hand.  
When animals are put under anethesia a special
ointment is put in their eyes to keep them from drying
out, so I suspect they don't blink the way we do.  If
I remember I'll ask our vet the next time we see them,
which is inevitably always sometime before I think it
will be.

Lydia




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