[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Pea Eye?

Liz Kennedy liz_kennedy at hotmail.com
Sun Jan 20 14:11:23 EST 2008


Well, fellow GPDDers, it's been a rough few months for me...
I've had a rat (Walker) battling Pneumonia for over 7 weeks.  He's a terrible patient; hates taking medicine, isn't much of a eater to begin with, etc.  So it's been a hard battle, but I think he's over the hump!  His energy level has improved, and he's eating on his own.
I have another rat  (Griffin) who lost the use of his back legs last month due to old age, so I've been trying to revamp his cage so everything is accessible, and I'm constantly worried that things are not.  But he seems happy, despite his new disability.
I have yet another rat (Sunny) who was just diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure.  He's on a couple different meds, and I'm seeing a tiny bit of improvement, but it's hard to see him look so sick.
On top of all that, my guinea pig girls started getting itchy about 2 weeks ago, so I've treated twice now with Ivermectin, and most the itching seems to have stopped.  I'm thinking about treating with Advantage, too, in case it's lice, but I've looked very closely, and I don't see any bugs, so I'm not sure.
I've read that lice are visible to the naked eye... would I have seen them?
And just to put the cherry on the sundae, Phoebe the guinea pig has developed Pea Eye, which I've never seen before.
It doesn't seem to be bothering her too much, but my question for you is, does this require a vet visit?  Or can I just call in an Rx to my vet?
I've read that there are 2 causes:  genetics and fluid retention.  Any ideas on how I can tell which one it is?
Phoebe appears happy and healthy, other than this, and her eye isn't red at all.
She's about 2 years old, and this just appeared over, I'd say, the last week.  Does that mean it's probably not genetic?
I can definitely take her into the vet if necessary, I just don't want to go if all he's going to tell me is what I already know.
Thanks so much for listening to my rant-and-rave!
Hopefully things will go up from here!
Liz slave to The Piggles
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