[Gpdd] [HEALTH] Sotty eye infection

[Ann Evans]

Dear Julie,
  It sounds like like Sotty has an eye infection behind his eyeball that 
has invaded the nasal cavity. Two months ago Dr. Bonsack and I removed 
the eye of a 5 year old 1.3 kg sow that had a tooth abscess that had 
tracked up the tooth root to the orbit of the eyeball. Before the eye 
began oozing pus it was very extended. The owners initially did not want 
the eye removed. I provided medical care for the cavy at my house. I 
gave subcutaneous, subQ, injections of 10 mg of Baytril twice a day. The 
first Baytril injection of the day also contained 0.4 mg of 
dexamethasone. Chloramphenicol eye ointment was applied 4 times per day. 
The pus was very smelly. After a week it was evident that the eyeball 
was no longer viable and there was a large amount of pus behind it which 
could tract down the optic nerve and cause a systemic infection. The eye 
was removed surgically. The pre-operation medications were 10 mg Rimadyl 
subQ, 10 mg Baytril subQ and 10 ml body temperature lactated ringers 
solution subQ. The cavy's mouth was cleaned out by syringing her her 5 
ml of water. Induction was with 3.5% Isoflurane. After induction I 
emptied any fluid from the mouth with a 1.0 ml syringe. She was placed 
on a microwaveable heating pad which had been heated to 40 degrees 
Celsius. Anesthesia was maintained at 2.5% Isoflurane. The four muscles 
of the eye were cut near the insertion points of the orbit of the eye. 
The optic nerve and blood vessels were cut with small surgical scissors. 
The eyeball was removed. There was a large quantity of pus in optic 
orbit. The pus was flushed out with 10 ml of metronidazole, flagyl, 5 
mg/ml.  All cut surfaces were cauterized with compressed liquid 
nitrogen. The orbit was filled with 0.2 ml of Bepanthen. The eye lids 
were Not sutured closed. The cavy awoke within 5 minutes of me turning 
off the Isoflurane and flushing the mask with oxygen. A dab of Vick's 
vapor rub was placed under her nose. Within 10 minutes after the 
anesthesia was turned off she was eating Romaine lettuce while sitting 
on the heating pad on the surgical table. Every day for 2 weeks I 
flushed the orbit with 1.0 ml flagyl 5mg/ml. The orbit was filled with 
0.2 ml Intrasite gel. She was given orally 1.0 ml of Baytril 10 mg/ml 
twice a day for 7 days and orally 1.0 ml Rimadyl 10 mg/ml twice a day 
for 3 days then reduced to 0.5 ml twice a day for 3 days. She was always 
able to eat on her own though daily she was syringe fed 5.0 ml of 
Critter be Better or Oxbow Critical Care to assist in her recovery. She 
went home two weeks post op without needing any further attention. This 
is a case I feel you should discuss with your vet. The eye is just an 
extension of the brain and any infection in it or behind it can infect 
other parts of the brain. My best wishes for you and your family. I am 
not a vet but I volunteer for Dr. Frank Bonsack DVM of Adventure Animal 
Hospital as a cavy health advisor.
Sincerely,

Ann and the Rescued Piggys of Piggyville, Tampa Florida USA.