Eye Stuck Shut

[QnMidnight]

Hello there -

When I checked on my chinchilla this morning, I noticed he had one eye that appeared to be stuck shut. I took a damp cloth and was able to help him open it some; it looks like his fur is stuck together directly over his eye. There's not really any other discharge (wet or dried) around his eye; just a little fur clumped together. He's got it mostly open now and the eye itself doesn't appear irritated. Is this something I should be concerned about, or will it work itself out?

 

[Woodrow724]

Keep a really close eye on him. Problems with eyes can be a symptom of a URI, which can kill a chin rapidly. Make sure he isn't sneezing, consistently wiping his nose and watch for discharge from the eyes and nose. Also make sure he's eating, drinking and pooping normal and isn't lethargic or breathing rapidly. If you don't have a vet picked out just research it just in case. If it is a URI he needs antibiotics.
Hope your little man is okay!

 

[QnMidnight]

Me too! I don't see any signs of discharge now, and there wasn't really anything that I could see stuck in the fur around his eye - it just looked stuck together. Just re-cleaned all the poop off his shelves so I can monitor him more closely. No lethargy or anything; he was not happy about me messing with his eye, but he's comfortable enough with us to let me check it without getting too angry. He's trying to clean his face off occasionally now, but I think that's probably because I messed up his fur with the damp rag. Appears to still have an appetite; I gave him a rosehip to make up for messing with him.

Edited to add there's no sneezing either.

 

[addictedtochins]

It could be URI and it could be related to his dust. Did you just dust him? Did you leave the dust in for more then 5-10 minutes? What kind of bedding does he have? It's possible he just got something in his eye. You do need to keep a close eye on him in case he is ill just in case.

 

[QnMidnight]

He had his last dust bath a few days ago; it doesn't stay in for longer than 30 minutes (I don't always remember to grab it at 5 or 10, but 30 seems to be the magic number for me). He has fleece liners that were changed yesterday morning. I've had him for 3 or 4 years, and he's been on the same dust / food / general routine for just about the whole time. He's never had any trouble with his eyes / respiratory system before (not to say that he couldn't now; just adding medical history).

 

[Shooper]

My boy Inca had this problem a while back... I took him to the vet and they gave him antibiotics and some eye drops. It was the equivilent to "pink eye" that humans get. Every now and then his eye will be gooeyed shut and I clean it up and use the eye drops for a few days and that usually does the trick!

 

[QnMidnight]

How common is this chinchilla "pink eye"? As far as I know, he hasn't been exposed to anything new, so I can't think of any way he could have contracted something like that. There's still no sign of sneezing / discharge, and I was able to clear away the rest of the crustiness so it's open now. It looks a little irritated, but not badly. I think it mostly looks irritated just from cleaning it up some.

 

[Laurie]

Conjunctivitis is common in animals and humans and can crop up from time to time. Sometimes a chinchilla can get some dust or irritants in it's eye and it will clear up on it's own. If this does not happen then a trip to the vet is needed to determine if the eye is scratched or if it needs eye drops and/or oral medication as well. Keep a close eye on him to make sure it isn't something like a URI. If it doesn't clear up in a couple of days take him to the vet for a thorough assessment

 

[QnMidnight]

Thanks Laurie! I'm really hoping it was just dust or something irritating it; I haven't seen any other weird signs and there doesn't appear to be any further goo/whatever to stick it shut again. I guess we'll keep our fingers crossed and see how he's doing in the morning!

 

[Godofgods]

I woke up one day and my males eye was crusted shut. I was scared to death cause i had no clue at that point. By the time i was able to get him to the vet his eye had started clearing up and opening on its own. It appeared to jsut be something that go tinto his eye.

The vet gave me a little thing of Vetrachloracin. Was supposed to put 1/4 inch strip to the eye once a day. Which to this day i still dont understand. If his eye is closed exactly how am i supposed to do that without forceing his eye open? And as for actualy doing it... I dont ever see my chinc staying still for such a thing. (which i can relate to, i cant even use eye drops)

But either way, after a few days his eye was fine again, and so was he. Was so happy to see him better. And so glad it was nothing overly serious

 

[QnMidnight]

I'm hopeful that we're good to go now, but still watching him closely. He had it stuck shut again about halfway yesterday afternoon, but he got it open on his own, and today it looks fine (no puffiness / discharge / sticking, etc). Even when it was open yesterday it looked a bit puffy (when comparing it to his other eye), but today he finally looks back to normal again. I'll continue to monitor him, but thanks for all the information!