Cone of shame?

[lightningturtle]

Dessy's eye is infected again, and she seems like she's constantly messing with it. I'm sure a cone of shame is out of the question, but are there any pointers to help it heal better/faster? I'm using the antibiotics the vet gave the the first time (all of three weeks ago).

 

[Nerk]

I think some vets carry special cones of shame for smaller mammals (our vet had a more flexible fabric one for bunnies) but I'm not sure how they'd fair over with chinchillas.

 

[ticklechin]

Was the antibioic oral and occular? Some nasty eye infections need a eye drop and oral antibiotics. Not to scare you, but repeated eye infections should be investigated with a head x-ray to eliminate elongation of the upper incisors blocking the lacrimal duct. That, and how often do you change dust? Some chins are more sensitive to dust and need frequent changes.

 

[lightningturtle]

Occular. I'm pretty sure it's from the dust. I switched her from store brand to blue cloud, and she seems to get irritation and then mild infection after she dusts. Thus I pull the dust. Last time she didn't get a bath until the five days of antibiotics, and a few days later her eye was irritated again. Pull the dust for a couple days, nothing. Let her dust, infection!

I didn't want to throw the entire bath of dust away each time, but I will if I need to. Could blue cloud just be too fine for her?

 

[ticklechin]

I would switch back to the store brand, I have dealt with rescue/foster chins a couple of times with this type of issue with blue cloud.