conjunctivitis

[andymilo]

hi everyone,

i have a (almost) 3 year old chinchilla and about a month ago i noticed that her eye was a little swollen and leaky and a little fur was missing around her eye and she kept squinting...i took her to the vet who did an eye stain and she saw a scratch in the white part of her eye and the lid was red...she prescribed antibiotics that i gave her twice a day...it has gotten better but it's still not 100 percent like it was...it's still a little leaky...not white discharge but still discharge...and the hair hasn't fully grown and she still squints it a little...but the eyelid is no longer red...will she always have a sensitivity in that eye from now on?? i feed her oxbow hay and pellets and she hasn't been eating the loose hay as much as usual for the last few weeks...although she still eats the pellets like crazy and drinks plenty of water...she still acts like her normal self...i haven't noticed any changes in her behaviour...

should i be worried about her eye still?? i have some leftover drops...should i continue to put them??

 

[addictedtochins]

My female chin gets that if she is around wood chip bedding. So we don't use that here and she is fine.

 

[andymilo]

i will definitely be switching to carefresh then...thanks for the advice...altough i do use fleece liners and the only part that contains wood shavings is her pee pan which she spends very little time in...but i will switch over

 

[addictedtochins]

Hopefully that will work. My friend Michelle (NorthIdahoChins) has the same problem with one of hers, but it has gone away with the switch of bedding also.
ETA We just use hay in our litterpans.

 

[Chinmama]

You may need to have the vet recheck the eye. Scratches can take a while to heal. My vet also told me that they may be prone to chronic eye "ulcerations" after the initial one.

ZZ had one a few years ago that took 8 months to clear up, but it hasn't happened again since then. I cut back on his dust baths and have him on Aspen pellet bedding.

 

[ticklechin]

Some chins need oral antibiotics along with the occular ones and some chins take way longer on drops to have the infection go away, eye infections suck.

 

[andymilo]

thank you everyone for your advice!! i will book a vet appointment and get her on a different treatment plan