Eye Injury

[inzeos]

Today my wife and I noticed that one of our chin babies who is about 4 months old has what appears to be an eye injury. His left eye appears to have what looks like a cataract, about two thirds of the eye starting from the tear duct area going back looks silvery in nature and cloudy. The rest of the eye looks normal. There does not appear to be any wetness or gunk. In passing we first thought it was just light reflecting odd. He does not seem to react when we move near him on that side of his head.

Any suggestions?

 

[tunes]

Any suggestions?

Yup, take him to the vet. He could have scratched his cornea and have an infection, for which he'll need drops at the very least. He needs to see a vet.

 

[greychins]

Tunes, can chins get cataracts?

 

[RDZCRanch]

Chinchillas can get cataracts...they get them the same way every other mammal does.

Not all eye infections will present with discharge. Sometimes a scratch on the cornea will present as cloudy, only a test at the vet will let you know if that's what the baby has. When dealing with eye problems it is best to err on the side of caution and go to a vet when in doubt. Eyes are not something to mess around with...

 

[AZChins]

That sounds like it's probably a corneal abrasion. That silvery white appears where it has been scratched or irritated. I don't know if it is an infection, but it's better to go to the vet when that happens to get some drops. (Exactly what everyone else said, you're just getting a confirmation here.)

I had a customer completely ignore my advice a few weeks ago. The family ended up taking the chin in after the eye got goopy and found out that it was a scratch on the cornea. If they had gotten the chin in earlier, it wouldn't have gotten quite so bad and would have been so much easier to treat.

 

[tunes]

Chinchillas can definitely get cataracts, as Tab said, but the odds of a youngster like that developing one are probably pretty slim. I would be thinking more an injury to the eye rather than a cataract at this point.

 

[AZChins]

The way that the coloring was described sort of goes more with injury than cataract. Normally, the cataract stays in the middle part of the eye as it forms...this seems like it's down in the corner and lower in the eye like the chin scratched it. I'm guessing that it happened rather quickly, too. When it goes from being normal to cloudy and silvery overnight, it's got to be an injury, right?

 

[inzeos]

We have an appointment with a local exotic vet on Wed. Will keep you all posted.

Thankfully the forecast so far for Weds is suggesting a high of 70 here with possible rain. We are going to freeze a bottle of water with fleece to have with us just in case. Warmed up car aka with A/C running to keep the temp and humidity down. Hopefully the vets office won't be to warm.

Luckily for us the closest vet that states they deal with chinchillas is only 10 minutes away from us.

Any suggestions of questions to ask or things to pay attention to?

 

[tunes]

Avoid steroid drops. Steroids and chins don't mix well. Drops are much, much easier than ointment. Unless it's absolutely necessary, try and get drops. It is so much easier on both you and the chin, less messy, just less fuss. Some vets like to do oral antibiotics as well as the drops. Sulfa has always worked well here. Vets like to slap chins on Baytril right off the bat because I swear it's the only drug they know. With your chin being young, don't go with the Baytril unless it's life or death, which an eye generally is not. Baytril has been known to retard bone growth, and I refuse to use it in young chins.

 

[inzeos]

Thanks tunes, will keep this information handy for our visit.

 

[addictedtochins]

Baytril has been known to retard bone growth, and I refuse to use it in young chins.

Hmm, I didn't know that.

 

[Brittany]

Avoid steroid drops. Steroids and chins don't mix well. Drops are much, much easier than ointment. Unless it's absolutely necessary, try and get drops. It is so much easier on both you and the chin, less messy, just less fuss.

Yes, Lily got an eye infection when she was 3 months old. The first vet we went to perscribed a stye ointment (bad idea). The cream made the fur around her face rock hard, and it took months to clean up. To this day the fur around that eye grows in funny. We finally got rid of the infection with a combination of medicated drops and artficial tears on a 3 hour rotation as perscribed by a different vet.

Also, since chins use their paws to wipe their faces it'd probably be a good idea to clean the cage more frequently to keep things sterile. Good luck!

 

[Anna]

Baytril has been known to retard bone growth, and I refuse to use it in young chins.

Well... that explains why Furby is so puny. He was on and off of it for a while last spring. Dang it! So, just because now I'm curious... are the alternative antibiotics that can treat minor URIs? I have a dehumidifier but it's janky and doesn't always work. I would say that the sniffles happen on occasion, but nothing more than that. Do I have to result to baytril?

 

[tunes]

IMO, URI's need the heavy hitter, which is Baytril. For that, I would give it to a young one. But not for an eye infection or a toe that got infected after being bitten, etc. Sulfa is a good broad spectrum antibiotic, but upper respiratory infections turn bad so fast, it's not worth experimenting.

 

[Anna]

Oh, okay. I guess that's life, bleh baytril. I see what you're saying. thanks : )

 

[furrylovables]

I just took in my 5 month old female who has a cataract. The vet told me that it was probably a congenital defect. Mom and dad neither have cataracts and it was something she was born with. She would be fine with it, but if it gets worse, she said to have the cataract removed or the whole eye would have to be removed, depending on how bad it gets. I just took her to the vet yesterday. Take her to the vet and have it check out, like said above it could just be an eye injury.

 

[Claire D]

TBH most chins live quite happily with cataracts - chins are very adaptable creatures & blindness does not stop them really. A good friend of mine has a chin born with cataracts & she's now in double figures age wise & does very well. Blind chins just need a bit of extra attention - for example, my friend's chin has to be watched when the cage door is open or she bounces right out. Other than that, not changing the cage furniture around too much or letting them out for a run in an unfamiliar, large area is about all that is necessary.

 

[hkkjstwcl]

I agree with others, and I would take him to vet. But, in the past, I had an experience in which one of my chins got mucus covered eye. I examined and found a abrasion on the eyelid. I wet tissue or cotton ball with dump water and wipe his eyes frequently. It cured in a few days. I would go to vet now that I have become a less clueless chin mom, but thought that I would share the experience.

 

[inzeos]

Hello,

Just wanted to post an update.

We had our appointment with the small animal specialize vet at our local hospital.

She examined our little guy all over before looking specifically at the eye injury.

She looked at the eye and determined that there was an infection in the eye. The vet and tech brought him out back to one of their work areas and use a green dye agent on the eye so that they could see if the scratch was healed closed or not. The verdict was that it had healed closed already.

The vet prescribed an ointment, which they have good history with treating eye problems in small rodents and chinchillas. The vet tech under instruction of the vet showed us how to apply the ointment and then applied it directly to the eye.

The prescribed ointment is neo-poly-bac hyrdo (neomycin and polymyxin b sulfates, bacitracin zinc and hydrocortisone ophthalmic ointment USP).

We were instructed to apply it to the eye every 8 hours for 3 weeks.

We have a follow up appointment this coming Weds assuming my wife is not in the hospital delivering her first baby.

We just reapplied the ointment this evening and the area of the eye that was discolored already appears to have decreased.