CJR
the dreamer
You can probably skip to the stuff in bold if you don't want to read any extraneous information.
My 815g, three-years-and-nine-months old chinchilla (Bessie) has been dealing with a strange eye problem for about six months. It has been solely in her right eye, her left has never had problems. In that time we have seen two doctors on multiple occasions.
At first, she had a scratch on her sclera, which we confirmed with a fluorescein stain. We checked both eyes to be sure. We withheld dust and gave her re-wetting drops for her eye to help it heal, with an antibiotic on hand in case it turned infectious.
The second visit, we checked out her teeth with a scope. Everything looked normal and even. She has been eating regularly, pooping regularly, her activity level is normal and higher than my other girls. We decided to try an antibiotic. It cleared it up for a week or so and then the watery/occasionally gooey eye came right back.
The third visit was yesterday. We stained her eyes again just to cover the bases and checked out her teeth (still normal, healthy and flat). Dr. Jennings (of the Small Animal Clinic in Carlisle, PA) decided to try a tear test to see if that turned up anything.
Bessie's right eye scored a 4.5 on the Schirmer tear test. Her left scored a little less than an 8. Guinea pigs and rabbits often have a 'normal' range of around 12. Does anyone know the normal range for chinchillas? We think she isn't producing enough tears.
She is now on a lubricating eye gel/drop 3x a day and it already seems to be doing some good.
Thank you in advance.
My 815g, three-years-and-nine-months old chinchilla (Bessie) has been dealing with a strange eye problem for about six months. It has been solely in her right eye, her left has never had problems. In that time we have seen two doctors on multiple occasions.
At first, she had a scratch on her sclera, which we confirmed with a fluorescein stain. We checked both eyes to be sure. We withheld dust and gave her re-wetting drops for her eye to help it heal, with an antibiotic on hand in case it turned infectious.
The second visit, we checked out her teeth with a scope. Everything looked normal and even. She has been eating regularly, pooping regularly, her activity level is normal and higher than my other girls. We decided to try an antibiotic. It cleared it up for a week or so and then the watery/occasionally gooey eye came right back.
The third visit was yesterday. We stained her eyes again just to cover the bases and checked out her teeth (still normal, healthy and flat). Dr. Jennings (of the Small Animal Clinic in Carlisle, PA) decided to try a tear test to see if that turned up anything.
Bessie's right eye scored a 4.5 on the Schirmer tear test. Her left scored a little less than an 8. Guinea pigs and rabbits often have a 'normal' range of around 12. Does anyone know the normal range for chinchillas? We think she isn't producing enough tears.
She is now on a lubricating eye gel/drop 3x a day and it already seems to be doing some good.
Thank you in advance.
