Things You'll Need
- Warm water or saline solution (used with contact lenses)
- Cotton swab or facial tissue
- Ointment, if prescribed by a vet
- Oral antibiotics, if prescribed by a vet
Instructions
Pink Eye
Determine if your guinea pig has conjunctivitis. Look for white or yellowish discharge from the eye, "crustiness" around the eye, redness or swelling in and around the eye, and behavior such as pawing at the eyes or sneezing.
Use cotton swabs (or facial tissues if you don't have cotton swabs available) and warm water or saline solution to very carefully clean any goo or crustiness from around the eye. Don't touch the eyeball itself! You may need to soak crusty spots for a minute before attempting to wipe them off. Getting water or saline solution in your guinea pig's eye will not hurt it. In fact, it will help cleanse the area.
Repeat the above procedure as often as needed.
Look to see if there are any irritants in the cage that could have caused the conjunctivitis. If you have changed types of bedding recently or added objects to the cage, try removing them and see if the conjunctivitis clears up. Some guinea pigs are very sensitive to wood shavings, especially cedar. (As a general rule, never use cedar chips in guinea pig cages. Some guinea pigs are very allergic to them and can become very sick or even die.)
Take your pet to the vet. If the symptoms persist for more than a day or two, you should take the guinea pig to a small animal vet. The vet will determine if the guinea pig needs medication to cure the conjunctivitis. The vet may give you a topical ointment (probably "terramyacin") to be applied to the eyes, and possibly an oral antibiotic if the vet thinks the conjunctivitis is being caused by bacteria.
Follow the vet's instructions for applying the ointment. Put the ointment right onto the eyeball (but don't let the tip of the tube touch the eyeball) and then open and close the eyelids a couple of times to spread the ointment around the whole eye. Make sure the corners of the eyes get ointment in them.
Follow instructions. If the vet gives you oral antibiotics, follow the instructions that come with the prescription. Make sure you give the medication for the full number of days prescribed.
Don't despair. If the guinea pig comes down with conjunctivitis again, don't get discouraged. In some animals, this condition can be a recurrent problem. Just keep following good hygiene, keep looking for possible irritants, and follow all of the instructions that your vet gives you.