Pink/ red discharge??

[jess_w]

I have a male chin who is about 6/7 months old. When I got home today I noticed that he had a pinky-red mark on the fur on his face, and his eye was a little red around the outside. I couldn't see any cuts or anything, and since he is white I think the blood would have stained a lot more if he had managed to cut himself somehow.

The only thing I can think of is that it was some sort of discharge coming from his eye. I hear people saying to watch out for a white discharge but never heard of a pink/ red coloured discharge before. There was no discharge coming out when I looked at him - just the stain on his fur. Anyone have any ideas about what it could be?

I bathed his eye in some salt water which seems to have helped a little. It's got rid of what was on his fur, but his eye still looks a bit red round the edge and he will occasionally close it a little whilst his other eye is still open. He has a cage mate too so I considered that they might have had a bit of a scuffle and scratched his eye, but like I said I couldn't see any scratches when I checked him. He seems fine otherwise, very energetic, eating as usual, etc. (occasionally scratching at his eye)

I can't talk to the vet until the morning so wondering if anyone on here has heard of anything like this? Really hoping it's not a tooth problem : (

 

[Riven]

Is there anything colored in the cage that he could've gotten "colored" from?

Anything red would be blood, check his paws, if he caught a paw then wiped his eye it would've left a mark when he wiped.

Please don't use salt water to wash out eyes, it burns and is harmful, water is better, but can also cause burning. Saline solution is the best because it is isotonic and has the same mixture as the body.

If you don't see any scratches or bleeding I would just keep an eye on him and watch for anything abnormal. Could be something as simple as he was scratching and accidentally scratched himself. I personally feel at this point taking him to the vet ( I know you said talk, but they will probably tell you to come in ) would only add more stress.

If you're not seeing anything coming out of the eye yet tonight or by morning then it is not discharge. Discharge itself is not bloody, but a scratch would be.

Sounds like you're keeping a good eye on him and keep that up, but don't over stress yourself okay!

 

[jess_w]

I thought of the colouring thing - he does have some red coloured wood in his cage but I dismissed it because his eye was a bit swollen, so I assumed it was something that had come from his eye.

(I meant saline solution when I said salt water by the way, I'd forgotten what it was called and thought they were more or less the same thing)

The reason I'm a bit concerned is that I'm going on holiday tomorrow - these things always happen at the worst time don't they!! He seems ok today though so I probably won't take him to the vet. I'll let the person who is looking after him know to keep an eye on him.