Runny eye/discharge?

[Gehenna]

Hey all! My boy Barkley has been having some runny eye issues and little eye boogers. I've been doing nothing differently, so I'm not sure what's causing it. I'll add imgur links because I'm on my phone and it won't let me attach images for some reason. I'm planning on calling the vet and making an appointment for this weekend, but if anyone has any idea what this is I would appreciate some insight. I know eye discharge is usually an awful sign, so I'm kind of freaking out.

Here's the imgur album,
https://imgur.com/a/3IuYN

 

[Amethyst]

It doesn't look too bad to me, likely an eye infection. It happens that a piece of hay or a bit of dust gets in there eyes sometimes. I would get it checked out by the vet though, he will likely at least need eye drops.

 

[Gehenna]

So our vet gave us Ofloxin to give him 2 to 3 times a day, and said that may or may not help. She said that Barkley's teeth and ears looked good, so she didn't think they had anything to do with it. She also said it wasn't an infection, and did a test to make sure his eye wasn't scratched - it wasn't. She did say it could possibly be a blocked tearduct or nasal cavity, but didn't seem so concerned about it. Is this something anyone has heard of? I looked into it and saw a few posts about blocked tearducts, but is there anything I could do to help him if it is that? She said the only way she would be able to tell if it were that was with an x-ray, too.

 

[Snowflake311]

Yeah I had a few rescues with this. It cleared up when I got them. I kept their cages VERY clean and that helped. The one I moved off wood chips and on to fleece cleared up the fastest. I have this one elderly guy with a ear infection and funky eye. I have been using over the counter pink eye meds for his eye and it helped.

Some chins have sensitive eyes.

Here is my rescue before treatment. This is what I am dealing with. Your little guy will be fine as long as it is not caused by his teeth.
20171023_103420 by Sarah Ireland, on Flickr

 

[ticklechin]

Sometimes chinchillas will need a oral antibiotic along with a ocular one, and sometimes that ocular one needs a steroid to reduce inflammation.

 

[Snowflake311]

I used Terramycin Ophthalmic Ointment in My chins ear. When I first started I could not even get in the ear it was so inflamed and clogged. Today I took him out for another treatment and was able to get in his ear and get lots of wax out. He is getting better.

I was thinking he might need an oral antibiotic too but so far this is working. It is amazing.

 

[ticklechin]

My personal opinion, I would not self vet a ear infection, the infection can get so deep topical treatments won't clear the entire infection up and the results can end up with permanent neurological damage.

 

[Gehenna]

Sorry to revive this thread, but the issue is happening again, except now it's BOTH my chins. Both of my boys keep scratching at their eyes, and it's worrying me. At first it was the same minimal discharge from Barkley's eyes, so I started giving him the drops and thought nothing of it. But a few days later I noticed it in Atlas too, and started giving them both the drops. Then I noticed the both of them start scratching at them more and more. I've been putting the Ofloxin drops in their eyes, but I can't tell if that's helping. Atlas' (light grey) eye definitely looks worse than Barkley's (standard grey), but I'm not sure if it's just more noticeable because of his coloration. Would anyone be able to tell me what they think this may be? Both of them are separate, and I'm not sure how Atlas managed to get whatever this is.

Here's an imgur album, Barkley's images are at the top, while Atlas' are at the bottom;
https://imgur.com/a/jWWW9

 

[ticklechin]

I just had three that came down with eye infections, with complications so if yours stop eating or have any behavior changes, take them to the vet, I wonder if something is going around.