Swollen Eye

[itsangelaaa]

Last night when I came home from work, my chin Sugar's right eye was swollen and the fur underneath was a little messed up, as if it were wet. However I felt the fur and it wasn't wet anymore. The eye was swollen to about half the size of the normal eye, and there was no puss. Today the eye is still swollen, but it is a little better. It is a bit more than 2/3 the normal size, with no discharge. If it were dust that had irritated the eye wouldn't it have cleared up by now? If I need to take her to the vet is this something that can wait until Monday or should I find another vet that is open over the weekend? (our regular vet is only open until noon Saturday and I haven't called to check if they have openings yet because I wasn't sure if this was something that would clear up by itself.)

 

[Laurie]

If it was irritated by dust not necessarily. It hasn't even been one full day for the eye to recover yet from irritation. It could also have been a piece of hay getting into it or if she was chewing wood sticks a small particle of wood. It's possible this will clear up by itself but it's also possible it could be something more.

The most important thing is to always monitor the behavior of the chin. If she is eating, drinking and pooping like she should be then yes you can wait until Monday to see a vet.

Do not put any human eye drops in your chins eyes thinking this will help.

Hopefully it will clear up on its own. If not a trip to the vet and having an eye stain done will figure out what it is and how to treat it.

 

[itsangelaaa]

I came home and her eye was much better still swollen but its almost back to normal. I definitely should've waited longer before jumping to conclusions! I just figured that since it takes us seconds to clear our eyes out when we get dust in our eyes.. that a chin's eye shouldn't take so long to clear out irritants too. I'll still be keeping an eye on her over the weekend but at least for now it looks like it will clear up on its own.

I have a question though.. Why can't human eye drops be used for chinchillas? Aren't eye drops just saline solutions of salt and water? Jw.

 

[Kansas City Chinchillas]

I came home and her eye was much better still swollen but its almost back to normal. I definitely should've waited longer before jumping to conclusions! I just figured that since it takes us seconds to clear our eyes out when we get dust in our eyes.. that a chin's eye shouldn't take so long to clear out irritants too.

I have a question though.. Why can't human eye drops be used for chinchillas? Aren't eye drops just saline solutions of salt and water? Jw.

It doesn't take long to clear out irritants from a chin's eye. Chin's eyes are very similar to human eyes. However the chin could have accidently irritated its eye which would take a bit longer to heal.

You can use human saline eye drops to flush the chin's eye. There is nothing wrong with using human saline eye drops as long as they are sterile.

Glad you are keeping an eye on her.