Bloody Eye/Eye Area???

crazylicious85 · Mar 28, 2008

I just got home from my birthday dinner and when I went to check on the rats, Kaos' eye was covered in a thick bloody substance - is this poryphin (sp?) I really think it's a cut around the eye w/ blood, but I'm not sure. I know he and Fruit Loop have been wrestling around but nothing major, so I'm not sure how it happened. I have him in a tiny hamster cage for now and he's cleaning it off. His eye is clear now (at first I thought his eyeball was gone), but he keeps cleaning it. The first part that came off was a tiny blood clot looking substance. I'm pretty sure it's blood, but I'm new at this so I'm not 100%. What can I do until I can get him checked out by the vet? He's pooping a lot and bruxing. He's really stressed and I don't know what to do. I've been in tears since I checked on him. Thank gosh my boyfriend/best friend is here to help me out as my mom and sister are in bed. He seems fine (running around on my shoulder and all), but definitely stressed. Most likely because he's never been separated from his brother (Fruit Loop). He keeps scratching where a little patch of hair is missing around his eye/nose. PLEASE HELP!

Thanks,
Allison

Fidget · Mar 28, 2008

Okay -first relax.
It's hard to tell what's up without pictures. Can you take some? So how is his eye looking now?

jorats · Mar 28, 2008

Cuts to the eye is actually quite common. He should see a vet for antibiotics but in the meantime, I'd put him back with his buddy. He will stress more by himself than with what he's comfortable with.

crazylicious85 · Mar 28, 2008

Fidget said:
Okay -first relax.
It's hard to tell what's up without pictures. Can you take some? So how is his eye looking now?

After I posted this, I relaxed and put him back in with his brother. I read some stuff on google and I think they are all getting too much protein (dog food), so I've cut back hoping they will all cut back on scratching. I'll never know what actually happened, but I think maybe he scratched his nose/eye area so much it cut it and that's what caused it to bleed so much. He calmed down as soon as I put him back with Fruit Loop and they snuggled while Fruit Loop helped groom him and clean up his eye area. They slept good and when I woke up his eye was clear with just a few tiny scaps. He's eating fine and running around like nothing ever happened. I'm going to keep an eye on him for a couple days and if it starts swelling or looks bad I'll take him in to the vet. I'm all three of them in for symptoms of myco anyways so I'll get the vet to check on his eye and do everything at once. Thanks for the comment. I definitely over reacted, but when I first saw his eye it looked so bad - I'll post a picture of it later. We took a picture last night.

crazylicious85 · Mar 28, 2008

jorats said:
Cuts to the eye is actually quite common. He should see a vet for antibiotics but in the meantime, I'd put him back with his buddy. He will stress more by himself than with what he's comfortable with.

After I posted this, I relaxed and put him back in with his brother, I knew he was stressed from being separated more than anything. He really acted as if nothing was wrong, still does. Last night I read some stuff on google and I think they are all getting too much protein (dog food), so I've cut back hoping they will help & I'm going to try to trim all of their nails as soon as I can get someone to help me hold them (or I'll get the vet to do it). I'll never know what actually happened, but I think maybe he scratched his nose/eye area so much it cut it and that's what caused it to bleed so much. He calmed down as soon as I put him back with Fruit Loop and they snuggled while Fruit Loop helped groom him and clean up his eye area. They slept good and when I woke up his eye was clear with just a few tiny scaps. He's eating fine and running around like nothing ever happened. I'm going to keep an eye on him for a couple days. I'm taking all three of them in for symptoms of myco anyways so I'll get the vet to check on his eye and do everything at once + Kahlua is getting spayed. I'll post a picture of it later. We took a picture last night.

Thanks for your help - I don't know what I'd do without this forum.

mamarat2 · Mar 28, 2008

If there is ever too much porphyrin build up around an eye, you can also take a cotton ball soaked in warm water and gently wipe the fur around the eye and that area. Porphyrin usually comes off easily with some warm water.