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[endicotta]

hey there! I've never used forums before and this is my first time posting anything, so, I do hope I do this right.
My two year old chinchilla, Alice, fell last week and scratched near her eye. I've been in contact with the vet (a chinchilla specialist) every night since then. She's fine now. We went a few days with a swollen eye and a few goobers, but the vet says everything looks good and she'll be fine in no time. (I have been gently cleaning her eye like the vet told me. Alice has been very cooperative and patient with me.)
However, the vet did say not to give her a bath until her eye is back to normal, because the dust can irritate it. The past two days, I've noticed Alice has been scratching her fur and not really biting, but kind of nudging her face into it? I can tell she's in need of a bath, but she can't take one for a few more days.
Is there any way I could kind of rub some dust into her fur, just to relieve her a little? I'd call the vet and ask but they're closed for the weekends except for emergency house calls, and I don't think this counts as an emergency. 

[kageri]

This site suggests a cornstarch http://www.chincare.com/HealthLifestyle/GroomingFurHealth.htm#massage

We have been using baking soda for our chin with bite wounds and baking soda is even suggested as an eye rinse for inflammation.

[endicotta]

This site suggests a cornstarch http://www.chincare.com/HealthLifestyle/GroomingFurHealth.htm#massage

We have been using baking soda for our chin with bite wounds and baking soda is even suggested as an eye rinse for inflammation.

thank you very much! I will keep those in mind and see what I can do. my girl just hates going more than a few days without bathing

[GrayRodent]

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with your pet. Spontaneous eye infections in chinchillas seem to be somewhat common but easily treatable even if it's a scratch. I think it is best that you do not dust your chinchilla until the eye looks normal and advise against hand bathing. I'm not saying I'm an expert or anything but it makes sense to me that any dust in the fur can prolong the healing process if it gets in the eyes. With that being said it is true that dusting is very important to a chinchilla's psychological health so if your chinchilla is acting depressed or irritable I think hand bathing is your next best option. It's up to you to read your pet and make that determination. I remember when my chinchilla had a foot injury and I withheld his dust for five days. He seemed to do just fine but each chinchilla is different. A typical eye infection usually clears up in about three days. Five days to withhold dust seems reasonable to me.

I'm a little skeptical about using baking soda as an eye rinse (Perhaps someone can explain this better). If you do that please be very careful about the preparation. If I were in that situation I think I would use sterile saline eye drops if I felt the eyes needed to be flushed. If the pH is wrong it may become an irritant.

[kageri]

I didn't mean you should rinse the eye in baking soda.  I was just pointing it out that it is used for that purpose so it should be safe to dust with in this situation.  My husband and I were discussing whether it was ok to leave baking soda in the eye instead of rinsing it away.  It might be a good idea if you use anything for bathing to flush the eye with a properly balanced salt solution.  It will help with healing anyway.

[endicotta]

hey there - I ended up just waiting for her eye to clear up before giving her a bath. she's all better now (she has been for a while, I just forgot I posted this, whoops) and she's back to her happy self 

[GrayRodent]

Glad it cleared up. Thanks for the update.