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[null]

One of my chins gets a cronicly irritated eye, about every other month his eye gets puffy and we flush it out with artificial tears and in a few days it goes back to normal. There's never any pus, so I don't think it is infected and it's always the same eye, although we have treated him with antibacterial eye drops in the past with the same results as the artificial tears. Whenever we examine him there always seems to be some type of irritant, some dust or some loose fur in the eye that's causing the irritation, what I'm not sure of is why he is unable to flush these out himself. What I'm thinking is that he has a blocked tear duct, which there isn't going to be anything we can do about it other than try to proactive treat it with artificial tears. Has anyone else encountered anything like this?

[Jo Ann]

I hate to bring this up, you already have the eye problem ... but ... have you and/or your vet checked for any knots or bumps along the jaw line on that same side?  Sometimes, what looks like a "wet" eye, is an early sign of malocclusion.  I'll keep my fingers crossed it is not that.

I know Outback Chins (Amanda) has a little one that seems to have lots of eye problems ... you might want to send her a PM or e-mail.  Her website is Fuzzy Chins.

 
Jo Ann

[Jenova]

What's the location of your chinnie?
This is only coming from experience of keeping rabbits which I know are very different from chinchillas but hopefully some of the info may be of use. Rabbits are very prone to weepy eyes and the causes are usually a draughty or damp environment. Obviously this can be due to being kept outside which doesn't really apply to chinchillas but perhaps there is a draught from a door or window?
The other cause I know of is a rapid change in temperature for example if they are swapped between indoors and outdoors. Maybe a radiator or heater on a cycle could be causing this?
I know these might not apply to your problem but I thought I'd put them forwards just in case.

[Joyce]

We have had an occassional eye problem here with one or two of the chins.  Of course one boy had a hurt eye because his brother decided to hurt him.  But we do have chins that have poked an eye with hay before to leave minor abrassions on the eye. 

[null]

I hate to bring this up, you already have the eye problem ... but ... have you and/or your vet checked for any knots or bumps along the jaw line on that same side?  Sometimes, what looks like a "wet" eye, is an early sign of malocclusion.  I'll keep my fingers crossed it is not that.

I know Outback Chins (Amanda) has a little one that seems to have lots of eye problems ... you might want to send her a PM or e-mail.  Her website is Fuzzy Chins.

 
Jo Ann

I have checked his teeth and everything seems fine there. He hasn't had any other signs that are associated with malo either, such as decreased appitite or slobbers. He's also afully young to have teeth problems, he's only a year and a half old and his first eye problem occurs when he was about 7 months. The eye also isn't weeping, it's actually dry and irritated which is why I'm thinking it's a blocked tear duct.

[null]

What's the location of your chinnie?
This is only coming from experience of keeping rabbits which I know are very different from chinchillas but hopefully some of the info may be of use. Rabbits are very prone to weepy eyes and the causes are usually a draughty or damp environment. Obviously this can be due to being kept outside which doesn't really apply to chinchillas but perhaps there is a draught from a door or window?
The other cause I know of is a rapid change in temperature for example if they are swapped between indoors and outdoors. Maybe a radiator or heater on a cycle could be causing this?
I know these might not apply to your problem but I thought I'd put them forwards just in case.

He is near a window, however it's sealed up pretty good. This has been a problem for him in the summer months as well though when a draft wouldn't be factor. It's also been same eye every time.

[null]

I've heard of using a tea bag on eye infections, has anyone here tried this? I'm wondering if this might work to sooth the discomfort he's feeling. The main problem is that he's messing with his eye and making it more irritated. We were going to try to put an ecollar on him so he couldn't mess with it, but he's not the kind of chin that's going to tollerate a lamp shade on his head and I'm worried that he'd got nuts and end up hurting himself trying to get it off.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

I have 2 chins that have eye problems. The vet said one of them had an infection that closed off the tear duct.
I have to keep the drops or even a saline solution on hand at all times.
The other seems to have the same problem now.
They seem fine for weeks then their eye looks tattered. I guess from them rubbing, and no tears being produced to wash debre out.
I've been watching Misschief's now for about 5 years.

[Joyce]

PM Jamie, she is the tea bag lady!

[null]

I have 2 chins that have eye problems. The vet said one of them had an infection that closed off the tear duct.
I have to keep the drops or even a saline solution on hand at all times.
The other seems to have the same problem now.
They seem fine for weeks then their eye looks tattered. I guess from them rubbing, and no tears being produced to wash debre out.
I've been watching Misschief's now for about 5 years.

That sounds exactly what I'm experiancing. He's fine for two or three months and then it gets puffy, we check him and there's some fur or dust in his eye and it takes a few days to get back to normal. Once this one clears up I'm going to try giving him drops twice a week to see if that stops the infections.

[Debbie.nl.ca]

If it's infected you may need an antibiotic drop to clear it up first, then keep cleaning/moistening it a couple of times of week.

[null]

We've been using anti bacterial drops twice a day after we flush it out with artificial tears.

[ChinchillAZ]

We've been using anti bacterial drops twice a day after we flush it out with artificial tears.

When you use medications, it is possible to develop a tolerance that makes the medication no longer effective.  Have you been using the same antibacterial drops for the last 11 months?  If so, it may be time to see the vet for a different type.

[null]

We only use the antibactierial when it's infected. We do treatment twice a day for a week, by then it's usually clear.

[ChinchillAZ]

Even with using it only for one week, if you've used it on multiple occasions, it is still possible that the body is no longer responding to the antibacterial drops.