My guinea pig has a painful eye. Should I risk surgery or euthanasia?

Question

Hi. My Guinea pig's eye is red and bulging out of its socket. She squeals in pain a lot and isnt eating or drinking. I took her to the vets and they said she needs her eye taken out. It turns out when i asked, no one in the vet surgery had operated on a Guinea pig before. And the price is very high and the risks are high too. If anything happened I'm sure my daughter wouldn't stop crying.. I am unsure what to do. Pet's info: Small Animal | Unknown - Small Animal | Female | unspayed

Dr. Dayna, DVM, CVA · Accepted Answer

I am sorry to hear about Toffee. I agree that the eye looks very painful and not salvageable. While a veterinarian may have not done this procedure on a guinea pig before it is likely that they have done it on a different species. We are trained in comparative anatomy, and very commonly do things on a specific type of animal that we haven’t worked on before. Such is the nature of veterinary medicine. You are also in a tough situation because if you leave the eye it is likely to become more infected and possibly cause your pig to become septic. I think having a very open discussion with your daughter that the guinea pig could die if you don’t do surgery, but has the chance to do well if you do try the surgery is a good idea. That way she feels like she has a voice in the decision. If you do not remove this source of pain then I think euthanasia should be considered and would be a very humane alternative to surgery. There is no right answer, but the more you discuss with your daughter and take questions back to your veterinarian the easier I think it will be to make a decision. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

My guinea pig has a painful eye. Should I risk surgery or euthanasia?

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