Bloody eye...not from fight, idea????

[September555]

Ok, my little one Lily, has had problems with her eye off and on. Right now it is bloody and bleeding, not tons, but enough. See pics, and it doesnt look like...pho...whatever that brown stuff is they sneeze.

SInce I got her, she has had weird stuff goin on with her eye. Not really bad, she had alot of gunk in her chest and noisy when I first got her. I got her on Baytril and she has been doing better. Her eye off and on has had a brownish ring around it some days and some days it is clear as anything, it has been that way since I got her. The brown has never been blood, just discolored looking. Then again some days is as clear as a bell.

I get her out tonight and my room mate pointed out that her eye looked like pus and blood. I got a napkin and she stood still and let me blot it, she closed her eyes and actually sat still like it may of felt good to her or it itched. I will show a pic of what I got off her eye as well. It looks like blood. Her eye looks scabed around it. I have an older girl in there with her, they bicker, but not fight, they pull each others hair etc alot, and squeel, but never fight to the point where this could be from a fight. It looks like maybe it itches alot and she has scratched it to the point where it bled. It has a few small scratches to it.

The pics does not show to clearly, but maybe gives an idea. I will call my vet tomorrow, but she is slowly learning about rats, mostly as I come here first and take the "adivce" to her and she either agrees or does not agree or finds out before making a decision. So I wanted to kind of get some info first if I can. Anyone knwo what this could be?

Maybe she is alergic to the bedding as well. I use care fresh ultra. I was using the white, and she sneezed alot, switched to color and she doesnt sneeze with it at all.

I dont know, I am worried about her eye tho. Thanks all

Here are pics....

the napkin I used to blot her eye with.....

how her eye looks off and on, cant really see the blood in this one

looks runny in this one, it is runny/bloody slightly

 

[September555]

I realize the pics are not to clear, the one is of her eye, but the bloody one is kinda colored wrong. It is not "pouring" blood so to speak. That bloted pic I showed, I blotted her eye twice within 15 minutes and got the same amount both times. Its like pus and blood. Not yellow pus, maybe I should say liquid and blood.....pus is more yellow and gross, there is no yellow and gross around it. Hard to get pics of a squirming baby with a soso camera.

Thanks again
Paula

 

[jorats]

Hi Paula, that looks like porphyrin, a lot of it. She's definitely stressed about something and it could also be due to the bedding. I'd try her without the Ultra Fresh for a couple of weeks to see if it clears up. In the meantime you can try gently cleaning the eye with warm water. Is Polysporin antibiotic eye drops sold in the US? If so, I'd recommend getting some and applying it twice a day to help her clear it up. Could be a clogged duct too.
Porphyin can be minimal or it can come pouring out, looking like blood. It's part of their tearing system, it comes from the Harderian gland at the base of the third eye lid membrane, behind the eye.
Some rat seem to have a naturally leaky eye... they don't act sick or have any other symptoms, just a leaky eye. Don't be alarmed either if you see the fur around the eye disappear. There's a protein in the porphyrin that can burn it off. But it takes an awful lot of porphyrin and usually an injury to cause that to happen.

 

[September555]

Thanks Jo. I just called a pharmacy here, and they do sell it, but not over the counter. Its a prescript only. He asked if it was for pink eye...and when I told him well....not exactlyyyyy and proceeded to tell him what it was for.....I just got a long curious "Humph" out of him. Keep in mind, I am at work and it is just about 3am, he is probably wondering what I am smoking. Anyways, he did tell me that I could talk to my vet and they may be willing to call in a script for it. Before I do, wanted to clarify this. You did mean human polysporin antibiotic eye drops, yes? If I did have that, I would just put the drops in her eyes? I would feel sooo bad doing that. Giving them medicine is easy, just plop it in some yogurt and they gobble it down, but sticking something in her little eye. :sad3:

 

[jorats]

Yes, it's the human one. And ya, just a drop in her eye, try and hold the eye open and then gently massage in with a tissue.

 

[mercurydust]

My girl Lily gets the same thing around her eye. Doc said it was normal and probably acts up when she gets something in her eye. It's better to be concerned about nothing then to let something go until it becomes a major problem.

 

[September555]

Thanks Jo....I took all the carefresh out and decided to line the bottom of their cage with just a piece of material. Her eye was dried up yesterday morning and last night I got her out and it was dried but looked all scratched up, then she itched it and that stuff started running out....I wiped it and it dried pretty quick.

Mercury....maybe it's a Lily thing, my girls name is Lily also.

Glad to know its more common. It looks HORRIBLE. Poor thing.

Will keep an eye on it and if I think we need eye ointment, will do that.