Just pulled a long lump of hay out of Inky's eye! Eye problem solved?

It was about 1 and a half inches long and horrible:shock:

Inky has been having eye trouble on and off for a couple of months. It came up again (it's kind of his lower eyelid) last week, so I have been treating it with antibacterial eye drops. The lump has gone back down and we are nearing the end of the course of drops.

This morning, I went out to give them their veg and noticed a piece of hay in the corner of Inky's eye, I pulled it out and this big lump came out. It didn't bother him at all (he carried on eating) and I have checked his eye, so far it looks fine (but obviously if it gets worse, I'll take him back to the vets). I'm hoping that now we have solved the problem.

Is there anything I can do to stop it happening again though?

Eeeew imagine having that stuck in your eye, well spotted. Could you maybe remove any more big stalky bits and either feed by hand so you know he is eating it and not wearing it as a contact lens, or chop up into tiny pieces or chuck in bin.:lol:

His favourite trick is to bury his head in the hay bag, so I think I will have to stop that. I think I'll also have to check for particularly sharp pieces as you suggest. He is so accident prone:roll:

This happened to one of my foster buns a while ago, and like you I just pulled it out. I didnt go to the vets as Alfie was already on eye drops and Metacam for teeth problems so I thought this would be ok asit would deal with any infection/pain he was in. When I mentioned it to the vet a while later she said you should always get eyes checked out as if the hay has scratched the eye it can cause an ulcer which can get very nasty in some instances. Might be worth a quick check up to make sure everything is ok xx

NLENG2000 said:

This happened to one of my foster buns a while ago, and like you I just pulled it out. I didnt go to the vets as Alfie was already on eye drops and Metacam for teeth problems so I thought this would be ok asit would deal with any infection/pain he was in. When I mentioned it to the vet a while later she said you should always get eyes checked out as if the hay has scratched the eye it can cause an ulcer which can get very nasty in some instances. Might be worth a quick check up to make sure everything is ok xx

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They have their Mxyi jabs due in the next week, so I will make sure it gets properly checked out soon. I've had a good look at the again eye and it looks fine. I've kept the offending piece of hay to show the vet too.

Mine like to dig in hay too and i have had nala in to the vets recently after i found a piece of hay in her eye, which i think may have been there more than a few hours as she had developed an ulcer... she's had fucithalmic drops which have helped it heal up. I've had Fifi with a bit in her eye and a bit coming out her nose too and she ended up haiving her tear duct flushed as it was still weepy and they found a tiny bit more! Dont think there is much you can do cos they need hay! The vet that sorted Nala out said its something she's seen quite often

This happened to one of our bunny sitters guinea pigs. It was quite a long piece of hay that had caused the eye to go cloudy, she was on eye drops but no improvement. One of her daughters noticed a bit poking out one morning so she pulled it out and within a couple of days all was well. Hasn't happened since but I'm not sure if they've done anything to try and prevent it.