# Bulging eye



## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

One of my rats, Poopsmith, seems to have one eye bulging quite a bit. I already know this can be a sign of infection or, let's hope not, a tumor, but does anyone know anything else it could be?

Does anyone have a picture of a rat with a bulging eye due to tumor or infection? I would love to look at it and compare it to my Poopsmith and see. I've always wondered how much bulge we're supposed to be looking for.

She is showing absolutely no signs of illness beyond the bulge. She's eating, drinking, has complete use of her body and no porphyrin. Should I take her to the vet now or would it probably be safe to wait until my vet appointment on Saturday that I'm already going to to get another rat's teeth trimmed (Naturally assuming nothing gets worse)?

Thanks everyone.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

can you post a pic?

If its bulging outward there's pressure behind it and its best to get them to a vet ASAP. She will need abs and most likely a steroid to reduce the inflammation/pressure.


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## ration1802 (Sep 25, 2007)

Beware - the first one is quite gross, so I've just linked it

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b384/befferoo/Rats/eye123122007.jpg

Bulging due to a burst eyeball following infection (we think). Poor Daphne had to get it removed










Regardless of the discolouration of her eyeball - You can see the bulging, which caused a swelling of the surrounding eyelid










And this is her OTHER eye, with possible glaucoma. Although the swelling has reduced, what is left was caused by pressure inside her eyeball pushing the lids outwards. My vet explained that this causes liquid to build up within the eyelids and give a 'swollen' appearance. It was one possible explaination given to me - the other is an ongoing infection. We're still attempting to resolve the situation 

In my experience - ANY eye related problems should be vet-checked asap. Be it due to lesions on the eyeball, infection, tumor or glaucoma .. things can deteriorate overnight and especially in the case of glaucoma, a bulging eyeball can indicate excessively increased ocular pressure and can cause the eyeball to rupture.


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## cjshrader (Feb 15, 2007)

Thanks for the info everyone.

On Monday my mother had to go to the hospital, and though she's fine now, I wasn't able to take Poopsmith to the vet until Wednesday (Though the bulging had subsided, she was making a noise when she breathed).

It turns out that I caught her in the early stages of a problem she's had before. It's a respiratory issue that I'm very familiar with (That first link is actually my very first post here). She is in the worst stages of it now, but I took her to the vet again today and got her some subcutaneous fluids and an injection of baytril, which helped her in the past. So hopefully it will work again and she'll be up and running in a few days.


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## jorats (Sep 9, 2007)

I was just going to post about it possibly being a symptom to a respiratory problem. 
We have a girl with bulging eye, finally after a few months on baytril it's no longer prominent.


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