# Rattie eye drops? Any ideas?



## Rattus knits (Mar 19, 2013)

One of my female rats has some eye issue (shes been to the vet) and i think she can't see out of that eye. The vet said she has a reduced blink on that eye as well and so crud can get into it. Ive stopped using bedding but for their litter boxes and they are being litter trained, they have towels for bedding now which is working rather well and i hope it will help reduce dust and what not that could irritate her eye. But now a couple of my rats have had a bit of staining near their eyes and they went to the vet and were given eye drops since she said it just seems like irritation not infection and it seems to be helping a bunch after only 2 days.

My question though is that i'm hoping to get some eye drops to keep on hand to 1) keep my rats bad eye lubricated and clean since she cant do it herself well anymore, and 2)to try for a day or two if i notice persistent discharge from any other rats before bringing them to the vet (obviously unless there is swelling or anything like that)

Does anyone have any experience with people eye wash for rat use? I was thinking like saline eye drops or something? i don't want to use water since i dont trust our tap.

Thanks!


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## Simons mum (Dec 19, 2013)

I'd be careful with anything that isn't prescribed by a vet. Reason is, last week I picked up polyporin eye drops and also rinsed her eye with contact saline drops. One of those two caused a reaction to make her eye bleed,, or it was just a fluke. I ran to the vet and he prescribed and ointment and within 24 hours the eye was great again. Some rats have reactions to different drops and ointments. I'll never put anything in my rats eyes again unless prescribed.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

contact saline drops have chemicals in it that are meant for cleaning contacts not for using in the eyes, this was probably the irritation.

The natural tears formula or the medicated Polysporin type ointments or drops for eyes are fine. I have used this with permission from my vet. Just make sure there's no steroids in it.

Back to your little girl. Is she furred or hairless? Nakies, as I call them, often have eye issues because they don't have whiskers and eyelashes to keep debris out of their eye. It can accumulate under their eyelids and rub on the eyeball. I have had this happen many times. They also are more prone to infection of the eye as well. If you find you have a nakie who has debris/eye issues then you put them on as lint-free as possible a home environment. I took in some nakie rescues who had serious eye issues. They were born and kept on carefresh and it got in their defective eyes right away. By the time I got them at 6-8 weeks old, most were completely blind from debris, had infections and one poor lad had to have his eye surgically removed because it had abraded the eyeball so badly that it ruptured. If you suspect debris in the eyes, then your vet would have to lightly gas down your girl, remove the debris and flush the eyes thoroughly. After this you can keep it healthier by using drops 1-2 times a day. Some rats have faulty tearducts, etc...


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## Simons mum (Dec 19, 2013)

Thank you for the info! I may have permanently damaged her eye with the contact solution.


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

My hairless girls gets an awful lot of porphyrin built up in her eyes. I have to hold her and wipe her eyes everynight and try to get all the goop out. I asked a really great rat vet about eye drops, and he suggested I use Rephresh brand artificial tears once or twice a day (one drop in each eye), and at night, use Rephresh ointment. I ddin't buy the ointment, but I have been using the eye drops and after about a week now, he eyes are bright and open again. she used to be squinty all the time, it's almost strange to see her with her eyes opened wide! The hardest part is just to wrap her up in a sports wrap and apply the eye drops directly into the eye.


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## Rattus knits (Mar 19, 2013)

Finnebon said:


> My hairless girls gets an awful lot of porphyrin built up in her eyes. I have to hold her and wipe her eyes everynight and try to get all the goop out. I asked a really great rat vet about eye drops, and he suggested I use Rephresh brand artificial tears once or twice a day (one drop in each eye), and at night, use Rephresh ointment. I ddin't buy the ointment, but I have been using the eye drops and after about a week now, he eyes are bright and open again. she used to be squinty all the time, it's almost strange to see her with her eyes opened wide! The hardest part is just to wrap her up in a sports wrap and apply the eye drops directly into the eye.





lilspaz68 said:


> contact saline drops have chemicals in it that are meant for cleaning contacts not for using in the eyes, this was probably the irritation.
> 
> The natural tears formula or the medicated Polysporin type ointments or drops for eyes are fine. I have used this with permission from my vet. Just make sure there's no steroids in it.
> 
> Back to your little girl. Is she furred or hairless? Nakies, as I call them, often have eye issues because they don't have whiskers and eyelashes to keep debris out of their eye. It can accumulate under their eyelids and rub on the eyeball. I have had this happen many times. They also are more prone to infection of the eye as well. If you find you have a nakie who has debris/eye issues then you put them on as lint-free as possible a home environment. I took in some nakie rescues who had serious eye issues. They were born and kept on carefresh and it got in their defective eyes right away. By the time I got them at 6-8 weeks old, most were completely blind from debris, had infections and one poor lad had to have his eye surgically removed because it had abraded the eyeball so badly that it ruptured. If you suspect debris in the eyes, then your vet would have to lightly gas down your girl, remove the debris and flush the eyes thoroughly. After this you can keep it healthier by using drops 1-2 times a day. Some rats have faulty tearducts, etc...



i may ask my vet about brands, and my girl is like this too with excessive staining around her eye, though she is a double rex not hairless (she has peach fuzz all over and very curly whiskers and proabbyl lashes too) (and the other with the blind eye is a standard coat) but i think it may be partly do to the curls of all her hairs (including whiskers and possibly eyelashes) that are causing some of the issues since they may be getting in the eye (sometimes it seems this way since her whiskers curl right to her eyes) at least they are both really good about letting me put the drops in, one i dont even have to restrain and the other i just pick up and she keeps her eyes wide open for me (they are both on the prescription still) but they are off all bedding beside sin litter boxes permanetely and it seems the towels are helping alot in keeping them clean since i can always tell exactly how dirty the cage is which makes me more apt to clan it regularly and also it keeps poo and pee from sticking too and staining my cage bottoms which may also have lead to some issues when bits werent scrubbed off all the way. i just wish companies would try to make some products a little better for them ><" i mean i understand a little dust is unavoidable but when I start coughing from opening a bag its just like i cant give this to my rats, so sick of it


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## MimiSkye (Feb 3, 2014)

My boy just got a scratch on his eyeball and the vet told me at first they were going to have to remove it, but when I asked if there were any other options he said hed call a specialist. When the vet came back he did some type of blink test to see if he was still blinking with his scratched eye. Since he was, the vet said medication was an option. He said if he hadn't been blinking then they would have to remove it.

Dewey got perscribed 5 different meds, 2 ABs, one pain med, one antibiotic eye ointment and one tube of artificial tears. I feel like the artificial tears are what you are looking for. The one I got was in ointment form, not drops. Dewey resisted at first, but he quickly learned that if he just sits still it'd be over quickly...so applying it was easy. Just call your vet and ask about artificial tears, theyre super cheap. Good luck!


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