Sudden cataract in 18mo guinea pig - diabetes?

[heebiegeebie]

I've had my rescue gps for 2 months now.

One of them is a pretty big boy and was weighed at the vet about a month ago and found to be slightly overweight so I've reduced his food a fair bit and cut out sugary veg like carrots.

Seemingly overnight he developed a cataract in one eye. I took him to the vet yesterday who confirmed it was a cataract and that there was no action we needed to take.

The thing is, I'm worried it's a symptom of diabetes, but the vet didn't suggest any tests or anything. I'm paranoid now that he needs treatment - there's a gp specialist vet about an hour from here. Is it worth calling them? Or should I ask my vet to take tests on him? Can they do that?

Same thing happened to one of ours-its genetic,nothing to do with diabetes.
He lived to a ripe old age and it didnt seem to bother him.

Ooh ilove that's good, thank you.

I'm paranoid as I keep seeing him laid out on the grass and think he's slipped into a diabetic come or something he's the less active of the 2 of them so he does tend to lie around quite a lot. Be interesting to see if his brother ends up with them.

Is he an Abbysinian? They are more prone to cataracts.
Has he had any injury that has made the cornea cloudy too?

Did your vet look at his teeth - the shape of the pigs' jaw means that any tooth problems can cause eye problems.

Thankfully guinea-pigs are well served with other senses - hearing, sense of smell, instinctive awareness, so loss of vision (especially gradual) shouldn't impact him with his day to day life.

(Other symptoms of diabetes are loss of weight that cannot be explained, excessive drinking, infections )

He might just be a lazy hog

I have no idea what breed he is don't think he's an abbysinian, but not sure? He's the little dude on the right in this pic.

That's reassuring about the water thing, I don't think he's been drinking any more than usual...

You've got a right pair of dolly mixtures and very pretty for it

My guess and I'm not an expert is they are Agouti/Dutch/tri-colour crossed.

The Dutch parts. Do you see they both have a 'saddle' a line behind their shoulders. At that point fur should change colour to white. After a band of white, rump is coloured same as head.

Paws should be white. How many white feet does little dude on the right have.

Little Dude also has the characteristic blaze down his face but that should be white instead of toffee colour. Overall he is mainly mis-marked Dutch.

The other chap has an agouti head up to his saddle. Agouti fur is is the hair that is multi-coloured. Each hair starting dark with a light tip.

Guinea pigs have terrible eye sight at the best of times. They rely more on sound and smell. Not having sight in one eye won't mean your little dude will have less quality of life.

Ooh, thanks fortified, that's really interesting! He's got white feet at the front then the back ones are ginger with white nails.

That's interesting about the Agouti fur, the DC will be really interested when I impart this wisdom as if I know what I'm talking about

Glad it shouldn't affect his quality of life too much - we already have a profoundly deaf dog so he'll fit in well round here

A full set of white nails is a bonus Times I've fallen in love then looked at claws. Argh brown or worse black, nightmare to clip without nicking the quick.

Tip if you do make their nails bleed, dip them in cornflour. Stops the bleeding quickly.

Hope the DC are impressed at how knowledgeable you are

Thanks for that tip fortified - I haven't had the courage to attempt cutting them myself yet but need to as it's expensive getting it done at the vet.

How is your lovely piggies eye heebie

For nails, I bought some clippers that look like scissors but have a rounded 'notch' where the nail sits.
You need to make sure that they are sharp and strong enough to neatly cut without crushing the claw.
We found even with GP3 really strong thick Rex claws , these did the trick.

it seems to be ok, thanks 70. no signs of excessive thirst pr oll health so hopefully it's just one of those things. thanks for the tip on the claws - I need to get some clippers. his little mate has brown claws though, which is scaring me a bit!