Corneal sequestrum/scar tissue on eye - any advice?

[grrlscout]

My hamster, Guinevere (Russian winter white dwarf), had conjunctivitis just over a month ago which was quickly cleared up with antibiotic gel. However, her affected eye still hasn't properly opened up. She looks like she's squinting.

I took her to the vet tonight to see what he thought. He shone a light in her eye and said he could see what looked like a "grey speck", which he said might be causing irritation, hence the squinting.

His thought was that the speck could be what's called a "corneal sequestrum", which is scar tissue on the outer surface of the eye. He suggested surgery, as the speck might be uncomfortable for Guinevere, but it's very expensive.

So, has anyone got experience of this at all? What did you do?

[souffle]

I haven't heard of that particular problem before grrlscout. Poor Guinevere.
Has the vet had any experience on operating on hamsters or on this condition. I'd imagine it would be very tricky in such a tiny animal.
We did have a WW who had problems with her eye in that it kept getting teary and sticky despite drops and gels. Our vet said her tear gland was damaged and the tears were too sticky to lubricate the eye properly. In the end she had to have human artificial tears in several times a day all her life but that did keep her eye healthy and stopped the irritation.
Sorry that isn't much help but I'd speak more about her condition with the vets before you decide.

[Vectis Hamstery]

My Genta, a Syrian, had a corneal abrasion and then scar (probably due to her chewing through a bit of mesh and then poking herself in the eye with it). In all honesty, I never noticed it bother her either at any point. My vet used fluorescein eye drops (like are used in humans - they are orange coloured) to show the corneal defect under a coloured light. The only thing that bothered Genta was me putting eye ointment in to prevent infection in the initial phase. My vet didn't suggest surgery as she was happy and wouldn't have been suitable for eye removal surgery.

Best wishes to your little lady.

[petal10]

I'm afraid I have no experience in this, but given that it is expensive, and more importantly that it could be risky for such a little animal, is it worth waiting to see whether she actually seems irritated before any operation?

[shiny]

I would echo what souffle said about finding out whether the vet has any experience of this type of surgery in such a small animal. Is this an exotics vet or general small animal vet? A quick google search of corneal sequestrum suggests that this condition is mostly seen in cats, most sites seem to say it is only seen in cats. Has this vet ever dealt with something like this in hamsters? What is their success rate in treating it? What would they consider the best outcome is likely to be?

Is your hamster otherwise healthy? Eating, drinking, passing urine & faeces ok? Maintaining weight?

Sorry for all the questions, I just thought of the things I would want to ask the vet if I were in your position.

Personally, I would get a second opinion from an exotics vet with a speciality in small mammals. I would be reluctant to go for surgery on a hamster's eye as it is so tiny & must be very difficult to perform such surgery.

I hope this is helpful & hope all turns out ok for your hamster. Best wishes, shiny.