Hi all! I only ever seem to post on here when something is wrong =< I'm sorry about that, I'll try to do better!
My boy Errol is just over 2 years now (Actually nearing 2.5! Such an old man).
Recently he developed a bit of sticky eye and I took to cleaning it out with a microfibre cloth and just some plain warm water. It was strange because it's primarily in his left eye but one day he woke up and it was in his right eye, but only once, it shifted back to his left eye after that. After a week of me cleaning it wasn't shifting so a trip to the (non exotic) vet diagnosed him with conjunctivitis. The vet perscribed Isathal for one week and a follow up if he didn't improve. I cleaned out Errol's sleeeping area of his cage in case it was something in there, and removed his usual wooden house and replaced it with a plastic one.
The Isathal seemed to work at first but generally I didn't see any improvement, so a follow up appointment was made. The vet then perscribed Maxitrol(Dexamethasone) as a stronger antibiotic and anti-inflammatory.
And honestly? It seems to be getting worse. HE seems to be getting worse. His second follow up will be this wednesday and I'm worried that the infection is just a symptom of something much worse. So I'm going to request a referal to the local exotics
He's going from being a sleeping-more but still-bubbly ham to a doddery old man who just seems keen to flop as soon as he gets out the cage.
I've considered removing all the carefresh from his nest and replacing it with plain tissue paper to see if that makes a difference. I'm concerned that it's something to do with the Tiny Friends Farm bathing sand - which I was using up until January, because apparently the new formula contains clay and was causing all sorts of problems in hams, like respitory infections and in some cases death.
Does anyone know of anything about stubborn eye infections or anything to do with the Tiny Friends Farm bathing sand causing things like this? Do we think removing all of his carefresh with tissue would help?
Many thanks folks!