How much does going blind affect a guinea pig?

Question

My guinea pig has recently gone blind, :( and I am wondering how much it will affect his life? For instance, he has whiskers - and he uses them to feel his way around...?

Answer 1

i have no idea...i hope he is ok though...

Answer 2

How much would going blind affect you?

But take heart, with a loving owner like you your guinea pig will adjust. He will have a more difficult time than he did before, but he'll figure it out. He won't understand why the lights are always out, but unlike a person he won't question it.

He may seem to become more aggressive, but that won't be the case. It will merely be because he can't see and will be more easily startled. I recommend consistency so he can learn to recognize you by sound and smell instead of sight, as he once did. Every time you enter the room you should make a soft clicking sound, or a kissing sound, or whatever little whistle-noise you might find appealing. Then approach him slowly, continue to make the noise. He'll respond to the noise. Then gently touch him. In time he will know you by that noise and he will know that he is going to be handled, carried, pet, or otherwise.

Good luck!!

Answer 3

Hi

I have just found out today that my Guinea pig has gone totally blind.  I have had him to the Vet today but there is no sight left at all in both eyes.

He is a very scared pig at the moment and wont venture out of his house.  My biggest worry is that he wont be able to drink from his drinking bottle on the side of the cage.

I have only had him 4 months as he was a rescue and I think he is only a year old.

He lives on his own in the house in a big cage.  However since i have  found out he is blind i am worried that he may get lonely and need a friend - but the friend would need to be a non dominant male and they are hard to come by.

Any more advice on caring for a blind guinea pig

Answer 4

im so sorry, but it should be okay. make sure hes in a one story cage and that he can find his food. if this means hand feeding him then so be it. still love him and let him know that even though he cant see, he is still your little piggie. also eliminate any loud noises or scary things from the guinea pigs life because now his life is a whole lot more frightening because he cant see

Answer 5

my guinea-pig was born blind, but she's 7 months now, and she dose more than my other pig.

it means he'll hear more and his sence of smell will go up - they addapt to anything them little pigs

Answer 6

Yes. Guinea pigs use their whiskers senses like smell and hearing to feel around. The guinea pig will already know its way around their own cage and introduce new things slowly and keep them in the same place. I think that keeping things familiar for a while until he adapts and gains more confidence is the best thing to do. I personally think a non bullying cage mate would be great. I think that they help each other out and they certainly feel safer in numbers.

It shouldn't affect his life too much because guinea pigs depend more on their sense of smell and hearing to survive than seeing since they can know more about their surroundings by smell, taste, and sound than seeing. Good luck!

P.S Make sure that he is blind? Have you seen a small animal vet yet? Make sure that he is and that whether his eye site can be saved.

Answer 7

My daughters hamster "snowflake" unfortunately lost an eye,,it didnt effect his day to day activities at all  ( i guess he did have his other eye)

We did change his name to "arghhh jim lad" tho