White eye from trauma

[Fireweed]

Finder found a 7 week old squirrel staggering in the middle of the road. There were gashes across her head and eye. We're thinking she was hit by spitting gravel or something like that. Finder used a couple of ointments on her eye. The gashes have cleared up but the eye is completely blind. Plus her eye has a solid white portion in it where the injury was - about 1/3 of the eye.

I have the squee now. Finder named her Pluck.

My first question is: Is the white an infection or is that what happens from trauma to the eye?
The eye is not blue-tinged or cloudy. White, maybe a little silvery. I could post a pic but that will be tomorrow.
I'm curious tonight in case I should start her on something for it. Nancy sent me some eye ointment, but I'm not sure if I should use it since finder just finished giving her two ointments for the last couple weeks.

Here's what the finder gave her:

Surolan: micronazole nitrate, polynyxin B sulfate, prednisone acetate
ointment.
BNP: neomycin and polymyxin B sulfates and bacitracin ophthalmic

Any thoughts? I can't find any similar injuries/white eye on this board to compare. Only the blue/cloudy eyes. :dono

[Shewhosweptforest]

Looks like the finder did a good job:thumbsup I would think that it's just scar tissue :thinking but that's just me thinking :eek soooo hmmm was it Pluck ..as in "plucking my last nerve" or "she's a little plucker!" :nono I bet it's "that squirrel's got real pluck!" :thumbsup Good Luck Lil Plucker!! You've definitely landed in the right hands....and in ground squirrel haven :thumbsup Lots of space and no cars!!! :grin3 Just watch out for the bison :eek :Love_Icon

[farrelli]

Thanks for taking care of her! I'm always curious about eye injuries. I'm always predisposed to think that eye injuries are permanent, but I don't know if that's true. I just don't know anything about how eyes heal. I know that the sclera usually heals rapidly, but there ends my knowledge. I've been looking after a goose for the past few weeks (George) who I noticed because his eye looked really cloudy and dull. I could tell he had zero vision in it. But I've been hand feeding him every day and now his eye looks almost normal. He still can;t see well out of it but I think he can see shadows or something because he will react now to things coming in on that side. I really hope you can help your girl. I'll be interested to see if anyone had any real knowledge if eye issues. Perhaps contact SquirrelRule or Loopy?

[Fireweed]

Looks like the finder did a good job:thumbsup I would think that it's just scar tissue :thinking but that's just me thinking :eek soooo hmmm was it Pluck ..as in "plucking my last nerve" or "she's a little plucker!" :nono I bet it's "that squirrel's got real pluck!" :thumbsup Good Luck Lil Plucker!! You've definitely landed in the right hands....and in ground squirrel haven :thumbsup Lots of space and no cars!!! :grin3 Just watch out for the bison :eek :Love_Icon
I hope it's scar tissue and not an infection. I just keep readign that with the cloudy/blueish eyes sometimes there's an underlying infection. So I was wondering if the white could have infection as well. :dono

Who knows why they named her Pluck - will have to ask. She's a little red. Maybe that explains a bit about her name. :grin2 But she is super sweet - I'm actually a little concerned there's some neuro issues.


Thanks for taking care of her! I'm always curious about eye injuries. I'm always predisposed to think that eye injuries are permanent, but I don't know if that's true. I just don't know anything about how eyes heal. I know that the sclera usually heals rapidly, but there ends my knowledge. I've been looking after a goose for the past few weeks (George) who I noticed because his eye looked really cloudy and dull. I could tell he had zero vision in it. But I've been hand feeding him every day and now his eye looks almost normal. He still can;t see well out of it but I think he can see shadows or something because he will react now to things coming in on that side. I really hope you can help your girl. I'll be interested to see if anyone had any real knowledge if eye issues. Perhaps contact SquirrelRule or Loopy?
I'm so curious, too. And I know so little about eye issues. Kinky Boots is also vision impaired. He's got the blueish/cloudy eyes. He can see a little bit from one eye, I think (I wonder if it's just shadows, too, like you mentioned). But it's so difficult to be sure because they react well to smells and the faintest of noises. It's tricky to figure out just how much they can see without a vet.

So in three weeks aprox. your George's eye showed improvement? That seems like no time! What's in that food you're feeding him?!
I hope KB's issue is just nutrition, too, but with his white boots and white undercoat, I'm worried it's more than that - his eyes actually got worse since he's been with me :shakehead.

[island rehabber]

Sometimes a completely white eye is from an ulcerated cornea where infection sets in, but 2 weeks of the antibiotic/steroidal ointment would have taken care of that. I'm afraid this may be permanent. :(

[Fireweed]

Sometimes a completely white eye is from an ulcerated cornea where infection sets in, but 2 weeks of the antibiotic/steroidal ointment would have taken care of that. I'm afraid this may be permanent. :(

Arg. We were all hoping it would improve. Glad they had the meds they did, at least!
Thanks, IR. Just gonna post some pics in case you or anyone else sees anything worth commenting on.

Pluck shortly after accident:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/Recent%20pictures/TSB/file-25.jpg (http://s79.photobucket.com/user/whobyfireweed/media/Recent%20pictures/TSB/file-25.jpg.html)

With scab falling off - it does look a tad cloudy on top now that I see it in a picture.
But bottom half is completely white, never seen that before.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/Recent%20pictures/TSB/file-26.jpg (http://s79.photobucket.com/user/whobyfireweed/media/Recent%20pictures/TSB/file-26.jpg.html)

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/Recent%20pictures/TSB/file-28.jpg (http://s79.photobucket.com/user/whobyfireweed/media/Recent%20pictures/TSB/file-28.jpg.html)

Now:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/Recent%20pictures/TSB/file-29.jpg (http://s79.photobucket.com/user/whobyfireweed/media/Recent%20pictures/TSB/file-29.jpg.html)

[anniedancer]

Awww...poor little thing. For a few weeks, I had a wild visiting that only had one eye. Unsure if it was an injury or a birth defect, as she didn't trust me enough to come close. Havent seen her for a while, and hope she is okay. She got aroun d great, was just very, very wary.
Annie

[farrelli]

How she's doing otherwise? Happy?

[Fireweed]

anniedancer - I have a couple adult wild squirrel friends with one eye only, too. They do seem to get around relatively well. The problem with Pluck being so young when she lost her vision in the eye is that she didn't have the chance to get out of that awkward baby stage yet - where many of them will fall from branches and trunks because they are still getting coordinated. So it seems to me she doesn't really know how to compensate for the vision she's lost... :dono That, or there is neurological damage, or both. She definitely does not get around very well and is always sticking to walls, has poor depth perception, can't see things in front of her too well, and bangs in to things constantly.

farrelli - she is a happy little thing, thank goodness. Sweet and pretty docile. She loves to play. When I get a bit more time, I'll post more pics in the Jiggy thread. :)

[PrincessPeach]

How did Plucks eye turn out? I'm dealing with this exact situation right now. Except poor sid was mostly blind in both eyes when we got him and we managed to help one see a tiny bit better albeit not well. Then on one of his adventures outside he ran into something sharp and hurt it. We have been treating with ointments and an oral antibiotics as prescribed but now the eye has turned white like you mentioned. Is it permanent?

[stepnstone]

How did Plucks eye turn out? I'm dealing with this exact situation right now. Except poor sid was mostly blind in both eyes when we got him and we managed to help one see a tiny bit better albeit not well. Then on one of his adventures outside he ran into something sharp and hurt it. We have been treating with ointments and an oral antibiotics as prescribed but now the eye has turned white like you mentioned. Is it permanent?


PrincessPeach you have posted in an older forum from 2014, unlikely your going to get any answers here.
I would suggest starting your own forum in non life threatening with your concerns in order to (hopefully)
get some answers and opinions pertaining to your personal questions.

[PrincessPeach]

Thanks! I only asked on this old thread because it is the exact situation my Sidley is going through. I figured worst that could happen is the original poster never answers back and best case scenario they would be able tell me how it turned out for them. I'll try to catch some photos of Sidley and put them up in a new post too. He's seen a vet so I know I'm doing all they know how to do lol. And he's actually doing remarkably well for someone I wasn't sure was going to pull through with the infection he got. He was down for a week but he's up and about and trying his darkest to get me to let him go play outside again. I am no longer worried for his health just curious if the eye was Permanently going to look like that or no.