cherry eye

[otis'mom]

My 3 month old boston has cherry eye in his left eye. I talked to a vet and they said they wont do a surgery on it until 6 or 7 months old. Has anyone else had this problem? I just want to know about any complications from leaving it for so long, complications from the surgery and if it should be removed or fixed. Also curious about the average price of this surgery.
thanks

[Dr Lee]

The cost of a cherry eye depends upon the surgeon (regular veterinarian or specialist), method (pocket method or Kaswan & Martin, etc…), use of laser or scalpel and MOST importantly the demographic. Prices can range from $200 to $1600 US dollars. I would call around your area.

Waiting for surgery? What are the risks?

1 ) Conjunctivitis. Some pets with cherry eye can have secondary bacterial conjunctivitis that sets in. This can be from a variety of factors: gland inflammation from dessication/exposure/etc/, anatomical reasons, etc.. Some pets with cherry eye never have this problem. If it does occur, then some simple drops can solve this until surgery.

2 ) Corneal changes. These usually take a long time, more than what we are talking about here. The cause, if it even occurs, is from the incomplete closure of the eyelids which leads to corneal exposure and dessication (drying). This in turn leads to chronic corneal inflammation which can lead to fibrosis/scarring, melanosis (pigment deposition) and risk of corneal ulceration.

3) Risk of relapse post surgically. This depends upon the method, breed of pet and each individual case. Often it does not really affect the surgery.


3 months or 6 months of age?

This depends upon surgeon comfort zone with regard to anesthesia. I would trust your veterinarian. FWIW I have done many successful cherry eye laser reductions in pets as early as 8 weeks of age. However I do them a lot and was set up for pediatric surgery. I have also done many different cherry eyes that had been left up for months or even years.

Last comment. There is much thought that the underlying cause of cherry eyes is congenital and for this reason the risk of the other side to prolapsed. It is often quoted at 50%.

Good luck!

[scathach]

i had this problem with my english bulldog we got it in september and by october he had a cherry eye... i went to the vet and she gave me some ointment to put in the eye morning and night and told me he should be operate as soon as possible even though usually they wait until 6 month to operate on dogs like Georges... he was 4 month old at the time. After a few days of ointment, the cherry eye went back in. We were happy but 2 weeks later it was out again. We were due to the vet the week after for shots so i called to informe her that it was back and started putting ointment again. When we went back, she examined him and then told us that we would have to go see a specialist cuz Georges still had a murmur in is heart and she wouldnt risk surgery without knowing more. So a trip at the Pet Hospital and some money later, we were reassure that Georges could have the surgery without any problem! So i took an appointment for the surgery. By the time we got to the surgery, we were "lucky" enough that the other eye developped a cherry eye too! So Georges had surgery in both eye (they suture the glands back in) and got his nuts cut at the same time... it all cost us less then 500$

Georges was on a of 10 days regiment of ointment, rest and had to were a cone to be sure he wouldnt scratch his eyes. After 10 days, we went back to the vet to take the suture of his neutering off. By that time, one of his eye was still swollen! The one that had been the longer with a cherry eye. So the vet gave him some cotisone. He's still on it and the swollen is lesser and lesser everyday.

i hope this help!

[otis'mom]

thanks so much for the help , i found a vet that will do it at 5 months and also neuter at the same time. He also said that if it gets really bad he will do it earlier.

[scathach]

That's good new!!! Keep me updated!