Recurrence of cherry eye after repair

LJJ86

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I'm after opinions please on cherry eye, cherry eye repairs and recurrence of the prolapse after repair please!

Jasper had his cherry eye repaired when we adopted him, about 5 months max. His eye wasn't perfect and he still had a saggier eyelid and more visible pink 'membrane' (eyelid?) in that eye but the bulge was gone and the colour was pale pink and flat.


I looked at him this morning and the pink membrane area had a definite bulge along the bottom corner that looked...veiny. I am so annoyed that it seems the cherry is coming back although I know this is possible.

I have been gentle rubbing his eyelid whenever he lets me which seems to flatten the bulge but it re-bulges within minutes to hours.

Has anyone else had cherry eye recur, and what did you do about it?

If it does fully recur I am not convinced about getting another repair as he has a very small larynx and reacted badly (laboured breathing, extreme confusion and lethargy, not eating or drinking) to the tramadol and steroids after his last surgery/general anaesthetic, but he did have nares and palate done at the same time on that occasion.

If this happened to you would you go for a re-repair? Do the dangers outweigh the problems caused by just leaving a cherry eye as it is?
 
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LJJ86

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Sorry, just realised this should have gone in health - don't think I can delete it or move it!
 

Hankster

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I don't have any experience with this but many have so they will be with you shortly I'm sure .
 

Kmaestas7689

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My English bulldog had 4 cherry eye surgeries. One time for his left eye and it never occurred again in the left but it occurred 3 times in his right eye, to the point we got the whole third eyelid removed completely. What i wish we would have done was do that from the get go after the first time. It’s such a miserable surgery and their breathing issues do cause concern with any surgery. I would Definetly talk to your vet get as many opinions you can. After the 3rd eyelid was removed we never had another issue with the eyes ever again and we are very happy. Hope it all works out.
 

2BullyMama

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Was the eyelid tacked or removed? Tacking can result in additional surgery
[MENTION=15364]oscarmayer[/MENTION] Any insight?

I can't remember what members had this done--- drawing a blank- sorry


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oscarmayer

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We’ve experienced so many failed surgeries that for a period we just removed the third eyelid and expect to administer drops for a lifetime. Lately we’ve had our eye specialist tack. So far so good. Most Vets will not remove...favoring surgical repair...and many even if it needs to be repeated multiple times. That, IMO, is nuts. Tack once and if that fails, remove.
 
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LJJ86

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Was the eyelid tacked or removed? Tacking can result in additional surgery
[MENTION=15364]oscarmayer[/MENTION] Any insight?

I can't remember what members had this done--- drawing a blank- sorry


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It was tacked - don't know what technique was used to be honest only I know it wasn't removed.

When he was waiting for his op we had to give drops (artificial tears) every day anyway to stop it getting irritated- I don't know how vets feel about removal here in the UK as oppose to the US but if the options were leave it or operate to remove, with the result being drops for life either way, I would be tempted to jsut leave it.

Does anyone think leaving a cherry in place would cause further eye problems down the line given the eye was cleaned and looked after properly?
 

2BullyMama

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It was tacked - don't know what technique was used to be honest only I know it wasn't removed.

When he was waiting for his op we had to give drops (artificial tears) every day anyway to stop it getting irritated- I don't know how vets feel about removal here in the UK as oppose to the US but if the options were leave it or operate to remove, with the result being drops for life either way, I would be tempted to jsut leave it.

Does anyone think leaving a cherry in place would cause further eye problems down the line given the eye was cleaned and looked after properly?

Sorry I have no experience... but I believe there are no issues you have to work it back in
[MENTION=15364]oscarmayer[/MENTION]


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LJJ86

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Ok, went to the vets today (not the vet that did the repair, that was done by the rescue) and everything is basically as I thought.

Yes, the cherry has recurred and the tack at least partially failed. Only option in his opinion is to go for another repair under general anaesthetic. However, he is not concerned about either the cherry or the eye itself at the moment as the cherry is smallish and not rubbing on the cornea much at the moment.

Given the history of anaesthetic problems he is happy for us to wait and monitor with false tears - if the cherry gets significantly larger and starts covering the eye or the eye shows signs of getting irritated or painful we need to fix it.

I have read about a bulldog specialist just over an hour away who it seems has done repairs/removals under a local which sounds really interesting though - may drop them a line and see about that as a potential :)
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Ok, went to the vets today (not the vet that did the repair, that was done by the rescue) and everything is basically as I thought.

Yes, the cherry has recurred and the tack at least partially failed. Only option in his opinion is to go for another repair under general anaesthetic. However, he is not concerned about either the cherry or the eye itself at the moment as the cherry is smallish and not rubbing on the cornea much at the moment.

Given the history of anaesthetic problems he is happy for us to wait and monitor with false tears - if the cherry gets significantly larger and starts covering the eye or the eye shows signs of getting irritated or painful we need to fix it.

I have read about a bulldog specialist just over an hour away who it seems has done repairs/removals under a local which sounds really interesting though - may drop them a line and see about that as a potential :)


Great news... keep us posted and let us know what the other vet has to say
 

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