Cherry Eye

[katy15]

So I have a 1 year old English bulldog who has had many issues with her eyes. She was diagnosed with distichia and on top of that she normally has pretty dry and irritated eyes, which we give her eye drops for daily. About 4 months ago she got cherry eye and it went away on it's own in about a day and half, but 4 days ago it came back and hasn't gone away. She has an appointment tomorrow evening to get it popped back into place but of course the vet was suggesting picking a surgery option for when the other eye has cherry eye because she said it'll just pop right back out sooner or later. Now this vet normally always suggest a surgery option at the first chance which we don't go for we tend to want to try other options because we know putting a bulldog under is risky but Lily already has breathing issues with catching her breath so it's kind of scary to think about.
I understand there are two surgery options 1. removing the third eyelid completely and 2. preserving the eyelid by stitching it to the other.

The only issues we have with option 1 is that she already has horribly irritated/dry eyes which we have to use eye drops for and I couldn't imagine her having to go through that even more but this is a better of the two.

The issues we have with option 2 is that she would be put under general anesthesia not local and if the stitches rip they have to do the surgery all over again and I could imagine that would be painful. So this seems just very risky and from a few people I have talked to this happens a good bit.

Is there anyone who has a bulldog with very similar eye issues that have gone through this or is going through this now? Any advice?

 

[2BullyMama]

I tagged a few members with experience... they should be along soon.

also, here is an article to help with massaging it back in, if you want to try that in the meantime.

English Bulldog News Forums - Cherry Eye - What It Is and How to Treat It.

 

[Corine Pesantes]

Hi [MENTION=16127]katy15[/MENTION]! Ok- I have brother/sister 13 month old EB's. My girl has no eye issues. My boy, Lockjaw popped a cherry eye at around 6 months of age. We chose to tack it back when he got neutered at 11 months. His first tack failed after 1 1/2 wks. After that my breeder urged me to go to his vet for a 2nd tack. We are at almost 6 weeks and I'm not sure how successful this one will be. At right about 3 1/2 wks, it started popping out again- but a smaller bump this time. We've been able to massage it back in though. Now- with saying all this, if it comes out to a point that it won't go back in, we are just removing it. And now, I wish that I would have done that from the beginning. His eye still gets red and irritated looking and I'm still putting drops in it bc of that. The 2nd vet told us that after a 2nd tack you have just as much chance of dry eye as taking it out bc of all the scar tissue. Neither of mine have breathing issues and did very well with spay/neuter surgeries. My advice if you don't want to risk the anesthesia, would be to remove, bc I believe they just sedate them. And you won't have to worry about a failed tack (the best option, but highest failure rate) Your already giving her eye drops, so nothing new there. With the tack she will have to wear a cone, will have to stay calm for 3-4 wks and we took all toys/ chewys away.
I think there are plenty of people here who have had both options done on their babies and haven't had huge issues. I think you just need to see what scenario fits your baby.
So in conclusion, lol- lockjaw has had 2 tacks. And if it come out permanently I'm removing and wish I would have just removed in the first place. OH- his opposite eye , I've never had an issue with. So I wouldn't do anything to it unless the cherry actually pops out.
I hope this helps and I'm sorry it's all over the place. I just got off of work and I'm writing in my car. Lol

 

[Christie H]

Hi..we have tons of experience with eye issues and our boy.He has undergone 5 surgeries for entropion and cherry eye.We opted for the tack and it has held great for close to a year.We had gone to an optomologist which in our opinion was a waste of money.He is 3 1/2 and a pro.He has been put under about 4 times and sedated twice There is,always a risk but it was so worth it .And if your bully keeps having this issue its better to fix it for sure.We did the massage it back in thing for awhile to no avail..Prayers

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[ddnene]

Sorry I'm late to this, I was on vacation...
I have had bulldogs w/both distichia, entropion and now my Willow has cherry eye. I used a so-called eye specialist for one of the surgeries and that ended disastrously because my dog aspirated and died on the table... my BEST advice to you is to go to a bully vet that you trust, and has experience w/bulldogs under anesthesia. If Lily already has breathing issues, has your vet discussed w/you about doing elongated pallet and nares surgery? We had that done for Walter and I'm going to have it done on Willow... that can make their breathing SO much better. We had Walter's done, and he did fine during his 2 distichia surgeries and his neuter afterwards. From what I can gather from your info these issues may be ongoing and with her already having dry eye issues it may be the best option for the tack. My vet had given me eye drops for Willow, but TBH they have not helped... we are waiting on surgery since she's only 8 mos and she is now in heat.