New member and cherry eye question

[Shankins]

We've had Frank since he was 10 weeks. He is now 6 months old. Last Sunday his eye starter bulging a little and I lightly massaged it but it popped right back out. That night he had a huge cherry eye. We saw our vet the next day to rule out an infection or something in his eye. He came home with antibiotic/steroid ointment. That's made it look a tad better so we know surgery is in our future. Our breeder recommended her vet who specializes in bulldogs. After research we are pretty sure we are going with the removal and not the tuck.

So my question is are eye drops 100% necessary for life or is it possible he won't have dry eye once he's healed? The vet quoted the prescription drops at $40. That was a little shocking, especially if we will go through that monthly. What does everyone use for drops?

 

[helsonwheels]

We've had Frank since he was 10 weeks. He is now 6 months old. Last Sunday his eye starter bulging a little and I lightly massaged it but it popped right back out. That night he had a huge cherry eye. We saw our vet the next day to rule out an infection or something in his eye. He came home with antibiotic/steroid ointment. That's made it look a tad better so we know surgery is in our future. Our breeder recommended her vet who specializes in bulldogs. After research we are pretty sure we are going with the removal and not the tuck.

So my question is are eye drops 100% necessary for life or is it possible he won't have dry eye once he's healed? The vet quoted the prescription drops at $40. That was a little shocking, especially if we will go through that monthly. What does everyone use for drops?

I never had meds for Nyala's cherry eye. But hers was tucked n never popped out to this day. Over a year ago. You have a photo so we can see the eye? Cherry is is really red.

 

[Clermont]

is cherry eye that common for bullys so young?

 

[Shankins]

Here is a before and after picture. The white of his eye isn't as red and the eyelid doesn't look as nasty. I tried to get a new picture today but we have nasty ice and cold so he's not happy I made him go outside this morning. Lol

 

[Cbrugs]

I have no personal experience with cherry eye but it looks like it to me.

 

[Lalaloopsie]

Yeah, cherry eye, for sure. My Tank has cherry eye from time to time, started at 4 mo old. But I am a doctor and know how to keep it under control. When it pops out, which happens may once a week or 2 weeks, I put some human eye drops with antibiotics plus steroid. Name of the eye drops is TOBRADEX, made by Alcon. After that I gently put cherry eye back and we are ok for next couple of weeks.
I just checked out the price for Tobradex eye drops and ointment here in the US....it’s sick. Too expensive. Plus doctor visit...I’m lucky to have access to prescription free countries like Thailand and China:D I just buy it there when traveling 5 bottles at a time. And price is 5 times less. So for me is absolutely cost effective to leave Tanks eyes as they are.

What concerns surgery - yes, it is better to opt for tuck, as removal of gland will definitely require you to use these expensive eye drops, if you don’t use them, your dogs eyes will be dry, eyelids will eventually scratch the eyeball, he most probably will first develop dry eye syndrome and later due to permanent damage to iris (colourful part of eyeball) he will lose eyesight.
At the same time, it is true that many tuck surgeries are not 100 percent effective and cherry eye returns and another surgery is needed. But still, removal of cherry eye which is actually tear gland is not considered best choice now. I think, in the long run advantages of tuck surgeries are bigger than risk of relapse. They won’t also charge you 100 percent for second surgeries (I mean in worst case scenario, let’s hope it will be not your case, many people have just one surgery for both eyes and forget about the problem forever, you just need to research good surgeon). Btw, make sure that both eyes are checked, if there is need for surgery, as usually cherry eye is in both eyes. And discuss with them what is their policy in case of unsuccessful first surgery.

 

[ddnene]

My Willow had the cherry eye surgery, and we went for the removal as well. She did not need the drops after the surgery, it was very successful. My advice to you is to make sure your surgeon is competent with bully breeds, they have special needs for anesthesia.

to EBN!!!

 

[helsonwheels]

Here is a before and after picture. The white of his eye isn't as red and the eyelid doesn't look as nasty. I tried to get a new picture today but we have nasty ice and cold so he's not happy I made him go outside this morning. Lol

Yes definitely a cherry eye. Nyala was about 5months old. Like I said above she had hers tucked no issues whatsoever. Before getting it tucked, I noticed if she was playing non stop especially in the snow rolling in it or getting a rub along the fence her cherry eye will pop out. Basically she needed to stay calm for it to stay in. Nyala is a very active dog to this day. Cherry eyes are also in other breeds and not just EB. Talk to your vet n ask if he/she has done this often n not just 2x. Ask questions on the difference on surgery n tuck, healing, drops etc etc. if you’re gut isn’t sure about the vet, get a 2nd opinion.

 

[2BullyMama]

I have no experience, but the gang have given greta advice... sending healing prayers and thoughts

 

[Shankins]

Thank you all for the advice and tips. It is actually getting smaller. I've been cleaning his eye with a warm, wet cloth amd last night the eyelid popped by in place. It came back out again but it looks so much better.

I took him to our vet Monday to rule out anything else and I asked the vet tech if they did many cherry eye surgeries and she said no not really. So I asked our breeder for advice and she told me who she uses. The vet tech I talked to on the phone could answer all of my questions and said they do more removals than tucks.

 

[Shankins]

My Willow had the cherry eye surgery, and we went for the removal as well. She did not need the drops after the surgery, it was very successful. My advice to you is to make sure your surgeon is competent with bully breeds, they have special needs for anesthesia.

to EBN!!!

This might be a stupid question, but how could you tell that she didn't need the drops after surgery? At this point I think we will do the removal and expect to have to do drops, but hope that he won't need them.

 

[Lktmj5]

Hello my dog had cherry eye... it started with one eye about 6 months ago I would put it back in and the she ended up having both eyes... we dis the tuck bc our vet said it was not good to remove the gland bc they will have no tear production and be on eye drops for the rest of her life.. it was 415.00 foe both eyes. She looks so much better there is a 90% rate on them staying in for how long hers were out continuesly which was 2 weeks.

 

[ddnene]

This might be a stupid question, but how could you tell that she didn't need the drops after surgery? At this point I think we will do the removal and expect to have to do drops, but hope that he won't need them.

There is NO stupid questions... Lol She DID needs drops during her recovery period, but after awhile the vet told me we could stop.

 

[chitownbully]

[MENTION=17950]Shankins[/MENTION].....my Bully was about 4 months when he developed a cherry eye, which looked exactly like your Franks. By the way your Frank is adorable! We waited a month or so to see if he would develop one in the other eye, which is very common. Which he did not It was at about 6 months of age he had surgery to have it tucked. If done correctly you should not have a problem with it popping back out. My pup is now 2 1/2 yrs old and has not had a re-occurrence. I was told by more than one specialist its very important they have that 3rd eye lid so as not to develop dry eye, which is a very uncomfortable condition for most dogs.

 

[Astrong6608]

Did anyone have to put a cone on their pup after cherry eye surgery? If so how long?