My dog's severe eye problem: treatments failed, vet suggests removal. Help!

I think a full ocular exam would give you more information on whether one or both eyes need to come out. The small eye may be congenital or may have already ruptured and may not be painful any longer. The larger eye could be large just because it looks bigger as compared to the small eye or could have glaucoma. KCS can easily be diagnosed with a vet, but will likely need life-long medications to manage, and these can be expensive depending on the medication and formulation used. Many dogs with severe KCS have their eyes enucleated and become much more comfortable. My impression from reading her file is that she has very painful eyes, and that this is a chronic pain. Bilateral enucleation would easily resolve this pain and may improve her quality of life drastically. The cost for this surgery can vary depending on the vet clinic chosen, you may call around and ask for rough quotes for bilateral enucleation. It could range from $700 to $1500 or more. I would recommend that she have both eyes done at the same time (if the vet performing the ocular exam thinks they are both defective eyes) as this will decrease total time under anesthesia and make Lia only have to recover from a painful procedure once. If both eyes are removed, then she may not need significant medical care or follow-ups (cost-wise) after she is fully recovered. Her file tells me that she may be a great one to rescue if your group can cover the costs of surgery. I admire the work you do and appreciate your compassion more than you will ever know!

Although a picture would be essential to determine clinical development, if you think there is no improvement at all, I would recommend to have it checked again immediately. Certain type of corneal ulcers can actually start melting and get worse very rapidly. Different type of antibiotics or treatment may be needed. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

I'm assuming that the enterobacter bacteria was cultured from something like a corneal ulcer. This seems like an unusual bacteria for this location - enterobacter is most commonly found in urinary tract infections and occasionally skin infections. Since you know what type of bacteria is present I'm assuming your vet was also able to tailor antibiotic therapy to this specific bacteria as well and if so hopefully the infection will resolve. Sometimes there is irreversible damage done to the eyes and vision cannot return, and other times an infection heals and the eye recovers completely. I would recommend talking to your veterinarian about your concerns, or you could request a consultation with an expert if you have more details about Kitta's diagnosis.

I'm sorry to hear that Danny has glaucoma! If the ophthalmologist is recommending removing the eye, I'm assuming that Danny is already blind in the affected eye. If this is the case, then I'm afraid there really aren't any better options - there is no treatment that can reverse the blindness, and the eye is a constant source of pain for him. Removing it will improve his quality of life dramatically, since he'll no longer be in pain. If he does still have some vision in the affected eye, then you can certainly ask the ophthalmologist to discuss other possible treatment options with you. Glaucoma can sometimes be medically managed for a while with prescription eye drops, although this will eventually stop working as the disease progresses. Some dogs may also be good candidates for laser surgery to help improve the glaucoma - you can certainly ask the ophthalmologist about this to see if it might be an option for Danny, if you haven't discussed it already.

I am so sorry to hear that Kaimana is experiencing these problems with her eye. Start by placing an e-collar or cone on Kaimana to prevent scratching or rubbing. If the eye is injured, inflamed or infected it is likely painful, this will prompt Her to scratch or rub her eye. However, this could inflict further damage, infection or even an ulceration. An rlceration is a tear in the top layer of the eye and is a serious condition. Because eye concerns with dogs, such as infections, corneal ulcerations, cataracts and glaucoma, can progress rapidly I would have her examined by your veterinarian to diagnose the issue immediately. The precise medication can then be dispensed by your veterinarian. Your vet will use a special tear stain drop to visualise the eye and the top layer to make are there are no ulcerations, and check for other conditions before prescribing medications. Please do not attempt to treat an eye infection at home with any over the counter medications, drops or ointments. This can lead to permanent damage and unnecessary pain or discomfort. I hope this answer was helpful and that Kaimana feels better soon. Warmest regards to you both!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be due to an eye injury or conditions such as a corneal laceration, corneal ulcer, conjunctivitis, dry eye (also known as KCS), among many other conditions. Since Toby has not improved on his medications, I highly recommend that you have Toby reevaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They can attempt a different course of therapy or possibly refer you to an eye specialist. Further therapy would be based on the findings. Good luck and best wishes!

Hello. I would not be annoyed at your veterinarian as things can happen, but it is clear that there needs to be either a treatment change, or the surgery site may need to be reexplored to make sure all infected material was removed. Previcox is a good pain reliever, but gabapentin is much better adjunct to pain management than tramadol. The antibiotic you are using is usually adequate, but your vet may also choose to augment this with something else, like a fluoroquinolone. Under normal circumstances, an eye should not look like this 1 week post surgery. You do need to contact your vet to make them aware of Pearls' condition. I do hope she is feeling better soon & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.