My dog had eyelid surgery for an ulcer; are the sutures painful?

Depending on how severe the ulcer is, the sutures will need to stay in place for at least 2 weeks, and sometimes more. I am glad you got the cone for him to prevent him from rubbing the eye and tearing the sutures out accidentally. After the first few days of surgery you can try removing the cone, while he is under your supervision, to give him a break from it. You can also remove the cone when he is eating to make it easier for him. Good luck during his recovery, I hope he does great!

Poor girl. In uncomplicated cases of an eye ulcer the pet normally starts to improve significantly after 7 days. I would have her seen again my your vet soon. The eye ulcer this time around may be deeper or perhaps even resistant to the antibiotic. Sometimes pets also require surgical procedures on the eye to get the ulcer to heal. I hope that Taurie’s eye ulcer heals up well soon! Best of luck and take care.

The serious pain is gone now, and she is feeling good. There likely is still some wound pain and of course, she cannot see on that side. So she still has to adjust her vision. This is likely why she is irritated when you get near the area. Best leave her alone and let her adjust, eventually this will be no problem. And, btw, the incision looks excellent.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Butters. I do recommend that she sees her veterinarian again as her eye still sounds painful. Her veterinarian may prescribe an eye medication to help or even check the eye for a scratch across the surface. The sutures could have irritated her eye a bit. In the meantime, place an E-collar on her to prevent her from scratching and causing self trauma. I hope this information helps!

Molly should be seen by a veterinary ophthalmologist. The area can be closely examined using specialized equipment your regular veterinarian may not have. Gentle debridement of the ulcer may be necessary to spur and facilitate healing. The ophthalmologist can perform a keratotomy or diamond burring if indicated. Place an e-collar (cone) on Molly if she isn't wearing one already to prevent pawing or rubbing.

Hi! Glad to hear that Bella's ulcer is resolving. As corneal ulcers heal, dogs may experience some itchiness or discomfort that makes them want to paw at their eyes even including the eye that is not affected. This is why it is always advised to keep the cone on until finishing therapy/resolution. Good luck! It seems like Bella is going in the right direction.

Unfortunately eye pain can be difficult to treat - oral medications sometimes don’t seem to make much difference. There is some evidence that tramadol is not metabolized well in dogs so I think gabapentin might be a reasonable alternative. Ultimately healing the ulcer will be most important - if it does not seem to be healing well you may need to see a specialist to have a burr procedure or keratotomy in order for it to heal. Topical pain medication might be another option but can sometimes slow the healing process.