I waited too long after noticing my dog's eye was red, and he is now blind in one eye. He has glaucoma in one eye which is probably due to uveitis but the opthamololgist says there is a small chance he has a tumor. The other eye is fine so far. We have not been able to control the pressure in the diseased eye with meds so she recommends surgery. Our options are to put in a glass eye (which she says is not the best option since if it is a tumor he will need surgery again), or stitch the eye shut with a prosthetic eye behind it for cosmetic reasons to keep the area from sinking in (in rare cases the prosthetic is rejected) or just stitch it up. I am wondering what other people have done/would do in this situation. Our vet says most people just stitch the eye up, but I am having a hard time adjusting to this and think my family will too, and the possibility that he might end up losing both eyes if it is uveitis makes me really wish glass eyes were an option. What do people think?
glaucoma/eye removal -- looking for advice
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I am so sorry about your boy's condition. How old is he, what is his name?
Here is a similar thread that one of our members recently went through.
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/our-thoughts/105696-prayers-gunner.html
Here is a similar thread that one of our members recently went through.
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/our-thoughts/105696-prayers-gunner.html
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Debles is a very active member on this forum. I am sure once she finds this thread, she will share whatever you need to know.
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Yes, please put a Visitor Message on her page so she can see this thread. I believe they sewed Gunner's eye shut.
While my guy does not have glaucoma, he had double cataract surgery at the end of September that resulted in post surgical uveitis of a different sort (too low pressures). We've had some success with getting rid of the inflammation through acupuncture. I thought I'd mention this just in case you have access to an acupuncture veterinarian.
While my guy does not have glaucoma, he had double cataract surgery at the end of September that resulted in post surgical uveitis of a different sort (too low pressures). We've had some success with getting rid of the inflammation through acupuncture. I thought I'd mention this just in case you have access to an acupuncture veterinarian.
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Yes, they sew Gunnie's eye shut. Deb said it was almost immediate how evident it was that he felt SO much better. I'll send her a message on FB too.
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AND Debles' Gunner looks gorgeous with his one eye always winking.
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Gunner went through this exact same thing after being treated for glaucoma/uveitis for three years. Our opthomologist said he now had optic nerve damage and had a migraine 24/7. We were already giving him about twenty eye drops from six different meds every day so we chose to have his eye removed. Our OP wanted to put in a false eye but our vet has had to remove false eyes due to infection and he said Gunner didn't need a false eye so we had it removed and stitched shut. It has sunk in some now that it's a few months later. But he is so much happier and pain free, he's like a different dog!!
Here is Gunnie at Christmas:
Here is Gunnie at Christmas:
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Don't hesitate with this decision. Our GR's are stoic and we never know how much pain they are experiencing. Even if their pressure is ok at the office, they may have spikes which can cause intense pain. Buster was IMMEDIATELY happier when we removed his eye. He didn't look too bad post-op and his hair grew back quickly. He always looked like he was winking at us and didn't have too much trouble getting around. His vision was impaired in his remaining eye so he did have a little extra challenge. He would sometimes bump into things on his blind side but it was never a big deal. We were always careful to approach him from his visual side. My only regret was not having his eye removed sooner although we were following our opthamologists's recommendations. Good-luck.
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I am sorry you are being faced with such a difficult decision. We actually had a puppy wind up losing an eye from an injury-they were outside playing and he ran into a piece of wrought iron patio furniture and hit it exactly the wrong way. The optical nerve was damaged and so we made the decision to remove the eye.
His eye was stitched closed when he was neutered and that was about 2 years ago. He has done very well with having one eye and the stitched eye hasn't ever presented him a problem.
His eye was stitched closed when he was neutered and that was about 2 years ago. He has done very well with having one eye and the stitched eye hasn't ever presented him a problem.
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I wanted to also say that Gunner has had very few problems getting around with only one eye. He still retrieves like a champ!
His other eye also has uveitis and glaucoma but it is being treated and doing well. He is almost 9 so I am praying he'll have his other eye the rest of his life!
I know the decision is difficult, harder on us than them. Gunnie is so happy now and I feel so bad for all the pain he must have been in. He is so stoic that we didn't realize how much it affected him till it was gone. He is like a puppy now in his friskiness!
His other eye also has uveitis and glaucoma but it is being treated and doing well. He is almost 9 so I am praying he'll have his other eye the rest of his life!
I know the decision is difficult, harder on us than them. Gunnie is so happy now and I feel so bad for all the pain he must have been in. He is so stoic that we didn't realize how much it affected him till it was gone. He is like a puppy now in his friskiness!
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AAWW, that beautiful Gunner is such a wonderful roll model! That boy has such a sweet face!
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I had a foster dog last year with Glaucoma, the vet advised remove the eye due to pain and the complicated eye drops he would need to keep the pressure down. Our vet also said not to put in the prosthetic because there can often be rejection or infection from them. Midas never missed a beat (after it healed), kept playing ball like a maniac as usual, and was clearly feeling better.
As others have said, don't wait, your boy is probably in pain and keeping the eye won't help. You need to do whats best for him, I promise you will get used to the pirate look and will only see the dog you love, and you need to for his sake.
Here is Midas after his surgery.
As others have said, don't wait, your boy is probably in pain and keeping the eye won't help. You need to do whats best for him, I promise you will get used to the pirate look and will only see the dog you love, and you need to for his sake.
Here is Midas after his surgery.
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When we have enucleated eyes, the pets always seem so much better after the eye is removed. My sister's cocker lost an eye due to glaucoma. She was going to get a prosthesis, but then she realized that that was only for her, and not the dog... Dogs do great with the lids stitched together...
I'm sorry about your story especially since we just found out our golden is blind in one eye and given drops for the other eye to prolong normal site in that one. We don't know what to do. We have talked to many good vets and their advice is split down the middle. Some say just remove the blind eye and sew it up, no problems. Some don't like the idea of a prosthesic eye because lust because we want the dog to not look deformed we should not forget that some prosthesis can cause other problems down the road. Love to hear from you if you were approached with this and what you have heard. Thx
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