Chi spaniel's question about Enucleation

Question

I‘m fostering a cocker mix. He’s about 1yo. He had cherry eye surgery, but it didn’t take because his eye is abnormally small and non-functional, according to to the ophthalmologist. They recommended removing the eye to prevent intermittent infections throughout his life. I scheduled his surgery for this week, but wondering if I should move forward with it right now. He doesn’t seem to be in pain and doesn’t have discharge. He might have dry eye but doesn’t rub at it. I guess I’m looking for reassurance that removing the eye now is the right move even though it doesn’t seem to be causing pain.

Accepted Answer

Hello, thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear that your foster dog has been having eye issues and I can certainly understand your concern. 

I would absolutely follow the ophthalmologist's recommendation of going forward and removing the eye. Veterinary ophthalmologists are extremely knowledgeable, and absolutely want what is best for the dog! If he is having dry eye, that will definitely cause discomfort and eye issues down the road, even if it isn't right now. It would be better to remove the eye now before it is painful, then to wait until he's having lots of issues and in pain. 

Dogs tend to recover very quickly from this surgery, and since he can't see out fo that eye anyway, he won't know any different! He will still be his normal, happy self!

Enucleation in Dogs