• Thanks for all the support. 🙂 His eye seems to be open wider today. Although after I put the ointment in, he tried to scratch it!! And he screamed. AHH!


  • Poor Miles…..do you have him in an E collar to keep him from pawing at his eye?


  • Heal up soon Miles….......:)


  • No e-collar; just trying to watch him. Follow up tomorrow morning. Will be in touch…


  • Poor little thing. Hope he's seeing well again soon.


  • Well, the vet wants to do surgery- they think the abscess on the top lid might be causing the scratch. He seems to be doing fine though. Thoughts?? Right now the surgery is scheduled for Monday the 11th– and it will be done at the same time as the teeth cleaning so the anesthesia is already covered. I'm still a little reluctant.


  • Thats to bad it's not getting any better, I'm sorry to hear that. I can understand the reluctance about the surgery. But because it's by his eye, if it was me I'd go for it, but I'd be nervous the same time because it's the eye.

    Paws crossed though that it's quick and painless with a speedy recovery


  • Aw, poor wittle baby. Please keep us updated on what you decide. I'll keep him in my thoughts!


  • So sorry to read that Miles has to go through this…..good thoughts and well wishes coming his way.:)


  • Oh Bdawg it sounds like a tough decision. I'm so sorry to hear he has to have surgery 😞 I know you'll do what's best for him.


  • Have you seen a vet opthamalogist? My girl Rio got scratched in the eye this past December. Our primary care vet started her on antibiotics and an eye oitment but told us if after a week she did not improve they would refer out to a vet opthamalogist. Apparently, it is not uncommon for scratches to the eye to be long improve and sometimes requires that the vet opthamalogist moves a blood vessel to the site so it can heal. We were lucky and Rio's scratch was towards the edge of eye so it vascularized on its own and healed without intervention.

    For eyes I would definately see a vet opthamalogist when surgery is recommended.


  • @BDawg:

    Well, the vet wants to do surgery- they think the abscess on the top lid might be causing the scratch. He seems to be doing fine though. Thoughts?? Right now the surgery is scheduled for Monday the 11th– and it will be done at the same time as the teeth cleaning so the anesthesia is already covered. I'm still a little reluctant.

    Poor Miles. I would definitely take him to see an opthomologist. Years ago, I took one of my dogs to a vet, then an opthomologist who wanted to do surgery, and then to a second opthomologist who told me surgery wasn't necessary. It was a different problem, but I was sure glad I didn't have the surgery done.


  • So… it appears that Miles's eye is not giving him any trouble anymore. He still has the abscess on the top lid and the skin tag on the bottom lid- but he's holding his eye open just fine and does not have any eye-goo production (yes, that's a technical term. ;)) So now I'm really starting to wonder about having the surgery. Isn't it usually the case that if it isn't bothering him, you should leave it alone?

    Does anyone know how much it is out of pocket to see a specialist? I've never actually had to take my dogs to one.

    The surgery is still slated for Monday with a price tag of about $700- all due up front. Ah, decisions, decisions.


  • Hopefully the scratch will heal well. Our Nicky had a bad ulceration on her eye, it is much better but we have been using drops and ointments for over 3 months, 3 times a day. Vet said it could have been a bit of debris that got under the lid and caused the deep abrasion.

    Good luck! A tip from our canine eye doc, if you have the ointment in those tiny tubes, use very warm (but not HOT) water and dip just the metal tip (uncapped)in it for about 20 seconds, it will liquify just what is in the tip, and it flows onto the eye rather than landing as a big glob.

    Anne in Tampa


  • I don't remember exactly, but I think around $100 for an initial exam and then they would charge extra for any special tests. It has been worth every penny. I would not go forward with any surgery on the eye without seeing a specialist–especially since Miles seems to be getting better. But I would try to get him in as soon as possible to make sure further damage isn't being done. With Pepper's situation years ago, I paid about $200 to see two different specialists and avoided an unnecessary, expensive, and long recuperation time surgery that was not required at all.


  • Around here a basic exam is $35-55 for a vet opthamologist.


  • And here too, still in No Cal but our prices are sometimes higher then what lvoss gets… and it is well worth the cost... to have a specialist look... while your regular Vet is great... an eye specialist sees and understands possible problem with the eyes...


  • Definately get a second opionion. At will give you peace of mind. You dont hant to have any doubts.

    Hugs & kisses for Miles!

    He's always been one of my favorites on this site!


  • Awww, that was really sweet Barkless 😉
    I canceled his appointment for surgery today. I just don't see that he's troubled at all by his eye anymore. He's having no problems that we can tell. I'm going to consider getting a second opinion, but it'll take some investigation to find a good ophthalmologist. Thanks for everyone's support!!


  • Here is the ACVO search page to find a vet opthamologist.

    http://www.acvo.org/locate_an_ophthalmologist.htm

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