My dog General is having enucleation surgery on his left eye today. He can’t see out of his right eye due to cataracts and previous swelling so I tried very hard to save his left eye. He bumped into a wall about a month ago and he seemed to be wincing in pain a bit and when I accidentally brushed against his left side he yelped so I decided to immediately bring him to a vet.
I’ve been visiting a friend in Indiana so did not have a regular vet here and it was a Sunday so the only clinic open was Purdue North Central in Westville. The vet performed a stain and told me she did not see a corneal tear and prescribed steroid anti inflammatory drops. She said if he had an ulcer it could make his eye worse so I questioned whether or not these were correct to use since General has a history of ulcers.
Flash forward 3 days later General developed a deep infected weeping ulcer. It’s has been a struggle since. I have been in Northern Indiana so traveled to Purdue Small Animal Hospital for treatment. He was in the ICU for 4 days and they were able to clear out most of the infected and halt the melting process but his eye still hadn’t begin to heal and they released him to me to care for. I felt this was too soon but I knew General would prefer to me with me and the vets were pushing for it so I agreed.
He was on a course of 5 different eye drop medications administered 5-10 minutes apart every 1-3 hours and oral antibiotics. It was a difficult task considering I was not at home but he was so critical and needed this hourly care I though it was best to wait until he improved at least a bit before making the 12 hour drive back to NY and of course I needed to find someone willing to drive us.
His condition remained the same after his 3 day check up but the vets noticed a like more bacteria and neutrophils in the eye. I asked for an anxiety med for General to relax him while I administer drops as he was not handling the experience well. The medication helped for almost a week and I was able to increase the drops to basically on his timed scheduled and to even more if I could. He had a stent over the corner of his left eye which was right under the ulcer. The stent helped keep his enlarged eye halfway closed and keep his eye moist. The stent was removed this past Friday and over the weekend he took a turn for the worse. He was in extreme pain and I keep on going back to the vet for injectable pain meds which didn’t seem to help.
His eye appeared to me to be melting further. It seemed cruel to continue trying to administer the drops which didn’t appear to be working while he was in so much excessive pain. It was a difficult decision but at this point the eye looks so bad and is no longer visual I’m not sure what usefulness it would be if saved meanwhile General would continue to be in agony. He is having it removed today and God willing I will pick him up tomorrow morning for our journey back to NYC.
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