Hi...everyone.

We have a 6 month old puppy who has developed a cherry eye. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with that or if anyone new approx the cost to have it repaired.

Thanks for the input.

Lauren

Nigel had each eye done for $475.00 at VCA Grossmont.

what is cherry eye? does this run in the breed?

Hi Lauren -

Cherry eye is quite common in the American Cockers. It is a weakened third eyelid - think of it as a herniated muscle, which shows as a small swelling/bump at teh inside corner of the eyelid(s). It can range in color from a dull brown to a bright cherry red, hence the nickname "cherry eye".

There is ONLY ONE vet in San Diego that I trust so far with CE surgery. Call Dr. Lee at Mission Gorge Animal Hospital and tell them Peggy sent you. 619/280-1503. He does the correct surgery. And he is THE MOST reasonably priced in town. Our last cherry eye surgery cost under $200.00.

There are three available surgeries to correct this. ONLY ONE is the right one.

Option One (least effective, most commonly done by vets): "tuck and tack". The vet tucks the cherry back into place, out of sight, and tacks it down. Most of the time the dog will have it pop out again in it's lifetime. In my view that is a waste of time, waste of money, and waste of putting your dog under anesthesia.

Option Two (the ONLY RIGHT ONE in my book): Partial Removal. Dr. Lee removes ONLY the offending portion of the cherry eye (with laser, increasing healing time down to nothing!) and leaves the tear duct glands intact, allowing your dog normal tear production through it's lifetime.

Option Three (the most radical and only to be done if absolutely necessary - we've never had to do this for our rescue dogs, by the way): Full Removal. The vet removes not only the cherry eye but the dog also loses use of the tear duct glands - resulting in the animal needing artificial tear drops inserted in the eye twice a day for the rest of it's life - or else painful eye infections will ensue.

Cherry eye surgery is often seen to be cosmetic in nature, although if left unattended it can cause irritation and scratching of the cornea and potential eye infections.

Peggy
Meetup.com Organizer and San Diego Spaniel Rescue volunteer

Thanks for the great post and information, I will call for my little Baker as he needs this surgery as well. The first surgery was unsuccessful :-(

It sounds like Baker had the "tuck and tack" simple surgery. You'll be very pleased with the results at Dr. Lee's office. Be sure to tell them Cocker Rescue sent you - they love the breed there!

Let us know how it goes -

Peggy
(Meetup Organizer)

I made his appointment for the 5th of September! They were really nice on the phone, especially when I mentioned your name :-) I am so happy to finally have this done without breaking my savings account! I will let you know how it goes!
Paula

I made his appointment for the 5th of September! They were really nice on the phone, especially when I mentioned your name :-) I am so happy to finally have this done without breaking my savings account! I will let you know how it goes!
Paula

Hi Lauren/Paula

I was wondering how did the laser treatment went with your dog's cherry eye situation? I have a six year old mix pug and Chiwawa and she recently showed the sign of cherry eye on her left eye. She has gone through many surgeries for other problems in the past and I really want to make sure not to put her under another surgery unless I feel that there will be no risk of needing to repeat it. It would be great if you or Peggy could let me know how many cases you know that this laser treatment has been done by Dr Lee and has been successful with no post complications?

Hope to hear from you guys soon

Kathreen

Kathreen,

Baker's first appointment was rescheduled, but he did finally get the cherry eye surgery at Dr. Lee's about a week and a half ago and he is doing just fine! It seemed to be far less painful than his first 'tuck and tack" procedure.

See this link and then click on "cherry eye".

http://www.accuvet.co...

I assume many Vets do not suggest this alternative because there are only a handful that actually own the laser machine (they are very expensive).

FYI, the tuck and tack nightmare cost me $375, Eye Care for Animals cost me $250, plus a $1,200 estimate for specialty surgery. Dr Lee charged me $304 total and Baker had virtually no pain, no bleeding, or infection of any kind.

Hope this helps!
P

Hey Paula - I'm glad Baker is doing so well!

Dr. Lee just started doing the laser version of this about a year ago - before that it was a "regular" surgical procedure of partial removal - and even then it healed quickly!

Kathreen - I hope you'll let us know when you are in town with your fur-kids - we'd love to meet you if a meet up (or vet visit!) is scheduled around that time. Also, as we learned with Baker - until the surgery site heals completely, be sure your dog can't bump/scratch/irritate his eye. All the dogs I've had done haven't needed a cone, but if he's prone to itch/scratch, then you'll want to protect the eye. (Baker was on leash walking to his car and a shephard passing nearby wanted very much to say hi - his paw tore open Baker's surgery site and it scared many of us til we found out from Dr. Lee what to do!).

Peggy