Cherry eye

[Dakota2024]

I just got my first cavalier and she’s wonderful. However, I’m learning a lot about Cherry eyes. Apparently these are quite common in this breed.

I will tell you what I have learned, but I’m looking for any experience.

If you catch the cherry eye early, it’s possible to pop it back in.

Most of what I have read, says that it will most likely require surgery and it recurs.

There are two types of surgery something called the Morgan pocket technique where they put the gland back in and stitch it there.

The second surgery is when they remove the gland, but when the gland is removed, there is a chance of getting a dry eye.

The medical research say that these procedures are 95% successful.

My cavalier is three years old and she has a very bad cherry eye and will need surgery.

My question is, does anyone have experience with tucking it back in and stitching it versus having the gland removed?

I’m trying to decide which to do.

 

[Karlin]

Oh, ouch. I'm not familiar with needing to do surgery on this -- but I had a look and here, they note three types: a single stitch method that is most common but often needs to be repeated, the pocket method and the gland removal. They seem to strongly advise against gland removal. NB that cavaliers generally develop dry eye as they age anyway and I know from experience that this takes a lot of daily work (an eye ointment which is quite costly) to manage. I'd go for the pocket surgery and attempt to retain the gland, especially for a cavalier.

Here's what the VIN site says on removing the gland:

Treatment: Removing the Gland

Historically, the prolapsed gland was treated like a small tumor; it was simply removed. This was before the full significance of the gland was realized.

If the third eyelid's tear gland is removed, it cannot be put back in place. If the other tear gland (the one above the eye) cannot supply adequate tears, not an uncommon phenomenon in older small breed dogs, then the eye becomes dry and uncomfortable. A thick yellow discharge results and the eye develops a blinding pigment covering for protection. This condition is called simply dry eye or more scientifically keratoconjunctivitis sicca and daily medical treatment is required to keep the eye both comfortable and visual. Not only is dry eye uncomfortable, but its treatment is often frustrating and time-consuming and there is expense involved. If left untreated, the eye can become blind. We would like the dog to maintain the greatest amount of tear-producing tissue possible, thus removing the gland for cosmetic reasons is not an acceptable treatment method.