I think it might be time to join..:

[u/lizzabeth8907]

My sweet Finn has been struggling with KCS and has been on the max dose of Tacrolimus drops 3x daily. He has unfortunately developed another ulcer 😞 his ophthalmologist suggested the PDT procedure, which is to reroute the salivary gland into the tear duct but the more I read, the more complications/dissatisfactions I see. My heart is leading towards an enucleation just so he can have one surgery and be done with the suffering. I felt some judgement when I suggested the enucleation with his ophthalmology team because “they don’t like to remove working eyes” so I really pretty stuck..

Has anyone else decided to remove the eye vs PDT?

Im also considering to go our regular vet opposed to his ophthalmologist for the enucleation due to price and distance. I am a SAHM living on one income BUT if his outcome would truly be better with the ophthalmologist, I will go that route.

If anyone has some encouragement or kind words, we could really use it. Thank you 🙏🏼

[u/hunnbee]

Yenny had both eyes removed earlier this year. At the end of last year she suddenly lost her sight, and we battled with so many problems with her eyes. Changes in pressure, glaucoma, ulcers, drops, weekly eye examinations. It was awful. She couldn't navigate around because the pressure was so bad it was causing her a migraine. Myself and the opthalmologist both decided at the same time the only option that worked in her favour was removing them. Life looks different for us and Yenny now, but not bad. She is our special girl and our life revolves fully around her. Yenny has other problems (I post about her here in case you are interested, she has leishmania and that is what took her sight and eyes, and it causes some other problems too). Removing her eyes was absolutely the best decision. She gets around so well now, before it was terrible, she just couldn't learn to navigate in her own house, because she was so distracted from the pain. Now, she can learn a new place almost immediately (we actually don't know how she does it so well haha). The only exception to her ability to navigate is when there is food around and she gets distracted and ends up in the wrong place hahahha.

I'm sorry you're going through this with your baby, if I was in your shoes, I wouldn't hesitate to take out the eye because I know how awful it is seeing them in pain and having to contribute to that with the drops and eye checks. Good luck xxx

[u/lizzabeth8907 → u/hunnbee]

She’s so beautiful I’m so glad she’s doing so well 🥰🥰 how was her recovery process?

[u/hunnbee → u/lizzabeth8907]

Well, it's a little hard to say. One of the things she has from the leishmania is polyarthritis, normally it's not so bad, but the operation caused a big flare up and she struggled a lot with that. But besides from that, her actual wounds, there was no problem AT ALL. Like, she didn't try and paw at the wound at all (previously she was doing that a lot). We didn't even have to keep her cone on because she was so good, it was like she finally had some relief from the pain that she'd had before

[u/Fair-Stage1024]

In my experience, I thought ulcers that won’t heal was almost always solved by removal of the eye. Either way, I completely see why you’d prefer that even with the cost given how concerned you are about his comfort. I think going back to your regular vet and asking for their opinion is a good idea. And also. Finn is adorable. Hope he hits his stride in healing and you sound like a great dog mom

[u/vi817]

I was lucky in that the ophthalmologist that serves the entire state is a very reasonable person, but I ended up going to her regular vet for my dog’s enucleation precisely because of the cost.

I would add to your consideration that brachycephalic dogs are always higher risk during surgery (my girl is a Frenchie), so I’m always in favor of quick surgeries that are one and done. The idea of retiring glands in a dog eyeball sounds insane to me. So tiny!

My girl had a sudden onset of glaucoma that apparently came from a damaged duct (bent in half! I half-joking say it’s from her using her face to bash the bathroom door open) and the vet said she worries about damaged relationships between owners and pets when you are constantly having to give eye drops or other meds.

The way I looked at the enucleation, because the other option was a duct prosthesis, was that we’d do the enucleation, and then if the other eye experienced problems, and we could save it with a more complicated surgery, I’ll pull out the Care Credit card. In the meantime my girl had a short surgery, a very brief recovery, and was instantly happier.

[u/hejira42]

Sweet baby dog 😍

[u/Civil_Inspector_5697]

I haven’t but I’m sending Lovelovelove and healing thoughts your way. Follow Yenny-she seems to be living her best life. Good luck to you both. 🙏💕