Entropion
Submitted by clintf07 on February 10, 2013 - 2:48pmHi,
Our bulldog, Bean (1 1/2 yr), has entropion. We took him to our vet a few weeks ago and he was prescribed Neomycin drops for a week and said they will help clear eye infection but if he continues to have problems we may need to look at surgery. After the week was up Bean was no longer squinting as much but day to day he'd still have favor closing the eye. We took him back and vet prescribed (a stronger solution?) tobramycin and gave us the number for a specialist in eye car to look into surgery.
The research I see online is that surgery is only real solution as drops only tempoarily sooth and left untreated can severly damage the dogs eye.
My quesiton is; Does anyone have experience with this surgery for their bulldog and what general advice does anyone have?
Thanks,
Clint
Entropian or Distichia
If it is entropian then yes...he needs surgery to correct it. Entropian is where the eyelid/s roll inward, causing the hair to rub the eye. Sometimes allergies can cause the eyelids to swellor be puffy which can mimic entropian. Just want to make sure you aren't doing surgery unnecessarily. so I make mention of this. Taking him to a specialist is the best decision IMO or a very qualified/familiar vet with this type of surgery. Left untreated you will get eye ulcers, which I'm sure you can imagine this is painful. The surgery is kindof like an eye lift. They will make an incision lengthwise on the outer lid, top, bottom or both, take out a very thin sliver of skin and suture back. He will need to wear a cone after the surgery to make sure he doesn't rub the sutures, healing takes about 2 weeks.
Distichia is where eye lashes grow on the inside of the eye lid. You want to be sure you know the difference. A laser is used to zap/kill the hair follies, it can take more then one session depending on the number of lashes. If there are only a couple of stray lashes they can be pucked. They will grow back so you have to monitor this.
If they do entropian surgery they should also make sure that any stray lashes are lasered at the same time.
entropian
yes, my female had this and had the eye surgery about 3 years ago. All went great. She is now about 8.5 yo and everyone once in while I put artifical tears in her eyes because she gets a lot of sand man in her eyes, but other than that, all is fine. I would just be sure your vet has done this surgery before.
thanks
Our vet actually mentioned both entropian and distichia (allthough I don't remember him calling it by name). He put on a pair of glasses/binocular and said they were hard to see w/ naked eye but under the lenses he could see the lashes. He mentioned during entropian surgery they could pluck them. He didn't say anything about laser.
Does laser permantly prevent them from regrowing?
Our vet is well known in the area as being the goto bulldog vet, having owned them himself. He gave us his honest take on surgery that he has done it and can do the surgery if we prefer him, but he said he tends to overcorrect causing the lid to roll out so he recommended a specialist who he directs his bulldog patients to for eye stuff. We're planning to go with specialist but figured would ask forum about experinces and questions to ask/followup on (eg. laser vs pluck).
Thank you both for the advise!
Clint
Laser vs plucking
If a specialist says to pluck rather then laser...I would be shocked. Laser kills the hair follicle, so they don't come back in that same spot....plucking does not and they will grow back. I'm actually surprised your vet would even suggest plucking as an option if there are lots of lashes. If there is only a few stray lashes that you can see then you can pluck, but they will come back.
If you are having surgery done for entropian then they should laser any hairs that they can at the time. No need to put the dog under twice. And the laser does not always get all at one time, sometimes it takes 2 or 3 times if there are lots of stray lashes.
If your vet knows he takes too much then I would most definitely have a specialist do the surgery. Too much can really ruin the look of the eye and cause more problems in other ways. The eyelid does need to be tight enough to keep stuff out and too much rolling the lid outward opens up the possibility of infections from stray particles and such getting into the lower lid.
Hope that helps.
Potential Eye Surgery
Our first bulldog had the same problem. Our excellent bulldog vet was out of town when Titan developed another eye problem. His covering vet sent us to a vet opthamologist. She felt she couldn't properly examine Titan's eyes because he was panting and moving around too much. She gave us acepromazine (tranquilizer) to give him before his next appointment. I gave him the medication as directed and he died within 30 minutes. Happened almost 9 years ago and I still blame myself for being so stupid as to not have called our bully vet's office to make sure it was safe. Since you will be taking your bully to someone other than your vet, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE check with your vet before administering any tranquilizer!
I am sure others on this board will agree NO ACEPROMAZINE EVER. Commonly called "ace", it is strictly prohibit for use in brachycephalic dogs..pugs, bulldogs, boxers, etc. Our wonderful guy lost his life because of my ignorance.
Maggie Porkchop and Bubba
Surgery
Hi,
Was wondering if you had the surgery done?? If your still researching best thing to do is take your Bully to an eye specialist. They will be able to determine the best procedure for your Bully..They can go blind if all the rubbing is not corrected. Your Bully will be in constant discomfort and you will be constantly dealing with infections and ulcers which can lead to blindness. Once the lids are corrected, lashes removed depending on age it could possibly need repeating, and even if lashes are surgically removed they still can grow back. Then plucking by a vet can maintain them. If plucking reoccurs too often then surgically removing may be necessary. Always remember anesthesia with these guys is ALWAYS a major concern, and always do pre anesthetic blood work no matter what!
God Bless!!!
Thank you and God Bless!!!
Cecilia & George
Surgery
Hi,
Titan had entropian surgery on both of his eyes when he was about 2 years old. The reason for our visit to the eye vet was an eye ulcer which wasn't healing well. It was that vet who gave me the acepromazine which KILLED our beloved bully. It was my stupidity of not calling our bully vet to check out the med before administering it. It will be 9 years this May 25th and I will never forgive myself for my stupidity.
Maggie Porkchop and Bubba