Ace’s Eye Injury
This is Ace. He lives nearby and loves to check out what’s happening at the vet.
Ace’s inquisitive streak and habit of poking his nose in places lead to a problem.
Ace arrived to see Dr Lisa with a very sore eye. It was hard to see anything because his eye was so sore, but Dr Lisa could detect a small object sticking out of the surface of his eye, (the cornea). To examine the eye more carefully, Ace was given an emergency anesthetic by Dr Lisa and nurse Abbi.
An object was sticking out of the surface of his cornea. A green dye was introduced which identifies the area of damaged cornea. The foreign body was carefully extracted, leaving a deep hole in the cornea. Ace’s eye was reacting to the trauma by contracting the pupil.
Ace was given atropine to open his pupil, pain relief and topical antibiotic cream for his eye. We are hoping he recovers rapidly so he can get back to keeping an eye on us over the fence.
More about corneal ulcers
The cornea if damaged will usually heal quite quickly as long at it is not being further damaged by a foreign body like some grit (which was Ace’s case) or an unusual eyelash rubbing on the cornea. Protecting the cornea with antibiotic cream will usually be curative.
If however there is an underlying problem with the eye such as dry eye, or the animal is a poppy eyed breed (brachycephalic) such as a Frenchie or Pug, then corneal ulcers can be very difficult to manage. Repeat staining, increased lubrication, extra pain relief and even an E-collar may be required.
Every year we refer a number of patients to the veterinary eye specialist for a non-healing corneal ulcer. This is usually after several monitoring visits at PAH.
Eye disease is taken very seriously as any deterioration in the eyes condition can lead to permanent blindness or catastrophic eye changes.
