eye removal

[rugrat]

hi, i have my beloved miniature Yorkshire terrier booked in our local vets on the 3rd jan for an eye removal (which she is blind from) its a genetic defect passed down from her mother which the eye doesn't grow but everything else does. now the time has come to have her eye taken out and i am panicking and afraid and im not too sure why. i relies she is blind but could it be the reality of her eye coming out making it so final that the eye might not ever start working.. my question is has anyone out there had an eye removed on their pet and how they reacted or how their lives changed around this?

 

[houlahoops]

My German Shepherd had both of his eyes removed shortly after I got him and to be honest with you it took a lot less getting used to than I thought it would. His facial expressions were still very pronounced (so I and the other dogs could still read him very well) and after the first few days he was clearly much more comfortable without them!

Even completely blind, he was able to navigate our home and yard nearly as well as our sighted dogs. We made sure to put loud tags on his collar to help us keep an eye on him, and we made sure to put mats near the stairs so that he could feel the change in texture and not fall.

I know I was also worried that it would unnerve me to see him poking around and doing dog things without any eyes, but it really didn't at all. He was still the same guy, just in a slightly different package

Your little gal won't be completely blind, right? I bet you she will be much happier without the eye bothering her, and since she can't see out of it anyway she won't have to do too much adapting! Good luck and let us know how she does!

 

[Greenmagick]

I personally have never had a pet with an eye removed, but I do know many dogs who have had it done and they were all really really quick to adjust.

 

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

My dog had his eye removed before I adopted him. He was a little over three when I adopted him, so it was removed fairly young, the previous owners didn't share why, so we have no idea.

So, with it being said that I never knew him with two eyes...he gets around really well. The vision in his other eye isn't 100%, and he has some depth perception issues with stairs or furniture in new places. He has no trouble navigating or anything. He moves around fine in the dark.

He does have motion reactivity, but I think that seed was already there - the eye issue may have just exacerbated it.

 

[AmberH]

I personally assisted in an eye removal a few years ago when I volunteered at one of the local vet clinics. I have all kinds of pictures from the procedure as well but I'll spare you for now. lol It was really neat to watch and help with. That particular dog had a tumor on his eye that caused him problems and he was so much better off without the eye. He was the same old dog afterward.

My ex-boss has two dogs with one eye. They are perfectly fine dogs. I also fostered a Pekingese for a few days after his eye removal surgery. He was a fun dog and I almost kept him. I just couldn't get the family on board.

It sounds like your dog will be better off without the eye. She probably won't even notice that it's gone.

 

[AmberD]

If she is already blind in that eye, she won't even notice it's missing. Unless it's bothering her now, in which case she will feel better once it's out. When I got my dog, Josie, from the shelter, one of her eyes was ulcerated. It must've been quite painful. She seemed like such a calm dog until that eye came out, and she sprang into high gear. So if she's blind in that eye, she probably already runs into things on that side once in a while and probably already has some depth perception issues, so not much should change, from what you see. Well, they'll probably shave her face, and stitches over the eye socket are weird, but once the hair grows back, you probably won't even notice it. You might even be able to avoid the strangers staring at your pirate dog and asking all alarmed-like, "what's wrong with her eye?!" You may already get the weird single eye shine pictures lol

P.S. Josie still blinks! It takes a little getting used to