Cherry eye

By Helen Burns | Dated January 13, 2016

Several weeks ago, Ralph’s owner noted what looked like a leech attached to the corner of his eye. It was very confronting and looked painful! Fortunately on closer examination, it wasn’t a leech but in fact a prolapse of the gland that sits under the third eyelid. “Third eyelid?” I hear you ask. Yes, dogs and cats have three eyelids, (snakes have none, and lizards also have three!) As you can see from the photo, Ralph is a very cute 7 month old Pug X Jack Russell. Unfortunately brachycephalic dogs like Ralph are prone to developing this prolapse.

Apart from the obvious appearance, the prolapsed gland of the third eyelid, or cherry eye as it is commonly called, needs to be surgically repaired because it contributes about 40% of the tear film. Without this contribution, affected eyes can become dry and uncomfortable and need lifelong medication.

Ralph spent a day with us at Gordon Vet and had his cherry eye repaired. Without going into too much detail, a little pocket was made in the conjunctiva on the underside of the third eyelid, and the gland was tucked into this pocket and stitched into place. It’s quite fiddly surgery, operating within millimeters of the eyeball with a very sharp scalpel and scissors, and with very thin suture material. Fortunately, care of his general anaesthetic, Ralph didn’t move a muscle, and was the perfect patient!

Post operatively Ralph didn’t have a care in the world, blissfully unaware of his surgical procedure, though perhaps wondering why he had to wear an Elizabethan collar. Although cherry eye can sometimes recur, and can certainly occur in the other eye, we expect all will go very well for Ralph, and that he will be back rumbling with his big brother Bailey in no time at all.