Dolly Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 One of our girls has an eye problem which the vet suspects was caused by an injury, probably at some point before she came to us a month or so ago. Basically she has an ulcer inside her eye, which causes her to keep it closed a lot (but not all) of the time. Other than this, she seems quite happy and does all the normal chickeny things. She's been on 2 different antibiotic eye treatments but nothing has improved it, so the vet says the next step is surgery. So my question is.... would you:- a) leave her as she is (and hope shes not in pain and won't lose her eye in the long term by not treating it) b) have the surgery (with risks and cost involved) I'm all in a dither about this - I don't want her to suffer either way! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 If there is no chance that the eye could burst (sorry )and she is not in pain then I would leave it as it is. It will probably cloud over and she will be blind in that eye but chickens tend to cope pretty well. The chances of saving her sight if she has not responded to antibiotics is slim to nothing anyway. However, if she is closing her eye it would indicate that it is sore for her. Are the vets suggesting surgery in order to remove the eye? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted April 13, 2011 Author Share Posted April 13, 2011 Hi CM, the vet is suggesting 'shaving' off a sliver of the surface in the problem area to allow it to re-heal and hopefully fix itself - sounds awful to me! If she eventually goes blind in the eye, will the process of this happening be painful for her do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted April 13, 2011 Share Posted April 13, 2011 OK, that is normal practise in dogs and cats. They 'shave' off and tidy up the ulcerated tissue. In my humble opinion and experience would say that the chances of saving this eye as a functioning eye (with sight) are minimal to none. You have to do something to take the pain away and if she is squinting it means it hurts. If the eye drops etc haven't helped at all you are between a rock and a hard place. I would perhaps have a chat with your vet by phone and ask them whether they are doing this to save sight or to save the eye. If it is to save sight then I would leave it. If it is to save the eye, you may have to go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal119 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 One or our chooks had an ulcerated eye. She lived with it for approx 18 months and during that time went back to the vets and was given Baytril probably about 5 or 6 times as it kept flaring up. In between the flare ups she was fine, and the vet was reluctant to operate as thought it could cause more complications removing her eye. She was obviously blind but managed perfectly well with sight in one eye. She was never quite the same though and eventually passed away peacefully during another flare up one day The eye drops never seemed to do anything to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Hi Sal119, sorry to hear about your poor girl too. When you mentioned 'flare ups', what symptoms did she show exactly, just so I know what to look for. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sal119 Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 Hi Dolly. When Lottie had a flare up, she just used to stand around staring into space with her head hung low. Just basically looking poorly. She would eat but not much. I think they're prone to this kind of thing, our vet seemed to think it's when the dirt gets thrown up from all the digging around that they do. Lottie's eye totally clouded over as time went on and it was obvious she couldn't see much out of it, if anything at all. I hope your chook gets better. I think I'd see how she goes before operating ... see if it shows any signs of bothering her in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madchickenlady Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 I had a pekin with ongoing eye issues that antibiotics didn't heal. I ended up plumping for the surgery, but sadly she didn't make it It's a very difficult decision, and I'm sure you'll make the one which is best for your girl x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolly Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 Tilly had her check up at the vets last night and I'm very pleased to report that her ulcer appears to be reducing! She only keeps it closed now and then, as opposed to almost constantly, so the vet advised to keep up with the eye drops until she's using her eye all the time (he thought this could be in a about a week or so). So luckily we've avoided surgery, which I have to admit I was worried about, but the vet did assure me it wasn't something to panic over if we do need it later. I hope that's our chicken problems over now, with one thing and another I think we've definately had our fair share for a long a time to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
