# Cherry Eye Medication question



## FaithFurMom09 (Oct 24, 2009)

Harvey has Cherry Eye according to the vet today and was given the Antibiotic/Steroid cream. What is the likely hood the med will work? I have to put it on his eye 3x/day for 2wks and if not 50% decreased by then, hell need surgery.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

I've never heard of medication being able to fix a prolapse. There is a good chance that it will eventually require surgery.


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## 5 s corral (Dec 31, 2007)

I also have never heard of meds for cherie eye 
its surgery as far as i know 
keep us posted


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## FaithFurMom09 (Oct 24, 2009)

Its Neo-Poly-Dex Cream. I called 6 vets and hes the only one that wouldnt jump right into surgery.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Cherry eye is often recurring, so meds may help in the short term if it is inflamed (and keep the eye well lubricated) but it IS likely that it will require surgical intervention..so the other vets were likely just trying to save you time and frustration to just fix the eye...


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## Gareth Zeiler (Jan 9, 2011)

Cracker is right, this often does reoccur. There are many ways to repair a cherry eye. You must ask your vet is they are going to use gland sparing techniques or gland removal techniques to repair this. Always opt for a gland sparing technique. Removal of this gland predisposes to a dry eye!

So the vet should place the gland where it should be and then tack it in place with sutures. If they want to take it out, be very cautious with this as the incident of dry eye formation is very high. The medication to manage this is chronic and very expensive.

I wish you the best. Steroids can also make the operation a bit trickier due to more bleeding. So perhaps stop this treatment a week or two before the operation. Ask you vet about this.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Even tacking only has about a 50% success rate (without reoccurrence) I believe.


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## Not a Boxer (Oct 5, 2010)

I have been through this and agree with the others. My BT mix had cherry eye that would "pop out" and go back in on its own for about 2 months before finally staying out. We used those drops at first, but ended up having the surgery done. The vet put the gland bak in using the pocket method, which has a lower recurrance rate than tacking. From what I understand, the longer you wit to have the surgery, the lower your chances of success as the muscles/tendons around the gland will weaken and the cartilege can bend. Not to mention the exposed gland is susceptible to scratching and infection.

The recovery stunk - two weeks in an e-collar with his eye stitched shut and drops 4x a day, but it was worth it.


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