Do you have a pet that had an eye removed by a veterinarian?

Yes, I have a one eyed goose that lost her eye to a fish hook when she was abandoned at a local lake. She gets along just fine, but geese, unlike cats must have fresh swimming water and head dunking to keep their eyes clean and healthy.
I think you should go for the procedure if it is not going to leave you destitute. The cat will be more comfortable, will adapt and the long term cost of vet visits and medications for the bad eye can easily end up costing you more than the surgical removal as times goes on.

I just spent $600 to treat one of my cats for a rattlesnake bite 4 weeks ago tomorrow.
If I can at all afford it I will do the whats best for my animals.
Hell, my pets have had more health care this year than I have. lol

I had a cat we feared would loose her eye, she had been clawed in the eye by another cat. Luckily the eye didn’t have to be removed but she was left blind in that eye. It never seemed to bother her much, she lived another nine years happily.
I would personally spend as much as I could afford to on all my animals, my main concern with an eighteen year old cat would be if she would be fit enough for an anaesthetic.
We once had a cat who had to have his back leg removed. I wish I never put him through the stress as he only lived six month after the operation.

He will actually be much more comfortable without the eye, and while I’m sure that somewhere, someone sells prosthetic eyes for cats, that’s not standard treatment. As a matter of fact, thinking about it, I suspect that it would add a whole new assortment of complications.

Short term, minimal post operative care and some pain meds. Long term, no likely complications.

Wow, I’m so sorry that you’re having to make this decision, @gondwanalon . And the others above are right, if the cat is going to physically feel better without the eye, then so be it. Your kitteh will be better and it will save you a ton of money for the rest of his life. Our pets have no defense other than us against the frailties of life, so we have to do what’s best for them in the long run.

He’ll get used to it quickly, I promise. And he’ll be oh-so-happy that it doesn’t hurt anymore.

I have a 14 year old dog who needs oral surgery. She is on antibiotics now in prep for the surgery. It is going to cost between 4 and 6 hundred dollars. I am worried about her going under anesthesia. But yes regardless of her age, I will spend the money and hope for the best because she is not doing well with this tooth problem. Actually over the years I have spent about 10 times as much on her teeth as my own. She has had bad teeth from the time she was a pup. Guess that is genetic in dogs as well as humans.

If you can afford it then why not. I doubt your cat will care if it’s got a bead in it’s socket either if it feels better.

My parents had a Bassett that lost an eye due to a congenital issue, and they got her a glass eye. I think the total cost was about $1000. Dog was fine.

Animals don’t have a sense of vanity regarding looks the way we humans do.

Getting a prosthetic eye for your cat will be for your benefit, not for the benefit of the cat.

Believe it or not, there are also prosthetic testes for dogs who’ve been neutered. The vast majority of owners opting for these are, of course, male. They somehow manage to convince themselves that it helps the dogs self esteem. It doesn’t. Its for the. male owners self esteem.

In reading the OP’s question, I have concluded that one benefit of a prosthetic eye is not having to have the eye sutured closed, which, I would think, an animal would not understand and might be trying to rub their paw on their eye in an attempt to get remove whatever is keeping their eye shut. I would think an animal would wake up from the surgery and start pawing at the eye to get it open, whereas with a prosthetic, the eye itself will still feel the same to the pet.

Ask around vets about the advantages of the prosthetic eye. @jca‘s got a point in that it’s important the animal not rub at sutures. Let us know what you choose and how it works out.

I have seen lots of dogs with only one eye. Usually shih tzu or other breeds with hair that hangs over and into their eyes causing infection and eventual removal of the eye. They all seemed fine. I have no knowledge but is a glass eye a permanent fixture? I never gave it much thought, but does it have to come out and be cleaned like a contact? Or once it is in, is it there to stay? They aren’t really made of glass are they? This opens up a lot of questions in my mind. I am off to google!

@rooeytoo: My mom’s dog’s eye did not have to be removed. It’s permanent.

@jca – wonder what it was made of??? I always thought people with “glass” eyes could take them out??? Interesting subject.

@rooeytoo: People with glass eyes can, but I guess for pets they know that people are not going to want to be doing that for their pet every night, and probably the pets wouldn’t allow it anyway LOL.

Coincidently I was chatting with my mechanic today while getting an oil change and he has a lab with a prosthetic eye. She lost the eye to an infection and they opted for the prosthetic instead of just suturing the socket closed.

My friend had a Boston Terrier who developed a cancerous tumor on the back side of his eye, so it had to be removed. They said it was un-necessary to put in a prosthetic eye and that it could actually cause more harm than good, because since the area would still be open (but not functioning in the way that it would with a real eye in place) it is more likely to develop an infection.

So they removed the eye and sutured the wound closed. After it healed completely, the hair just grew over that area and you couldn’t really tell there had been anything there, just looked like a part of his face. And the dog didn’t seem to mind at all.

The surgery was about double what you have listed above.

My old girl is going in tomorrow for her dental surgery. Send positive energy her way if you are so inclined. I figure if I lose her in the anesthesia, at least she will go peacefully.

So @gondwanalon – what did you decide and how is your cat doing?

Thank you all for your great answers.

The eye surgery on my cat is tomorrow (8–13-12). The vet wants to remove the eye ASAP as my 18 year old cat is suffering and eating less and getting weaker. So I’ve decided to let the vet do want he thinks is best and that is to simply extract the eye and stitch the eyelids closed. The advanced age of my cat is the major factor in my decision. I hope that this will buy my cat at least a couple more years of life.

I have a couple of questions for the vet: Will the eye lids be completely closed? How will that effect the tear ducts? Also is the vet going to remove my cat’s “third eyelid” (which is very large, red and inflamed) along with the eye?

Hope your cat fares well!

@gondwanalon and @rooeytoo Please send kisses and love from me to both of your furry babies. And a big hug to both of you.

My little brown dog made it through her surgery and is feeling perky again!

How is your cat?

@rooeytoo I’m so glad!!! Dog kisses and rump scratches all around : )

@Kardamom she loves those rump scratches!!! I will switch my avatar to a pic of her for a bit!

@rooeytoo My cat (Rocky) made it through eye extraction surgery OK today (8–14-12). The surgery was scheduled for yesterday but the doctor ran out of time with emergency treatments on other animals. The vet told my wife that Rocky’s eye had a cancerous tumor and offered to do a biopsy of the tumor. I don’t think that it makes any difference because what ever the the biopsy indicates, I’m not putting Rocky on any chemo or radiation therapy. It must be a slow growing cancer because Rocky’s eye problems started 3 years ago. From now on I’m going to pamper Rocky and make the most of every day.

@gondwanalon – that is such good news that he made it through the surgery. And I completely agree with your decision on the biopsy and chemo. I don’t need names or a diagnosis, I will keep them as long as they are happy and hungry and when they aren’t I will hold their paw while they are put down. My little old girl is recuperating well although she still has some residual swelling. I think she is losing weight despite the fact that she has a good appetite. At almost 14 though I know it could be anything or nothing. And maybe now that her teeth are all taken care of, her weight will pick up again.

Thanks for the update!

@gondwanalon I’m so glad to hear about Rocky! Please give him lots of tummy kisses from me : )

If anyone is still following, then see this picture of my cat Rocky taken today (8–16-12) one day after his eye extraction surgery. He is weak but doing OK. He is eating small amounts (food and catnip), drinking, peeing and purring. He hasn’t pooped yet but that showed happen soon as he is taking 100mg of Amoxicillin per day.

That’s a hell of an incision! But we should take lessons in acceptance from animals. He is not sitting there worrying about how this is going to affect his life, he is just resting until his energy is back and then he will get on with his life with one eye.

Good on ya Rocky, you teach us how to live!

Oh my goodness, is he a Himalayan? My kitty is a Himalayan! Or is he a Siamese? Either way, he’s beautiful!!! My friend’s doggy didn’t go poo-poo for about 4 days either. Hopefully he’ll make a full recovery, as best as he can.

My friend wouldn’t let me see his dog for 3 months after the surgery. Most of that time he spent crying. So I didn’t see the Boston terrier dog until his eye had all healed up and just looked like there had never been an eye there at all. It just looked like a furry place on his face. Hopefully that will be the same with Rocky. Kiss, kiss, kiss : )

@Kardamom and @rooeytoo Thanks for the well wishes. The veterinarian call Rocky a Seal Point Siamese. The vet opened up half of Rocky’s face and removed everything eye related and then some. I’m hoping that the hair on his face will grow back and cover the scar but that is a minor issue at this point. Already Rocky is doing better than just before the surgery. He is more active, ate more this morning and has pooped. He is a surviver.

That’s what I love about animals and what I try to learn. Don’t sit around and lament your fate, just get up and live happy the way it is!

OMG that is one major incision, the poor thing.

@jca Rocky is doing far better now than just before his eye removal. I’m pretty sure that Rocky would not have lived another two weeks if the bad eye was not removed. This the third day after surgery and Rocky is doing great. This is the second time that the veterinarian has saved Rocky’s life (the first time was for extraction of an abscessed tooth). I think that it is worth the $954 for the eye removal. It is such a delight to see Rocky acting well again.

Yay! For Rocky! He probably feels so much better. More kisses from Kardamom : )