Carter has Entropian

[summer_rose03]

Well, Carter went to the vet today for more eye problems, which turns out to be Entropian. The vet didn't catch it before because of the other stuff going on with his eyes (which probably caused everything).

Right now he is on an eye ointment 3x a day to help with the irritation. They said the surgery to fix it would be close to $600, which I can't afford. It's not that bad, but I think it is why he rubs his face all over everything.

My question is, those of you with Chows with this condition, how do you manage it? What do you do to keep them more comfortable? The vet said to keep it wiped around the eye and to watch for signs of it getting worse. Any tips would be helpful! I would love to be able to get him the surgery, but money is a bit tight. Until I can, I just want to keep irritation to a minimum for him.

[CoraP.]

I'm sorry to hear this. I haven't had experience with entropion, but I know lots of others on here have! Hopefully more will be able to give you some tips. Maybe those who would like could help out with donations. It has been done before! Let us know!

[jacqui]

Jonathan is right about the eye onitment.keep using it untill you can afford the surgery.
are there any vets near you that you could apply for Care Credit? I think its interest free for 6 months to a year.
keep looking around because entropian can cause perment eye damage,plus its got to be really uncomfortable for him.
best of luck and keep us posted.

[Laura]

First off I am sorry to hear this. Secondly shop around for different prices. Definitely use the ointment as prescribed but entropian leads to damage to the eye and/or blindness so I would ask the vet how long you have...how bad it is and how long before it starts causing permanent damage. It is also very umcomfortable for him.

[summer_rose03]

Thanks for all your input so far. It doesn't seem to bother him a whole lot. After he healed up a few weeks ago, he was fine until yesterday. We will keep up on the ointment. Hopefully he will get better for the application, right now he is quite difficult. I know where I can get it for 1/2 of what the vet charges, so if we are going to need it a lot, I will probably stock up.

As far as donations, that would be wonderful but I know how things are right now and I would hate to receive money from anyone for this. My vet is wonderful, so when needed they maybe able to let me make payments on the surgery. I would rather spend the extra $100 to take him to my vet. They are a little pricey compared to most, but they know ALL my pets individually and have treated most since we first brought them home.

[luvachow]

Hello There!
Definitly keep him comfy,and yes, check around! When I was looking I got prices ranging from $1300.00 per eye all the way down to $150.00 per eye!
Good Luck!

[summer_rose03]

Would a lubricating/protective eye ointment help once we get passed this last irritation? I can get lubricating ointment for 1/4 the price of the current ointment we are using. It says it protects the eye and reduces irritation. It's like $5 bucks a small tube, instead of $18. I will also talk to the vet of course, but I was wondering what you guys thought. I have heard of this condition before, but this is my first time dealing with it.

[Desi]

Call every vet in the state if you have to!Mine did Cheyennes eyes for 75 per eye,there must be more vets like him!

[sdasilva27]

Hi there! I just went through this with McKenzie (you can even see a pic of what she looked like the day of surgery after I got her home in the pics forum - title is "McKenzie finally has fur" - the pics show her before I got her, the first weekend I got her, her surgery, and now). Anyway, she came home from the shelter and her eyes were runny so I wiped them a lot and had my vet check them. All he could see was some irritation but to be safe, he gave me some doxycycline (antibiotic) and eyedrops (they're the same as the human ones for pink eye, but I can't for the life of me remember the name). We did that for a couple weeks and nothing improved so I brought her back after noticing that she had an eyelash or two that looked like they were stuck in her eye. He didn't see them and I was like I swear I'm not making it up. The vet tech was at a different angle than him and she was like ahhh I see it. So they switched spots and the vet finally saw it. It was very very minor entropian but I was not going to take a chance on her eye. I scheduled the surgery asap but the vet told me in the meantime to wipe her eyes with saline solution using a new gauze pad for each wipe. He also gave me the eye ointment, I can check the name of it when I get home, it's also used for humans the same way. After her surgery, I had to keep cleaning them the same until everything was healed. Her eyes still run once and awhile but nothing like before. I paid $568 for complete entropian on the right eye and laser entropian on the left (he actually surgically removed skin on the right and only lasered the skin on the left), including the cost of the pain meds, e-collar, and all pre-work (blood work, anesthesia, sedation, etc).

McKenzie absolutely hated anything near her eyes too. It took my fiance and I to get the stuff in her eyes and it took us a good half hour just to put one drop in each eye. Then all of a sudden one day, she got this relieved look on her face after I finally got them in. I let her sniff the bottle and tube (with the caps on). Every day after that, I walked up to her and let her sniff the bottles/tube. She sat and let me apply it very quickly. I think she was just nervous because she had never seen anything like that before or thought it would hurt or something since the only medical care the shelter thinks she had ever gotten was when they spayed her.

Ask your vet for a payment plan or ask if he can match someone else's price or something. Mine normally charges $750 for what he did but because he knew I had literally just picked her up from the shelter and they didn't tell me about it, he took about $200 off the price of the surgery.

[summer_rose03]

Ok, so Carter's surgery is set for February 3rd. My vet said they would do both eyes for $300-$350. Through them, it is normally a $500 surgery. I am one of their best customers (with 10 cats, 2 dogs, and Frisco before them). They have seen all my pets, except 1, at some point or another. Not to mention I refer business to them all the time, so in return they cut me deals sometimes (I never ask, nor expect it, they just do it for me).

Between tax returns and money coming from my fiance getting someone to enlist in the Guard, we are covered. This is a relief, as I was worried where the money was going to come from. We are trying to move and I have some bills to pay down, plus he is in school FT and working PT (Army is covering a lot of the school bills).

My question now is.... what can I expect after the surgery? The vet said there would be some swelling for a few weeks and it would look a little funny. Plus it will be weird seeing the stitches in there. Has anyone ran into any problems afterwards? What is the care of the incisions like? I have never dealt with entropian before, so this is all new to me.

[Layla]

Millie's eyes were a little swollen after the surgery, but in general she looked better than before! I had the laser surgery done so I had no aftercare for the stitches, just keeping the area clean & dry. Millie had her cone for a few days but was good to go pretty quickly. No post op issues at all here.

Here she is

[summer_rose03]

How long after her surgery is that pic from? I'm getting more and more nervous/anxious as his surgery date approaches. It is only a few days away now. I feel bad making him go under again so soon, but I trust my vet and know they use the best anesthetic possible (human grade). I'm just worried about the after.

Oh, and I guess one of the girls at my vet's office is doing a report on his surgery for her vet tech classes. She said she will be taking lots of before/during/and after pics, which she said she will show me. I'm not sure if I want to see the during tho lol. They are also doing a model with ping pong balls and fruit roll-ups or something. I don't mind at all. I'm kind of taking it as a compliment (she has worked there since I started taking my pets there). My beautiful chow chow is going to be shown to a class full of vet tech students (although not in his condition).

[Dogdad]

i am so glad thing have worked out. Entropian is so serious and can cause blindness
David

[summer_rose03]

Haha, cone. We bought him a blow-up collar after his neuter, he had it shredded in a day. He won't be by himself for more then a few minutes the first few days. After that, we'll have to see how he does.

I'm glad he's getting the permanent fix with the surgery. If you guys saw my other thread, turns out he came from a high kill shelter. First sign of balding around the eyes and they would have probably put him down. As much of a pain he can be, I don't regret adopting him and he's been worth every penny! Several of my cats are what I call "expensive", meaning they have had misc health issues that have cost a lot of time and money, but they are always worth it. I always think how lucky they are that I adopted them, because I don't know how many other people would have dealt with it. First sign of a problem, and they are off to the vet. With 10 cats and 2 dogs, that takes me to the vet quite often! Sometimes once a week or more!

[Layla]

[quote="summer_rose03"]How long after her surgery is that pic from? I'm getting more and more nervous/anxious as his surgery date approaches. [quote]

I'm pretty sure that was the day after surgery. She had laser surgery & looked great almost as soon as she came home. I know how nervous waiting can be though, let us know Carter does well please.

[summer_rose03]

Thanks! I work that day I'll only be at the other end of the store. (I work at PetSmart and my vet is the one in the store.). I will be able to see him almost as soon as he's done. They let me go in the back and stuff, I have special privileges lol.

And DogDad, I'm sorry I didn't mention it earlier, but thank you so much for your concern and interest in your sad time. I'm thankful for every day I had with Frisco and now with Carter, as well as my other pets. There's just something about a Chow that captures your heart forever.

[summer_rose03]

Carter's surgery went well today. I got to go back and see him a little while after he was done. He was laying in the kennel with the e-collar on. He was whining a bit and thumped his tail when I was talking to him. Right now he is sleeping stretched out on his bed. It took awhile to finally get him to lay down and take a nap. He hasn't been interested in water at all, just food.

His eyes look pretty good. The stitches are black and are hardly noticeable with the black skin/hair he has there. It's not as bad as I expected. There isn't much swelling, at least not yet. I took the e-collar off for awhile. My house is small and not very manuverable with something like that on. I am keeping a close eye on him to make sure he leaves them alone, he has only attempted maybe 3x and then gave up. I bought socks and vet wrap to cover his feet so his nails can't do as much damage. I keep his nails short and dremeled, so they aren't that bad.

Thank you all for your concern and support! My vet has done a wonderful job with the surgery and I can't wait until the stitches come out and all the hair grows back! It will be so nice to see my baby finally at his best. Not to mention, he will be relieved that he doesn't need the ointment anymore!

Here is a picture I took of him on the way home with my cell phone in the car wearing his e-collar.

[CoraP.]

I'm so glad Carter is doing well. It won't be long and he'll be good as new! And no more eye ointment!!

[fillyok]

Glad to hear Carter is home and resting. I took the collar off of Bear as much as possible too. It was just him and I at the time and it was easier to keep an eye on him then. Get well Carter and we can't wait to see your new beautiful eyes!!