Eye trouble

[DrCarrotTail]

I feel like a terrible gecko owner that this happened in the first place but I'm kind of worried and would really appreciate a second (or third or tenth!) opinion.

The short story – my seven-year-old gecko Studly had a pretty bad eye infection a couple months ago. We went to the vet, who put him on injectable antibiotics for a month and some eye drops and gel for two months. At first the vet thought Studly’s eye had completely turned to puss and was a lost cause but said he was optimistic as he had seen worse recover fully and he was otherwise healthy. After about six weeks of treatment I almost cried when the crust over his eye fell off one night!! I’m pretty sure it was a nasty eye cap or some sort of debris that got into his eye and turned into a nasty infection before I caught it ☹

We went back to the vet for three rechecks. I was pretty worried since his eye has a pretty big purple swelling next to it. At our last recheck (July 26th) The vet felt it was a deformity that was probably cause by some latent debris that was hanging out next to his eye and thought it would be harmless but probably stick with him for a while if not the rest of his life. He recommend I gently put some pressure on it with a damp Q-tip every other day or so and try to clean it out – just to be clear - he showed me how and I was a vet-tech for an clinic that handled exotics for five years so I should be able to handle it without hurting him ☺

Pictures below are of the crusty nastiness, the day the “cap” popped off, last week and his eye and his studly whole self…haha…taken earlier today. It looks like it may be worse today than last week? I may just take him back for yet another vet visit this week if it keeps making me nervous. I was wondering if anyone else might have any insight or advice?

Thanks a ton in advance!

7/22/12

7/24/12 - I almost cried when I actually saw his eye!

8/6/12 - Looking a heck of a lot better!

Today - worse?

The whole Studly Package

 

[sausage]

aww poor guy.
it is sad that the infection wasn't cough sooner but they can some times creep up fast. don't feel bad, you've been doing the right thing by taking him to the vets for treatment. sadly that's more then some people would do. your doing your best
it to me dose look like the swelling in the corner is increasing in size, I would take him back for a check up.
it could be a growth or the infection/cap/debris could have caused a blockage in a pore or tear duct around the eye, that would cause swelling.
see another vet if you want another opinion.
has he lost the sight in that eye now?

 

[Crewdog00]

Reptile eye drops

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Believe it or not when I first brought Studly to the vet on June 12th his eye looked a bit better than it did when I took that first picture. Initially, the crusty thing was over his eye but it wasn’t quite as big and he could still close his eyelid, which is part of why I didn’t catch it soon enough. I started to notice he was keeping his one eye shut an unusual amount of time but didn't think too much of it at first. After a couple days of not seeing it open I started to worry and pried it open to see if there was something going on.

I took that first picture because I was sad that it was looking so much worse and not better after 6 weeks of treatment. I called the vet first thing on Monday morning and set an appointment for that Thursday. I was planning to ask about the possibility of having his eye removed when I saw the vet since it was really stretching his eyelid and looked so icky that I couldn’t imagine it didn’t hurt ☹ I was totally blown away the next day when I got up to put his drops in his eyes and crustiness had popped off and a real eye still existed underneath!

I’m pretty sure he has lost sight in that eye – but it looked really promising for a while. The vet felt that the infection had totally gone away the last time he saw him and his eye did get a bit better even after that visit so I’m still optimistic.

I totally trust this vets opinion which is why I haven’t sought out another vet. He was the reptile vet for our city’s zoo for a while. Him and his partner run a bird and exotic only clinic – no dogs or cats allowed – which is extremely rare!

I started daily soaks and eye cleanings along with putting the drops and gel in his eye 2x a day over the weekend. Surprisingly the swelling doesn’t seem to bother him or hurt when I touch it. He seems to rather I mess with his eye than touch him anywhere else…haha. If it doesn’t look any better by next Monday he’s definitely going back to the vet for another visit. I’m just not sure what else can be done.

 

[sausage]

Well its good it dosnt seem to bother him. dose look look like its growing in the pictures though it very strange.
your doing every thing you can and he looks healthy and happy enough doing a good job

 

[DrCarrotTail]

After staring at this poor boy far too much today - I think that lightbox and the angle I used for yesterday's picture made it look way worse than it does from a similar angel as the others. It still doesn't look better but I took another picture today and it doesn't seem nearly as bad. He even seems to have a bit more of a pleased smirk in this picture and I'm thoroughly amazed at how much his color is improving!

 

[Ozy]

Aww! Hope Studly gets better soon! Looks like a blocked tear duct to me. I wouldn't be surprised if some crustys got in there and clogged it up. LOVE the smirk!!!

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Update on Studly - clear pus or goo or whatever it was poured out of his eye for a few weeks. I cleaned it out nightly so it didn't crust over and pushed the excess out of the swelling. About a week ago something bright orange was visible just under the swelling. I couldn't get it out and was scared to try in case it was part of his anatomy. Two days later - the swelling is almost gone! No idea what it was or what I did that finally helped but I think his eye, even though opaque and probably shot as far as sight is concerned, looks almost back to normal. I'm so relieved!!

His color has also come back in leaps and bounds.

 

[Jordycakes]

Looking much better very happy for you and him !

 

[Ozy]

Awww YAY! Glad Studly is on the mend! Fingers crossed he stays on the mend!!

 

[sausage]

looks great congrats to you both.
my male is having eye problems at the moment, it just looks like hes crying all the time. clear tears just seem to come out constantly. they some times make his eye stick shut.
hes had two lots of antibiotics, and i bath it every day and its still no better.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Sausage - that sounds exactly like what mine was going through. I'm writing more detail in hopes it might help you?

The first time I took Studly to the vet he definitely had an eye infection. When the vet peeled the cap off his eye there was yellowish pus underneath. After a month of shots and drops and ointment I was back at the vet in July he said he felt the infection was totally cleared up and the swelling was just a deformity resulting from the infection that Studly would have for the rest of his life. He suggested keeping him on the drops for another two weeks and I did.

Two weeks later there was negligible change better or worse so I assumed the vet was right and took him off all medication. His eye continued to ooze clear goo and if I didn't clean it out every night it would be stuck shut the next day. After a week of cleaning it out I was getting desperate and put him back on the teramycin gel since that seemed to keep the ooze from crusting up and started more actively putting pressure on the swelling (the vet had suggested this but I was a wimp and scared to do too much at first). I also sprayed some saline into his eye twice a week to see if it would help wash anything out.

Ultimately I think there had to be some debris stuck in his eye that got out or maybe his tear duct was clogged as Ozy suggested. Whatever it was I'm glad its over and am praying like hell that it doesn't come back. I hope your guy improves soon too. Best of luck!!!

 

[sausage]

thanks. hes had eye drops to but they seemed to make it worse so the vet stopped them. he dosnt have any thing in his eye from wht the vet can see and theres no cap, its just so strange. ill just keep washing it out and hope it gets better.
the only thing the vet could think of was that could be a swelling inside his head pushing on the eye, making it water. but he looks fine and eats ect.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

Final Studly Update!

I haven't put any medicine or messed with Studly's eye in any way for almost 6 weeks now. It looks about as good as its going to get. Its a bit cloudier than his good eye but the pupil dilates so I'm hopeful he can see a bit. On the whole its much better than expected since when he first went to the vet there was so much puss that the vet thought his eye may have been eaten away by infection. I'm ecstatic that he won't need the daily treatment I was giving him for over three months for the rest of his life - I'm pretty sure he wasn't a fan of being poked and prodded constantly...haha

Pictures below are: good eye, bad eye, and whole studly gecko

 

[chastity]

awh. he looks so much better and very handsome to boot! i've never seen anything like this so i'm glad you showed us all.

 

[SC Geckos]

Wow! I thought that eye was done for sure. That is awesome to see his recovery. Hes lucky to have a caring owner like yourself.