Need help ASAP! Leopard Gecko eye infection worsening?

[RelianceOnScience]

I am new here, so if I didn't post to the right area, I apologize. I just joined so I could get some immediate help about this!

I have a 5 year old Leo named Matisse. The past few weeks, he's been to a vet twice now for what I thought was a recent shedding issue on his eye -- it was cloudy and he did not seem to want to open it much. About $120 later, I am not seeing any improvement from the eye ointment the vet gave me (Neomycin and Poly B). Now the eye is very cloudy and a bump is beginning to form on the eye itself, NOT underneath of the eye. Not to mention, the vet does not seem to be that educated in reptiles even though he claims he knows about them. My last visit with him, he said: "I'm not really sure what's going on. He should be able to adapt to any damage though.", and that was it. I am beyond irritated and am desperate for any opinions and advice! Since Matisse cannot see well, he is starting to not eat much. When he does try to eat, he can't even keep the food in his mouth (mealworms). He keeps dropping it even though he actively goes after it several times before giving up. He does not have mouth rot., I checked. The problem is strictly in his right eye. The top of his tail is also starting to look a little skinny so I am afraid he is going to start losing a lot of weight. He is in a 15 gallon tank with Repti carpet. Temp on warm side is 85 and the humidity is around 60%. Again, any suggestions and information is appreciated!!

 

[sausage]

I dont have any experience with those eye ointments im afraid. how long have you been using them with no effect?

I would recommend seeking out another vet.
To me it looks like the start of an eye cap, which is where skin builds up on the eyeball, the was a thread on here recently with a similar problem.
you could try washing the eye out every day with sterilized warm water. boil it and let it cool right down then use a small syringe to squirt the water over the eye. you can also use a wet cotton bud to see if you can gently roll any loose skin out, but you have to be very careful as you don't want to damage the eye.
with the other thread the build up much worse and solid, the eye washes gradually softened the skin and washed it out over a few weeks.
an ointment i have used before is lacri lube, you should be able to buy it over the counter, it softens any skin in the eye allowing it to be washed out over time.
you could make up a slurry mix to syringe feed him while he is off his food, that should stop him loosing lots of weight.

as said before though i would defo seek out another vet. its important that you get it properly sorted out.

 

[RelianceOnScience]

Thanks for your post. It has only been about two weeks since I started the ointment. I was just able to pull out that white pus-like gunk that you can see in his eye, which I'm sure has to help a little, as well as some cream colored goop from the underneath of his upper eyelid. I am hoping this isn't any permanent damage :main_huh: I've also heard people use turtle eye drops. I'm thinking of maybe giving that a try also.

 

[sausage]

i would keep away from the turtle eye drops as they are made for a specific species. it may make things worse. if any thing try washing with plain water as i suggested.
now you have the gunk out the eye stuff from the vets may help more now and prevent an infection occurring. hopefully you have caught it in time and there wont be any permanent damage.
hope it gets better.

 

[DrCarrotTail]

I had a male with a bad shedding issue a couple of years back. He's much recovered now but still has a bit of an issue shedding. He gets white gunk in his eyes much like your guy has and I think it's just shed skin that hasn't come off. Not pus or any infection. I don't know if your gecko has the same thing going on but it looks similar.

These guys heal really slowly. It took my boy about 4 months before I saw much improvement in his condition and 6-8 months to recover. I would soak your guy nightly and gently massage the outside of his eye (definitely don't touch his eyeball directly!) with your fingers to try to move the shed while keeping up with the drops the vet prescribed. If that doesn't help in a week or two I might look for a qualified reptile vet on a site like arav.com and try to see someone who knows more about reptiles. If his eye starts to swell or he loses much more weight I would get in to see a qualified vet sooner.

Good luck with him! Let us know how he does.