Posted by:
animash
at Mon Oct 29 00:44:05 2012 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by animash ]
I have a 4 year old leopard who pretty much refuses to open her right eye. When I first noticed the issue, I flushed the eye with saline solution an cleaned it with a Q-tip. There seems to be a little crust along the edge, similar to the sleep in your eye when you wake up. There is no swelling, and no discharge to speak of. Despite cleaning and watching, the issue continues (this has been going on for months). Visiting the vet yeilded no more than a prescription for what was essentially a tiny tube of Rx Neosporin. The Dr. really couldn't get a good look in the eye and assumed applying the ointment should clear up any infection or aid the healing of a scratch. Continued application didn't change anything --the eye is still shut.
Last time I really restrained the gecko and got the eye open with a wet Q-tip, it seemed cloudy and dull. I rinsed it with saline and also applied a few drops of black tea, as I read other gecko owners have used it to clear up eye issues. Still, she keeps that eye shut. It never seems to get worse, but definitely doesn't get better. I'm thinking maybe that eye has just gone blind for some reason.
My big concern is that she has taken to wandering around with both eyes shut and bumps into things. Her left eye appears to be fine, and she will open it wide at feeding time. I'm wondering if maybe she keeps it closed when inactive simply because having only one healthy eye is like if you or I were to walk around with an eye patch on and have no depth perception (?) I offer her insects on tweezers to make sure she gets food, but am concerned about her over all comfort and quality of life.
Any ideas what could have caused the right eye to go bad? Is this condition still treatable, or should I consider that eye blind for good? Any thoughts on treatments I haven't tried or what I can do to make her life easier? I'm sure someone will say to take her back to the vet, but based on the lackluster results from last time I'm hesitant to return. If all I'm going to get out of him is neosporin, I've got that at home... Thoughts?
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