What happened to his eye?!

[AnnaMonroe]

This wasn't here yesterday, and I have no clue what this is.
It's in his left eye but his right eye is perfectly fine.
Anyone have any experience with something of this sort?
He doesn't act like it bothers him at all but yet again they're pretty hardy.
He's running around and exploring as if nothing is there.
When he saw I was checking out his eye while I held him, he sat still.
Sorry for the quality, my camera is not so good at close-up shots.
Ugh, I'm really upset! I want to know what this is and how it got there. :/

[Rani-May]

oh no im not sure what the others would think but anything thats not normal i take straight to the vet

[Fatal_S]

You're the third person to have this happen that I can recall. Me and Skids being one and then Scooter_in_Kindergarten with Scooter the other. With Skids it seems to have been related to a major mouth-rot infecton that caused swelling - it's better after medications but not completely normal. Scooter's issue was a prolapsed inner eyelid I think, and he had surgery and his eye is pretty normal now but maybe needs eye drops regularly? I'm trying to find the relevant threads. Anyways, a GOOD reptile vet should be consulted.

Links for Skids:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19210

Links for Scooter:
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19350&p=385623
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=19415&p=386216

An excerpt from one of Scooters links:

An extract from a paper presented to a veterinary conference earlier this year may be of interest.

Diseases of the Lacrimal System and Third Eyelid. What Every Clinician Must Know About Diagnosis & Therapy
Ron Ofri, DVM, PhD, DECVO
Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel

Third Eyelid Disorders
Prolapse or protrusion of the third eyelid is a common presentation. Bilateral protrusion is usually caused by decreased orbital mass (e.g., dehydration or cachexia) causing enophthalmos. It may also be observed in cats with Haw's syndrome, or cases of extraocular polymyositis. Unilateral protrusion is commonly seen due to space occupying retrobulbar diseases that are pressuring the third eyelid (e.g., retrobulbar abscess or tumor). Pain, causing globe retraction, and sympathetic denervation (Horner's syndrome) will likewise cause unilateral protrusion.

The third eyelid may also be visibly prominent in cases of conjunctivitis. Though the bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva are usually also affected, clinicians should remember the presence of lymphatic follicles on the inner surface of the third eyelid. These may hypertrophy during inflammation, and may need to be debrided following its resolution.

Another common problem is "cherry eye", or prolapse of the tear gland located at the base of the third eyelid. This is probably caused by weakness in the attachments to the periorbita, and some dog breeds may be genetically predisposed. Prolapsed glands should be replaced surgically, most commonly by various pocketing techniques or anchoring to the periosteum of the ventral orbit. Excision of the gland, which makes a significant contribution to overall tear production, predisposes the dog to KCS. It should be avoided at all costs, and indeed it is contraindicated except in cases of third eyelid neoplasia or severe trauma.

Scrolling of the third eyelid is another disorder with genetic predisposition that can only be repaired surgically. And finally, clinicians presented with a painful eye should always remember the possibility of foreign bodies "hiding" behind the third eyelid.

[AnnaMonroe]

Thank you for taking out the time to post all of that, Fatal!
I'm going to call the vet in Manhattan that was recommended in the Vet Guide on the site tomorrow.
I hope the vet doesn't make things worse than it already is!
I'm dying to know how he received this issue!
I'm so upset right now, i'm almost in tears.
This wasn't here even two hours ago! All of a sudden I look and POW! It's there..

[Fatal_S]

Skids's first eye-issue happened within 10 minutes. I had him out for photos, put him away, and a few minutes later his eye looked like it was coming out. It's very sudden.

In my completely un-educated opinion, Spyro's eye looks more like Scooters - prolapsed inner eyelid/cherry eye. Maybe something (substrate?) got into the eye. I'll cross my fingers that it's an easy-treatment case Best of luck and please keep us informed.

[AnnaMonroe]

Thanks once again, Fatal. I also hope this is an easy-treatment case!

[AnnaMonroe]

Well um, I don't know what kind of magical sorcery this is, but I just woke up and when i took Spyro out, both his eyes looked exactly the same and completely perfect and healthy looking.

Could it have just been some kind of weird reaction if he rubbed his face and got poked in the eye by a piece of substrate? Just throwing ideas, because this is very strange.
I mean I couldn't be more happier and I hugged and pet him for almost half an hour, but last night almost gave me a heart attack!!

[Fatal_S]

If you read up on Skid's thread, his eye returned to normal by the next day too. I think prolapses can correct themselves if they're not too bad, but they're at higher-risk to re-occur. So it's great that it's better, but there's a chance it will happen again. I think there's 3 levels of response to a prolapse: First wait to see if it corrects itself. Second attempt to make it correct itself (vet might push it back? With prolapsed vent-issues I think people use sugar-water baths, etc). Third is surgery to correct it.

Causes can be a foreign object, an injury, dehydration, and a genetic weakness?

So maybe ask a vet what can be done to help prevent re-occurances, and what you should do if it re-occurs?

I hope people with more knowledge will chime in soon. I really don't know much about medical issues, I just regurgitate some basic info I've read/been told.

[AnnaMonroe]

Oh wow, thank you for that information! I really appreciate it, that was very helpful