Eddie steady after ‘kebabing’ his own eye

A Rottweiler named Eddie has had the sight in his right eye saved after being referred to Veterinary Vision in Penrith as an emergency case with a 3cm thorn protruding from his cornea.

Chris Dixon, an RCVS advanced practitioner in veterinary ophthalmology, found the thorn had penetrated the internal parts of the eye and embedded itself into the iris and lens.

Prosthetic lens

Eddie was placed under general anaesthetic for emergency surgery and Mr Dixon first removed the thorn, before washing away the debris from the wound and performing a corneal graft.

He then removed the damaged lens and replaced it with a prosthetic one, similar to those used in cataract surgery on humans, before finally performing laser surgery on Eddie’s retina.

‘Severe injury’

Mr Dixon said: “It was a little bit of a ‘wow’ moment when Eddie arrived, as he had a large stick hanging out of his eye.

“It was a very severe injury. The stick had gone through the cornea and the iris, and was lodged inside the lens.”

‘Kebabed’

Mr Dixon described how the thorn had passed through all parts of the eye and out of the back of the lens, requiring each damaged part to be fixed in turn.

“When we took the thorn out, it was like taking the cork out of a champagne bottle,” he added.

“It was like Eddie had ‘kebabed’ his own eye. Eddie is now running around happily and hasn’t required any additional treatment. It goes to show life can carry on as normal for dogs after surgery like this.”