Eye problem with my hydronastes...

MegF · 10-11-09, 01:03 PM

My hydro Oceana has a bilateral eye infection that has the vet puzzled. I thought she was in shed as they tend to go completely white eyed when they do. She didn't clear up when the male did. The male shed and she continued to be white eyed. Curious, but not completely odd. I fed her a young ASFR that I had and she ate it (thought it was a small snack). She shed two days later. I just peeked thru the plastic tub sides and saw she had shed. Couldn't make out the eyes, but wasn't really looking. I opened the tub to clean the shed out Friday evening after work and saw that her eyes were still white. What the hell???? Looking at them you can see debris under the lens. I checked the shed and the eyecaps were shed. I took her to my vet yesterday...he's never seen a hydro before, but eyes are eyes. I brought my medical book marked to the occular problems section, he pulled out his. He viewed the eyes thru his scope that magnifies everything and it looks like curdled milk under there. Looks like abscess but it's odd that it's bilateral. Usually the abscesses are secondary to another infection (according to the medical book when it comes to eyes) but she shows no other signs of problems. I took her home and fed her a rat and she scarfed it right down. I'm currently using an occular antibiotic ointment and I'm waiting for an antibiotic/steroid drop to be ordered. The vet is going to consult some reptile specialists he's friends with (zoo vets) and I'm going to call him tomorrow to see what he finds. He took pictures of the eyes as well. If anyone has seen anything like this I'd appreciate it if you could pass the info on. I can let my vet know. If it is an abscess the book calls for a small incision and flushing of the eye under the lens with antibiotics and saline solution. We're leery of cutting anything around the eye until he's spoken with someone who's done it. Losing her eyesight wouldn't be the end of the world, but I'd hate to lose her. She's a one of a kind and almost impossible to replace as well as being a real sweet girl. She's one of my favorites and was a great girl for the vet.
this one is a little blurry:

Will0W783 · 10-11-09, 01:14 PM

Poor girl. I really don't know- it does look like debris and pus under there. I'll keep you and Oceana in my prayers. Best of luck.

BP_okay · 10-11-09, 02:28 PM

Me too, Poor girl..

MegF · 10-11-09, 03:47 PM

We're certain it is pus of some kind, I just can't figure out what the cause would be especially since she's acting normal otherwise. I just hope the drops work...or someone comes up with a diagnosis of something we can treat.

siz · 10-12-09, 07:18 PM

Bizarre. It's strange to me that both eyes are affected. Sorry I can't help, hope you can fix her up soon.

MegF · 10-13-09, 03:28 AM

We're doing surgery on Thursday to open the lens up and flush the eyes out. We're hoping that the debris is actually between the lens and the cornea. If that's the case, we should be able to treat it with antibiotics and drops and save her sight as well. We're also taking blood to test to see if she has infection elsewhere.

Will0W783 · 10-13-09, 10:53 AM

Wow, I'll keep her and you in my prayers Meg. I hope it all works out ok.