Hydronastes eye surgery...dial up No!

MegF · 10-15-09, 07:08 PM

Well I took Oceana in for her eye surgery this evening. We sedated her with ketamine and domosedan and they got her pretty quiet in about 10 minutes. He took the smallest scalpel and made a tiny hole at the inferior edge of the eyecap and the subocular scales. Immediately pus came out of the hole. We flushed with a saline mixed with gentomycin and then suctioned any blood that had gone into the area. I could see the cornea was clean underneath though the lenscap was fogged from the cleaning. We then did the other eye. It had large bits of pus that took a little more to get clean. We finished with an antibiotic ointment that I will use as many times a day as possible. We checked her mouth thoroughly for any sign of mouth rot, injury or respiratory infection and all was clear. We felt this was a primary infection, possibly from something getting in her nostrils. There is a small tract that runs from the external nostril to the eye. When we flushed the eye, some fluid came out the nostril. It's possible she got something from the aspen or whatever. We'll use the ointment for 7 days and I'll watch to make sure there's no other sign of infection. If there is, we'll give her a course of antibiotics but felt that it would be less stressful for her if we just watch. I'm cautiously optimistic that she'll heal up well without any vision loss. I'm going to try feeding her in a day or two. Here are the pictures from the surgery.
Cleaning the eye off in preparation:

The goo after the cut

The eye after flushing:

The other eye after flushing:

MegF · 10-15-09, 07:13 PM

Nice clean mouth. You can see the small rear fang on the snake's left upper mouth adjacent to the scratches on Dr. Jone's hand:

Dr. Jone's having a little fun at my "cobra's" expense:

Sleeping it off. Even with reversal, it takes a while due to the ketamine. She's crawling around her tub now.

Will0W783 · 10-16-09, 10:45 AM

I'm so glad it went well for her Meg. I hope she heals up quickly. She's a beautiful girl!

siz · 10-16-09, 03:22 PM

Glad to hear it went smoothly. Hope she gets better quick, and doesn't loose her eyesight!

PS thanks for posting the pictures, very interesting!

teague · 10-17-09, 09:54 PM

Thank you for those pics. I found them very interesting. Hope she gets well soon!

Smilts · 10-18-09, 12:37 AM

Cool update and pictures I hope the healing goes well...

Will0W783 · 10-18-09, 04:47 PM

How big is she? She looks to be a pretty good size, and so beautiful! Keep us updated on her recovery, please. I'll be rooting for you and her!

Good 'N Plenty · 10-20-09, 12:23 PM

New to the forums, so first off, thank you for such an informative thread! I'm glad the procedure went well, and here's hoping for a full recovery!

MegF · 10-20-09, 05:42 PM

She is 7 ft. and 2979 grams. Yes, she's decent sized. I'll let you know how she does. She isn't interested in food, but she's starting to strongly object to me putting stuff on her eyes several times per day.

Will0W783 · 10-20-09, 08:36 PM

Awww, poor dear. My BP had an eye infection due to a retained spectacle and he hated the cream too. They just don't understand that it's going to help them; they just know it isn't comfortable.

MegF · 10-30-09, 07:43 PM

She finally ate a couple of meals, but now she's off food again. I'm hoping it's due to impending shed. Her eye has some white to it, but I don't know if it's residual infection, pre-shed blue or what. I think I'm getting an ulcer!

Good 'N Plenty · 11-03-09, 11:13 AM

Sounds like she's getting enough treatment for the both of you! Keep yourself functioning at your best so you can do the same for your snakes!

MegF · 11-03-09, 06:48 PM

I'm still waiting to see what happens. So far no change. I did put more gunk on the eyes to make myself feel useful I suppose. I should offer her a meal again. At least the male has gotten over his issue with his new cage and ate...one less problem there...