My 18-month old Basset Hound woke up last week with a red lump above her lower eyelid and the vet diagnosed it as "cherry eye" :o( 

Over many years we have had ten Basset Hounds (always two or three at a time) including six oldish rescues and most have lived to 14 or 15 except a 10-year old who sadly had cancer that an operation and other treatment didn't cure.  We have also cared for ex-breeding bitches and none of our Bassets have had anything like cherry-eye and a friend said she heard it is hereditary... so does anyone on this forum know if it is hereditary?

My dog has had steroid drops applied to her affected eye four times a day for a week and it's just the same so I have to take her back to the vet this afternoon, so I am wondering what will happen and how much is it likely to cost if she has to be operated on?  Poor dog, it seems to bother me more than it bothers her but I always get upset when I have to take my dogs to the vet.

Has anyone on here's dog had cherry-eye and if so, what was the outcome please?

I believe it is hereditary.  My friends cocker had it, he was operated on and had to have drops after the op but it cleared up well and didnt come back.  I dont know how much it cost im afraid.

It can be heriditary - The operation is fairly cheap. I've only ever had it done once but it was about £30 (although that was with local anaesthetic rather than general). A friend of mine had the op with general and it was £90.

Although as stated below, you may need to ue drops afterwards which I think can be for life.

I doubt my vets will charge the last poster's amount because the last op one of my older dogs was £80 just for the anaesthetic and the operation (it was spleen removal) cost almost £400 with tablets/aftercare so I'm expecting a hefty bill because the other day when I had a quick visit and eye drops, it cost £46 and I was only in there for a few minutes!!!!

It's not a complicated operation so I wouldn't have thought they will charge you a fortune. They just either numb or put to sleep and snip it off.

I don't think they snip it off because the gland provides 30% of tears to clean/moisten dogs' eyes so I believe they 'tuck' it back in and stitch it to the lower lid or tuck it in and stitch a 'pleat' to tighten up the lower lid from where it popped up behind (or something like that).  I have an appointment this afternoon so will let you know what happens... poor thing... I hate anything to be wrong with my dogs and often come out of the vets 'teary'! :o((

I doubt my vets will charge the last poster's amount because the last op one of my older dogs was £80 just for the anaesthetic and the operation (it was spleen removal) cost almost £400 with tablets/aftercare

My vet is generally cheaper than most and yet ten days ago we paid a total of £636 for the spleen (with tumours) to be removed from a dog -the GA alone was £150.

Marianne, my dog's spleen op was in 2203 so I expect if the same op was done now it would be a lot more!  You have to wonder why there is such a variation in vets' prices from one part of the country to the next!  Some time ago one of my dogs had a couple of teeth out and a scale and polish for £160 yet a friend in another part of the country had the same stuff done for less than half my cost!!!!  WHY is this I wonder?  I know that some vets run around in nice Jags whereas others are happy with an ordinary estate car! ;o)

As my dog's eye hasn't changed and the gland is still protruding above the lower lid, I have been advised that we can have the op to get it tucked in and stitched down (or it can be left alone) as seemingly it's more 'cosmetic' than serious but infections could get into the eye if it's left as it is, so it's probably better that we get booked in to get it done, but no immediate urgency so probably in the next week or two. 

I didn't like to ask how much it would cost so let's hope it's not going to shock me too much.  It's more important that my dog is OK rather than how much it costs!

the gland provides 30% of tears to clean/moisten dogs' eyes

This is why you sometimes need eye drops for the rest of the dog's life, they can stitch it back in as you describe but it can pop out again or they can snip it off as I described!

LucyMissy, can it still pop out after it's been stitched back in then? 
Eye operations always seem 'scary' as eyes are so delicate, which is why I'm too scared to get my eyes lasered!

Yes it can still pop out - I do think that snipping it off is normally a last resort but I had that done to mine. Like I said, I only have experience of having it done once but it is very common in my breed so have heard many people talk about it.

Don't even go there about eye lasering - I'm terrified of it too!! Glasses all the way!!

Hi, Cherry eye isnt all that common in bassets, although I have known of a couple who have had it. We are lucky enough to have an opthalmic specialist at our surgery and I did ask him once if Cherry eye was hereditary and he said that it wasnt, although certain breeds such as cockers and great danes seemed prone to it, but there is no real evidence to say either way. It just seems to be more common in dogs with looser eyes such as bassets. one our pups from a previous litter had this condition. it developed when she was about 8 months old. The old fashioned op was just to remove it but this is most definitly 'Not' the best course of action to take in a young dog as like the above mentioned post says, it removes lubrication from the eye and your pup will over time develop 'dry eye' which will mean that it will need eye drops for the rest of its life, if they dont have drops then the eye will become ulcerated and will eventually go blind. The stitch op is ok, but I have heard of mixed reports, it doesnt always work and you end up having to have the op done again. The best and newest op for this condition is the 'pocket op' but generally you need a vet who is an eye specialist as its quite a complicated operation. The vet pops the gland back then sows a small poket of skin over it so unlike the stitches which dont always hold it in, the poket grows over the protruding gland and holds it in place permanently. The pup  we bred had this op and she made a full recovery and it hasnt reccured since, she is almost 2 now. I would suggest you mention this op to your vet as the prefered course of action, although it is quite a specialist op it didnt cost that much, I think her owners said it was about £150?

Thanks everyone.  We're booked in for the op next Wednesday and the vet's assistant said it costs round about £200 but I just hope it all goes well as it always upsets me if any of my dogs need any treatment or operations and the eyes are very delicate aren't they? :o(

Hope it all goes well, keep us posted.

The operation went well last week and her eye was quite red for a couple of days and she's had drops in them and the redness has lessened now.  It was more expensive than I had envisaged at £240 with the various add-ons of drugs, anaesthetic, injections, drops, VAT... but as long as it doesn't return, because there's no guarantee that it won't!

Glad the op went well, if you asked your vet to do the 'pocket op' that I mentioned in my previous post the it wont.

> It was more expensive than I had envisaged at £240 with the various add-ons of drugs, anaesthetic, injections, drops, VAT

That is very reasonable considering I only had two little lumps removed from my 12 year old, one on  her eyelid and one on the ear flap and in total it cost nearly £400 with the AB's she had before the op to see if that would cure the problem.

Basixally as soon as a GA is needed you can say goodby to £250 here, and then the extras.

What does cherry eye look like?

> What does cherry eye look like?

Here it is.