Vision loss after L eye enucliation
As the title says, my girl has vision loss in her good eye after the left was removed. She was fine the 10 days after surgery (4/27)and was doing great. Friday 5/8 I took her to have sutures removed and in hindsight I think the vision loss was immediate that day.
I know there are several different reasons for vision loss after enucliation but is it merely coincidence that it was so close to suture removal? I find it so strange that for 10 days she did exceptionally well, all the way up to the appointment for suture removal.
Is it possible removing the sutures pulled a nerve and caused the vision loss? Is it possible it’s temporary?
History: Sweetie is an 8 year old chihuahua mix. Up to this point she hasn’t had many health issues. Last year in the fall her L eye was weepy, cloudy and red at the same time. She was given an ointment for the eye and it did nothing. A return visit ended with oral antibiotics and pain medication along with a recommendation for dental surgery.
The dental surgery was done November 2025. I was told she had an abscess which was pushing on the nerves of her eye causing the issues. After the dental surgery the eye seemed to be okay for a while but it was only a couple of months and she started having the same issues again and this time it seemed to be bothering her more.
The next trip to the vet he tried a steroid drop for a week which didn’t improve the eye at all. By this point her eye was very cloudy and he didn’t think she could see anyway so it made the most sense to remove the eye in hopes of preventing pain or other issues.
Now here we are barely 2 weeks post op and the good eye looks fine…but she can’t see. Immediately after the surgery she was fine. She could see and she seemed to feel much better.
It was only after the suture removal last Friday that her vision was affected. I’ve asked myself a dozen times if maybe she did have vision loss prior and I just didn’t see it. Maybe I missed it. But I really don’t think so. I believe this is somehow related to the suture removal but I’m not sure what that means or what to do next.
We’re going to the vet this afternoon. I’ve debated whether to take her to the same vet but I don’t really have any other options and I’m not certain he did anything wrong.
I teared up when I found this sub. I googled something wild and landed here.
I’m afraid her vision is permanently lost in the R eye - but I’m not sure why. I know she can and will adjust; so will I. But I feel like we just barely made it through the L eye issues and now there are immediate vision issues with the R eye.
Any help or information or advice is appreciated. I’m not sure what I’m looking for today. I’m just sad for my girl and wishing I had answers. Afraid this is somehow my fault. Maybe I should’ve gotten a second opinion, maybe if I’d taken her somewhere else in the very beginning her story would be different. I don’t know.