AN INTERESTING CASE
Eye enucleation
Cara Hatfield
A few months ago I ended up doing a couple of enucleations on farm. Both of the animals made a great recovery, and have since been sold for fat, one making over £2000! All in all, this procedure is well worth performing in the cases that require it as. The need for enucleation can arise for several reasons as there can be many diseases that affect the eye such as silage eye or new forest eye. If these conditions are not addressed promptly, they can lead to serious health issues, poten- tially necessitating the removal of the eye, also known as enucleation.
Enucleation refers to removal of just they eye itself, however the procedure performed on farm involves the removal of everything within the eye socket including the eye, the muscle that con- trols it, adipose tissue and the tear glands.
One of the main concerns we encounter with owners when doing this procedures is how the ani- mal will cope with not being able to see. It is true that their vision will be impaired and they will probably need to be allowed a bit more time when moving and handling to navigate their sur- roundings but in our experience they cope very well, particularly when they have herd mates to follow and take confidence from.
Bovine Iritis (Silage Eye)
This is a frequent cause of uveitis, marked by a bluish - white opacity on the eye surface, commonly observed in cattle fed winter silage rations.
New Forest Eye (Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis)
Also known as IBK, this widespread disease can cause significant discomfort and often occurs in epidemics
Eye tumours, general eye infections and trauma
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