I have an 11 year old Western Hognose. He’s had a lacrimal duct blockage in his right eye. 2 weeks ago we decided to do surgery to drain it as it wasn’t reducing on its own and getting cloudy. 15 mins after they put him under, it drained on its own. The vet could only guess as to why (maybe his muscles relaxed with anesthesia?). The swelling is now back today (7/10/23) and I plan on bringing him in again and hoping anesthesia will drain it on its own. If eye surgery is required, I’m very scared though.
A bit of backstory for context. He developed a sperm plug in late early June that was flushed out easily (no surgery) but also had developed an infection in his hemipenis. He’s been on antibiotics (1 shot every 3 days for 1 month). He’s in a hospital set up, minimal hides, on paper towel, elevated temperatures (not dropping below ~80) while on antibiotics. Could the lacrimal duct blockage be a side effect of the antibiotics or stress? Has anyone experienced this before and can provide insight? I have no baseline to work off of right now.
I’d talk to your vet about possibly adding an anti-inflammatory/steroid to the mix to see if that helps. Also soaking and gentle massage around the eye may be a less invasive option to try. Otherwise, if it keeps recurring, surgery may be the best option. Idk if they do stenting for blocked lacrimal ducts in snakes, but that’s another thought to discuss with the vet.
Awwwwwwww! Very pretty little boy! Welcome to the community! You will get a lot of support/good advice here! Definitely keep everyone posted on his progress/journey! You came to the right place @zoaboa!
The vet is going to do a small puncture of the eye cap just to drain it and provide topical ointment and continue on the injectable antibiotics. It’s a bit less intrusive than taking out a section of the eye cap and leaving the eye open to continuously drain, but that will be the next step if this happens for a 3rd time.
@noodlehaus I asked about anti inflammatories and she agreed we could do Metacam orally as well so hopefully that also helps!
Aww, poor little guy! He’s fortunate to have you to take good care of him and see that he gets what he needs. If the blockage drains spontaneously a second type after the animal is given anesthesia, I would infer that stress is part of why the blockage is appearing. Antinflammatories and/or steroids seem to be an excellent thing to try.
To follow up, the eye did not drain on its own the second time, she did have to puncture the cap, but it’s looking much better now. I do have a bit of concern about stress with the oral drugs (once daily) plus the topical eye ointment (twice daily) plus the shot (once every 3 days). He doesn’t get much of a chance to rest with me bothering him 2 times a day to give multiple drugs.
Here’s a few photos of him after oral meds. I made sure to stay far back from the epiglottis but the liquid is very viscous. You can barely see it sticking to the inside of his mouth and him trying to swallow it. He would leave his mouth open for 2-5 seconds at a time then close it, do a few tongue flicks, lower his head and repeat for about 10 minutes.
@caryl to answer your question, it wasn’t any worse the second time than the first. It looked nearly identical. The first time it happened I wasn’t able to get an emergency appointment, I had to wait a few days and it was slightly cloudy but didn’t get any worse in those 3 days. This time I was able to bring him in right way so I don’t know if it would have gotten any worse. The cloudiness in his eye disappears when the eye is drained.
Poor fellow. I always wish that we could explain what was happening when they have to get medical care. I know that it is necessary to pester them repeatedly when we are trying to help them heal. I also know that there’s no way they can understand what’s happening.
Sending hugs to you and saying prayers for both of you as your lovely boy gets better. Hopefully after the treatment is finished, he’ll be good as new.
Those pictures are make me feel badly for him but he is getting the care he needs and deserves. Is he getting any pain medication? Like metacam? I’m just curious. He may not need it………
Update, it’s been 12 days now and no signs of the eye re-swelling. He was on metacam for 7 days, topical eye antibiotics for 7 days and is still receiving antibiotic shots but there has been no new developments. Hopefully fingers crossed it stays this way!
@caron those photos of him with his mouth open are after taking metacam orally
How wonderful! I’m so happy to read this update, @zoaboa. Congratulations on the good outcome. He’s very fortunate to have had you to take such wonderful care of him!
Having accidentally gotten metacam in my mouth before while medicating a cat, I do not blame your little dude for the look of disgust. Glad to hear everything is working out and he’s healing up without further issues!
for continued progress!!! 
Glad to hear everything is working out and he’s healing up without further issues!