A RESCUE dog suffering from a rare condition where hair grew on her eyeball is enjoying a new lease of life after undergoing surgery at a Manchester veterinary practice.
The rare tuft of hair was discovered when Luna, a two-year-old wirehaired Dachshund, was taken into the care of Pennine Pen Animal Rescue.
The charity took her to Manchester Vet Centre in Denton, where vet Dr Alex Schofield carefully performed surgery on the eye to remove the hair and the tiny piece of skin it was growing on.
Dr Schofield says the patches of hair, known as ocular dermoids, are rare and surgery is recommended to prevent the pet suffering continuing discomfort and due to the risk of permanent eye damage.
While the hair may be visible, other signs of ocular dermoids include squinting, producing lots of tears or discharge and rubbing the eye. They are most commonly seen in Dachshunds like Luna, as well as Shih Tzus, Pekingese, French Bulldogs, Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds.
Dr Schofield said: “Luna is a lovely dog and came to see me because she had a small island of skin on her eye with hair growing out of it. This can happen when normal tissue containing hair follicles grows in the wrong place. It’s a congenital condition meaning it will have been there since she was a born, but it may not have been obvious for the first few months of her life.
“Having hair on the eyeball can be very uncomfortable and it was rubbing Luna’s eye every time she blinked, so the charity was happy for me to perform the surgery to correct it. It took a very steady hand to remove the extra piece of skin from the eye and I was watched closely by other members of the team, because it’s not a procedure we perform very often. It went very well and I’m really pleased that Luna is now able to see comfortably and clearly again.”
Luna has made a good recovery from surgery and is being cared for by Kirsty Gaunt, a Trustee of Oldham-based Pennine Pen Animal Rescue, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Michael Waugh, Pennine Pen’s Rescue Manager, said: “Luna has been doing extremely well and it’s lovely to see her pain free and enjoying life, which is thanks to the high level of care she received from Alex and the team at Manchester Vet Centre. They were amazing, both through the surgery and with Luna’s after-care and I can’t praise them enough.”
Manchester Vet Centre is part of Willows Veterinary Group, which is a group of 22 veterinary small animal practices across Manchester, Cheshire, Staffordshire and the Wirral that deliver the very best care to pets. Willows Veterinary Group is part of VetPartners.
Article by Jo Browne, PR & Communications manager (South), email: [email protected]