Cat scratch corneal laceration and focal iridectomy in an 8 month old puppy

Abstract

An 8-month old male castrated hound mix, presented to the Ophthalmology Service at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals for a suspected corneal laceration of the right eye. His owner adopted him a week prior from a southern shelter as an apparently healthy young dog with an unknown history. The owner witnessed a friend’s cat scratch the dog as the dog approached the cat. Ophthalmic examination of the right eye, performed later, revealed a ventrotemporal full thickness corneal laceration with large iris prolapse and fibrin plug. The corneal perforation was stable, not leaking, and the anterior chamber was formed. While there was a negative pupillary light reflex in the right eye, a positive dazzle was present indicating light perception. Consensual responses could not be evaluated because the dog was too active to evaluate. Under general anesthesia a focal iridectomy of the prolapsed iris was performed and the corneal laceration was closed. Aerobic and anaerobic corneal cultures were obtained at the time of surgery that were later confirmed negative. The patient recovered well from anesthesia and was discharged to his owner the day after surgery. Follow-up was pursued with a veterinary ophthalmologist in Rhode Island who reported the eye was healing, no infection was present, and vision was present in the eye.