The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
I noticed my old 8 week puppy all of a sudden had cherry eye thought he scratched it or got something in it, but looking online I used the method with the warm cloth and massaged his eye while having him laying on his back.Then I put 3 drops of eye drops to the eye and continued to massage. Within 15 minutes his cherry eye was gone. Thank you for the post and how to correct this. Got me very worried about my little guy.He's doing better. Thanks
Before reading up on this I had previously used a chi method about 24 hours prior to messaging it. Heating my hands up rubbing them together violently, then holding a hand to the eye concentrating the "chi". Well that didn't work lol! I read up on cherry eye, and before coming to this post I warmed the hands again and rubbed the eye in a large circular motion, and GONE!! I now find these posts and see massage as a cure. I know now, and will pass this on!!
Posted by Anon (New York, New York) on 06/19/2012 ★★★★★
Luis and Joanne from New York. Thank you all for all the feed back that you guys posted on this website about cherry eye. We have a 7 year old female cocker spaniel. About three months ago, we noticed what appeared to be a red ball bulging from her left eye. We freaked out and took her to the vet. We were told that it was Cherry eye and the only way to fix that problem was surgery. The cost of the surgery was very expensive and we were not able to do it at time.
Anyways, We've been saving for the surgery but today we came upon this website and read all of your posts. We decided to give it a try. We could not believe how helpful they were and especially how much we saved.
We started off by massaging the cherry eye directly with her bottom eye lid in circular motion counter clockwise towards the nose, gently pressing down on the cherry eye until you feel it tucked in or back into place. In other words, keep massaging it until you don't feel anything bulging. It didn't take more than 15 minutes. Once you don't feel the cherry eye bulging, stop and take a quick look at it. If you don't see the cherry eye continue massaging it for another mintute and then just hold it down for five to eight minutes. The results are amazing. The eye is going to be irritated so they are going to scratch it or rub it on the floor. We decided to put a cone around our baby, her name is Lady Molly. Her cherry eye was gone in 15 mintutes. Again, thank you all. We are very satisfied with the results.
Posted by Violet (St. Pete, Fl) on 09/15/2009 ★★★★★
Cherry eye is an unsightly swelling and protruding of the tear duct gland in dogs (prolapsed gland). It is most commonly seen in Bulldogs, Boston Terriers and Boxers.
Vets will usually recommend expensive surgery to correct this, but I was able to correct it at home on my own dog.
When my male Boston Terrier got cherry eye I started doing research and was dismayed to find that the surgery has a poor success rate. Even after surgery the cherry eye can come back, and I read so many messages from people who had shelled out hundreds of dollars for more than one surgery. But I came across a non surgucal fix on a bulldog website and I tried it for myself. It was super simple, it was cheap, it look less than 15 minutes, and it worked!
Here are the instructions I somewhat followed from Bullwrinkle.com:
"There are old timers with extensive experience with "Cherry Eye Condition" that recommend an alternative to surgery, especially those breeds that have high surgical risks. The first thing that is done to "treat" this condition is to prescribe an antibiotic ointment, second use warm compresses to the corner of the eye, third is to massage the gland lightly with the index finger applying even gentle pressure in a circular motion. Once the tear duct becomes "unblocked" even if it is out of its normal place it is now of a size that usually can be returned by pulling very gently the outer tissue and "popping" the tear duct back into place. You may have to replace the tear duct several times over a two week period, sometimes I have heard for even a month, but then it does not require surgery, and the dog as a general rule has no more problems with the condition whatsoever. We urge new pet owners to be very careful when attempting to use this technique because you can cause injury to the eyeball if you scratch it when trying to massage the tear duct. Try to find another owner of a bulldog or similar breed to walk you through it the first time to make sure you are doing it correctly. We do urge you to seek veterinarian assistance if the condition worsens or if this technique fails to make an improvement. There are some bulldogs that have an inflamatory disease as well and you may see a worsening of the condition. Inflamatory conditions must be treated with an anti-inflamatory antibiotic drop or ointment."
I made a few changes to the above instructions. I used OTC lubricating eye drops I bought at a pharmacy. They were called Gen Teal. I trimmed my fingernail all the way down. I did the massage and popped the gland back in keeping light pressure on it for about 5 minutes. I repeated the process for the next 2 days but I saw immediate results after the first day. It has been 3 months and we have not had another occurence of cherry eye!
Thank you so much. I tried the gentle massage for my beagle and it works. Can you suggest me what should I do to prevent it coming back??? We did surgery before 2 months and again it was back but I tried your suggestion so her eye is normal now. My beagle female puppy is 6 months old.
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
I would clean the eye and the gland - flush it with warm saline solution, and then - if possible - use an eye lubricant or eye drops for dry eyes to lubricate the gland. Make sure your own hands are clean and your nails are trimmed short and filed smooth. I use my thumb and place it over the gland and press down/inward. You want to feel it gently recede back into the eye area. This is NOT the same pressure like you are popping a pimple! This is gentle, steady pressure and you should not see the eye itself being pressed to the side or out of place- if you are seeing that you may not be pressing the gland into the corner of the eye correctly - that or it is too swollen/infected and may need treatment with an antibiotic.
Posted by Dbldutch (St Charles, Illinois) on 02/25/2013 ★★★★★
WOW! I am new to the site and a new dog owner. Our 4 month old puppy, Lexi, is a border beagle and things have been going relatively well. She has big brown (Disney style) 'puppy dog' eyes that just make one fall in love. While I've noticed that the whites will often be a bit pink or look irritated, I had run across cherry eye pictures while trying to see if this was normal and she did not have this problem - though beagles apparently are proned to this. Well, today she clearly did have this in her right eye but I was fortunate to come across the posting here! About five minutes of massaging mixed between 15 minutes of squirming and it is gone!!! I did not add any drops, put a compress on it, or 'push it back in' but I did the massage almost immediately after noticing it and it had not progressed very far. Thanks to all who posted. This not only provided me with an alternative, but all the postings gave me the courage to try this on my own.
Thanks for the great advice! We came home and our 4 year old beagle had developed cherry eye! I read up on your site and massaged it for maybe a minute and his eye is back to normal!
Posted by Earth Clinic Fan (Seattle, Washington) on 06/23/2016 ★★★★★
We recently rescued a dog with cherry eye. My husband began to wipe his eyes with Babies' hand and face wipes every morning, just to get the dreck out of the inner corners. I would repeat during the day occasionally if his eyes got glommed up with junk. We also added a "pricey" dog food slowly to his diet (spelt, oats, codfish, orange, and a ton of vitamins) and within a week's time, his cherry eye began to disappear....no redness at all left. I must say he is on a chicken-free diet and he gets very rare steak (sell-outpriced) pieces of meat for his very best treats. That's the only thing going on around here....no time- consuming ice packs orexpensive bottles of doggy vitamins or potions!
Posted by Jennifer (Madisonville, Ky) on 12/17/2015 ★★★★★
I just did the ice and massage treatment on an eight week old beagle mix. Used cube of ice for minute or two the massaged for about three minutes n it's gone. Hers was really protruding out.
Ice massages do help! BUT please be careful with the time length of using it. No longer than 10 minutes is suggested, any longer their skin and vessels under the skin can become damaged from the ice contact! Follow human rules ;) 10 minutes on 10 minutes off!
Posted by Natalie (Oak Forest) on 08/21/2015 ★★★★☆
WORKED TEMPORARILY
I have a dog who has had cherry eye for about 6-7 yrs. At first the vet showed me how to gently push it back in with a lubricated Q-tip. This would work temporarily but would always eventually come back Then stopped working all together. Since I didn't have the money for surgery (which isn't a guarantee anyway) I decided to live with it as it never bothered him. I am just wondering if the massage method will work now being that he has had it so long. I always put eye drops in but it seems to be getting bigger. He is 10 now and I don't want to put him through surgery. Anyone else have a suggestion or similar situation?
Posted by Daphne (Richmond, US) on 11/30/2014 ★★★★★
My chi weenie has cherry eye! It was just red and I looked at her eye and there was a big bubble right under the lid. My son massaged her eye gently for a minute. Nothing. I put on a hot compress for about a minute and gently pushed along her closed eye toward her nose about 3 times. Nothing. I found this site and decided to try ice. (Someone said it took them 3 min). I put ice in a ziplock. I snuggled her and put it on her closed eye for 3 minutes. I pushed on her closed lid toward her nose 3x. I could kind of feel it as I pushed. Third time I couldn't feel it so I just petted her and got her to look up at an angle and it is still red but no bubble! Taking her to the vet tomorrow to see what is going on but happy that we know another option. Yay!
Hello , my name is Tasha, I am a white shitzu cross, I would like to thank you for the advice you have given for cherry eye, I am a little tired of mum messing with it, I don't like going to the doctors and don't need an operation, the eye drops are so soothing, and now I don't run into every thing, with the ointment she was giving me, I nearly zonked out the last time I walked into something hard, well thanks again folks and keep up the good work.
The wonderful Theresa from Minneapolis, MN has been helping pet owners and their beloved pets around the world on Earth Clinic since 2013.
About Theresa
Theresa from Minneapolis was born and raised in the inner city, always wishing she had been raised on a farm.
Her love for creatures great and small began at an early age, starting with caterpillars - which continues to this day, along with an interest in all insects and 'creepy crawlies'.
Theresa's interest in pet health started with a bird keeping hobby at age 14, where she learned from another hobbyist that the simple addition of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) in a bird's drinking water kept fungal infections away; she was able to share this with her avian vet who in turn prescribed it to her own clients; Theresa was surprised to learn that she could teach her vet a thing or two. This important lesson - that each of us can be a teacher - was a turning point for Theresa, and fueled her quest for the knowledge held in lore, and remedies passed by word of mouth. That quest for knowledge continues to this day, as new and old remedies alike are explored. She may not have experience with a particular issue, but she will research it to the best of her ability and share what she finds freely, in the hopes that you can heal or improve your pet's health.
-----------------------------
How To Show Theresa Your Appreciation
If you would like to thank Theresa for her helpful posts, she asks if you would please consider making a donation to one of her favorite local rescue organizations, or by making a donation to help the genius contributor, Ted from Bangkok, recover from his stroke.
I have had to deal with the start of cherry eye twice with one dog; he had done some straining while pooping and when he came back into the house the gland was visible in the corner of his eye. I used my thumb to apply pressure under his lower lid and just rolled upward and inward. I didn't touch the gland as I had the skin of the lower eye lid between my finger and the gland.
It was easy, quick and didn't hurt. Try it on your own eye to see what kind of pressure to use on your dog's eye.
That said, and that was the advice you didn't want ;-)
If you don't manually replace the gland and leave it out then you run the risk of the gland becoming dried out, irritated and infected, hence the 'cherry' in cherry eye. You need to keep the eye and gland cleaned and well lubricated - its work as you know.
I cannot help with locating an inexpensive vet - but you might try calling around; vets out in the boonies typically are less expensive than those in the heart of the city. So google vets in your area, make up a list and start calling and ask: have you done the gland tacking [or gland removal if that is what you are after] surgery before? And if yes, how many cases and what success rate have you had? Write the answers as well as the cost of the procedure down and then compare notes to find your cheap but well qualified vet.
I'm a believer! My mini doxie came in from outside and in the corner of her eye was a red bulge. I immediately started looking up what it could be. It is known as a 'cherry eye". I read all comments on this site about this and decided to go with using first an eye drop solution-1 drop, then ice in a baggie w/cloth wrapped around it for 5 minutes laid on the bulge and finally gently pushing the bulge towards the corner from which it protruded not on the eyeball. I did this 3 times that day. I could still see a reduced bulge before she went to bed for the night. This morning - nothing - gone. I am so thankful for this site and the results.
Posted by Dixie (Newport Beach) on 01/24/2017 ★★★★★
My Weiner Dog Dixie had "Cherry Eye" this evening for a the first time. I googled the condition and found your website. I took a soft cloth and warm water & massaged her eye for two minutes...the cherry eye is gone! She is happy and appreciative & I am thrilled we don't have to visit the Vet in the AM (it would have been a $250 visit with the recommendation of a $1000.00 surgery.
Thank you a thousand times!! Dixie the happy Dauchund and Barbara the thankful Dog Mom.
Posted by Monica (St. George, Utah) on 04/01/2010 ★★★★★
Thank you for this site and the information of what to do with cherry eye. I tried it on my puppy and it worked. It popped out a few hours later. I did the warm compress and then massaged again, and there hasn't been another problem with it. Everyone else is saying surgery. Thank you for the real remedy! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Posted by Lily (Baton Rouge, La) on 01/16/2012 ★★★★★
Thanks so much for this feedback! About a month ago, I was bathing my Shinese puppy and shampoo got in her eye. The result was a inflammation to her tear duct. I took her to the vet, and she was prescribed eye drops. For several weeks, I saw no improvements and eventually took her back to the vet, where I was told she might need eye surgery in the future.
Yesterday, I stumbled upon this website and followed the instructions, hoping to pop the gland back into place. After applying a warm compress and massaging the area for a little while, the cherry eye disappeared -- only to come back immediately. I repeated the process today, and it worked!! She has been playing with other puppies and going about her normal activities, and her eye is completely back to normal. This is absolutely incredible! Thanks for the advice!
Posted by Stephanie (Springfield, Mo) on 12/18/2013 ★★★★★
I came home from work today to see that my 3 year old puggle had a, what I found out was, a cherry eye. This website seemed to know what it was talking about, but I'm always questioning if the stuff you read on websites actually work. It was too late to take her to the vet, so I got a warm cloth and put it over her eye adding a little pressure for about one minute. Sure enough, it was gone! I was shocked it was that easy! Thank you all so much!
My little pup almost a year has this and my question is, are the lub eye drops simply over the counter human use or do I need to get prescription from vet?
Neither remedies worked for my 10yr old, after coming in from outside rubbing his eye. I discovered he had a cherry eye. He eventually came down with another cherry eye within a year. I can only contribute it to some type of bacteria in the soil that got into the nasal or eye duct passages. I have to clean his eyes faithfully every morning to soften the gook from his eyes with a clean soft paper towel wetted down with distilled water, then use a tick comb to clean the gook gently away from the top and bottom. I keep hair clipped around the eyes as short as possible.
You must be logged in to this post! Please sign in:
Please note that we use cookies necessary for the functioning of our website, cookies that optimize the performance. To learn more about our cookies, how we use them and their benefits, please read our Privacy Policy
