Is it normal for my dog to be cross-eyed after surgery?

Hi there! Does anyone look at this forum anymore? The original post is almost identical to what happened with my dog about 7 years ago. I'm only researching it again now because she needs to go under anesthesia again next week. I've been terrified to put her under since then and am worried her eyes will get even worse. I made sure it won't be the same type of anesthesia, but I'm still very worried. Any updates on experiences here? Thanks!

MAYBE just MAYBE it's because you removed part of it's genitals. That sounds traumatizing in itself. Just sayin'.

This morning I received an email that you responded to my post.

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog, although I am relieved to hear from someone with the same problem, to validate my inquiry and, hopefully, to BRING AWARENESS TO AN AWFUL POSSIBILITY!! How many others might there be?

I really wish my vet would have said something like, "Really! Please bring her right in so we can take a look. We'll do a little research and see if we can find any link."

Bella's vision is still affected. For several days I searched the internet for answers. Google "vision problems after surgery" for an interesting discussion on vision complications; the post is from "The Doctors Company" which is a medical malpractice law firm, but the articles at least offer some medical terms and, most importantly for us, DESCRIPTIONS BY HUMAN PATIENTS OF VISION PROBLEMS THAT SOUND LIKE WHAT OUR DOGS ARE EXPERIENCING BUT CAN'T EXPLAIN. It discusses "retinal artery occlusion" and ION (ischemic optic neuropathy), possibly related to positioning and pressure.

I know this may not be what has happened to our dogs, but it indicates a field of vision problems related within surgical procedures.

I am located in Sacramento, California. Maybe we should each send an inquiry to the dental board in our state, so they can become aware if this is a new problem, or add our comments if it is already known within their agency.

Again, thank you for your post. I had given up on trying to find anything on the internet. One person responded to one of my posts and stated that I was trying to get people to not spay their animals...wish people would really pay attention and not jump to judgment. This really happened to my dog, and therefore I know it really happened to your dog.

Bella's surgery was on 4/5/10 and she appears to remain at least partially blind as of this date (6/13/10). It appears she tries to focus on the object but is mostly relying on scent or sound. When I hold an object to get her attention she looks about two feet to the left (or right) of the actual object; when I raise it up and down her eyes will follow up and down, but still off to the left or right, or back and forth, as though she has blurred or double vision and can't figure out where to look. This is so sad, as the quality of her life has surely been affected.

My dog is having the same problem. She was spayed 4 days ago and today we noticed her long distance vision is off. She looks crossed eyed and when she looks at you she appears to be looking really wide. We even tested it with different toys and waved them around. Still the same reaction, it is like she is seeing double. It is quite concerning.

We are going to the vets next week when we can get her in. But i just wanted to know whether anymore information has been found on the subject.I do hope it is not permanent.

Thanks for your reply - no apologies needed, humor is good medicine!

My dog's vision is still affected and I continue to search for info on a possible link to her veterinary visit. One person in the people's forum on this topic mentioned "double vision" - that seems to fit with my dog's behavior. Authorities and professions seem to prefer to sweep things under the rug where common people aren't afraid to toss it in!

I did find a tidbit on Yahoo Answers, about blindness after surgery, from someone who took their dog for a dental cleaning and extraction; they stated the following: "She was on antibiotics before and after surgery and yet the eye specialist determined something from the anesthesia triggered blindness in her otherwise healthy eyes."

At the recommendation of the office staff, my dog also received a pain injection that was to keep her pain free for 24 hours - she was in a stupor for 24 hours. vomiting occasionally. I figured the vomiting was normal, since my daughter had a similar reaction following anesthesia for a dental extraction. But now I'm wondering if my dog's pain injection dosage was too strong, or if she's just sensitive to that kind of med - I can imagine how awful she felt, all groggy and nauseated, unable to focus.

Her vision is still messed up - when I tell her "look at me" it seems like she can't find me (she used to make eye contact when I would tell her "look at me").

I know I'll need to take her somewhere for an exam, and it will be expensive. I'm disappointed that the vet who did her spay wouldn't examine her for no charge as a follow up. If I were a vet and someone brought this to my attention, I would want to be the first to examine the dog, to document my findings and be aware of any potential problem with any facet of the procedure, or the anesthesia, or the pain injection, or dosing - to determine or rule out if I or someone in my practice made an error, or if there could be a problem with any of the drugs some manufacturer sold me. Instead, he just decided my dog did it to herself and blew me off. I've mailed him a written request for the names and dosing info on all medications administered to my dog while at his facility. I will forward the information to the veterinary board in California.

No, I hadn't heard of this until reading your post. I had a quick glance at the results in google and it may indeed be possible that the anaesthesia and the vision problems are connected. It's listed as one of the many temporary side effects of anaesthesia, so hopefully your dog should get better. Keep an eye on her.

Fairly bad vision problems after bashing into things head on sounds a bit far-fetched to me somehow. My dog has done that a lot and his eyes are fine.

BTW I just realised the really awful, unintended pun above :S Apologies!