Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ferret with eye irritation from extra eyelashes treated by surgery
By Verboven, Chantal A P M et al.·Published in Veterinary ophthalmology·2014·Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Distichiasis in a ferret (Mustela putorius furo).
- Species:
- rodent
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old male ferret was brought to the vet because he had chronic eye problems, including squinting, excessive tearing, and inflammation in his right eye. The vet found that some hairs were growing in the wrong place on his eyelid, causing irritation. They removed these hairs using a special technique, and while he initially recovered well, the symptoms returned about 10 weeks later. The vet then removed another misplaced hair from the same eyelid, and the ferret was treated successfully.
People also search for: ferret eye problems · distichiasis in ferrets · ferret eye surgery recovery
Abstract
A 4-year-old intact male ferret was presented to the Ophthalmology Service of the Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals of Utrecht University with chronic blepharospasm, epiphora, and conjunctivitis of the right eye. Examination of the eye revealed mild conjunctivitis and three hairs protruding from the openings of meibomian glands in the upper eyelid, providing the clinical diagnosis of distichiasis. The distichia were removed by transconjunctival unipolar electrocautery. Recovery was uneventful, but the original signs recurred 10 weeks after surgery. Ophthalmic examination revealed another distichia at a different location in the same eyelid and it was removed by full-thickness wedge excision. Histopathological examination failed to reveal the exact origin of the distichia. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of distichiasis in a ferret.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24118780/