Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
Cherry eye repair and eyelid surgery for entropion, done in our own surgical suite in St. Petersburg, with anesthesia monitored by our own team. Before any work begins you receive a written, itemized estimate.
Tell us which eye, how long it has looked this way, and whether your vet has seen it. We’ll get back to you to arrange a time.
Cherry eye is a tear gland that has slipped out of place. Dogs and cats have a third eyelid in the inner corner of each eye, with a gland underneath it that makes part of the tear film. When the tissue holding that gland weakens, it pops up into view as a red, rounded swelling — the “cherry.”
It is most common in young dogs, and it often happens in one eye and then the other. Cats get it less often. It is not usually painful at first, but the exposed gland can dry out, swell and become irritated, and it rarely goes back on its own for good.
Surgery puts the gland back where it belongs and secures it there. The gland makes part of your pet’s tears, so the aim is to keep it, not remove it. Which technique is used depends on the eye, and the veterinarian will explain the choice before surgery.
Entropion is an eyelid that rolls in, so the lashes and hair rub on the surface of the eye. Signs are squinting, a watery or runny eye, rubbing at the face, and redness. Left alone, the constant rubbing can damage the cornea.
Surgery removes a small amount of skin so the eyelid sits in its normal position. How much, and where, depends on the eyelid — which is why it starts with an exam.
We examine your pet and image what needs imaging, on our own digital x-ray equipment. If your veterinarian has already done this, we work from their records.
For all proposed diagnostics and treatment, before any work begins. Nothing is scheduled until you have seen it and said yes.
Pre-surgical labs are run in-house and reviewed before the day of surgery — never drawn the morning of.
In most cases your pet goes home the same day. Rechecks and suture removal are included.
Before surgery you can speak with the veterinarian doing the procedure — about what they expect to find, what recovery looks like, and anything that worries you. That is routine here, not a special request.
No referral needed. If your veterinarian has already examined your pet or taken x-rays, bring the records, email them to petcare@communityanimalhospitals.com, or tell us on the form who has them and we will request them for you.
The veterinarians across our two hospitals include two former owners of 24-hour primary care and emergency hospitals, and doctors with more than 25 years in practice ownership.
It depends on whether one eye or both need repair, and on what the exam finds. Entropion surgery depends on how much of the eyelid is involved. After the exam you receive a written, itemized estimate before any work begins.
You receive a written, itemized estimate for all proposed diagnostics and treatment before any work begins. You will never get a bill you have not approved. If we find something unexpected during surgery, we call you before doing anything about it.
Many of our clients find that financing part or all of the procedure through Cherry works best for them.
According to Cherry, the application takes under 35 seconds from start to finish, and “Cherry performs a soft credit check which does not affect your credit score.”
Check your options with Cherry
We also accept CareCredit and Scratch Pay.
Most people are less worried about the procedure than about the anesthesia. That is a fair worry, and it deserves a straight answer.
Pre-anesthetic bloodwork tells us how your pet’s liver and kidneys will handle the anesthetic drugs. It is also how we catch the problem that changes the plan — before we start, not during.
The catheter means immediate access to a vein if we need it, rather than looking for one in an emergency. Fluids maintain blood pressure, which is what protects the kidneys under anesthesia.
A trained technician is assigned to your pet’s anesthesia and does nothing else for the duration — heart rate and rhythm, blood oxygen, blood pressure, temperature and breathing, continuously, with hands on your pet.
Anesthetised animals lose heat quickly, and a cold patient recovers badly — slower waking, more shivering, more pain. Active warming runs through the procedure and into recovery. It is unglamorous and it matters.
Almost never, and age by itself is not the reason to decline. In the largest study of US primary-care practice — 822 hospitals — the anesthetic death rate was 0.05% in dogs and 0.11% in cats. What moves that number is health status, not age: in sick patients it rises roughly twenty-five fold. Which is why what we do before the procedure matters more than the number on the birthday.
Bloodwork, a physical examination, and a plan built around what we find. If something turns up that changes the risk, we tell you before the day, not after.
AAHA’s 2023 senior care guidelines: “Advanced age alone is not a contraindication to general anesthesia.”
We do not provide overnight care. For most procedures your pet goes home the same day — home is quieter, and you are the person who notices first when something is not right. You will go home with written aftercare instructions and a number to call if anything worries you.
If your pet does need overnight monitoring, we will say so and refer you to a 24-hour facility that can give it. That is a judgment made on the day, about your pet — not a policy.
Most pets go home wearing a cone (an e-collar) so they cannot lick or chew at the incision while it heals.
Recheck visits and suture removal are included in the surgery price.
Questions after you get home go to us — six days a week, 7:30am–6:30pm.
5895 54th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Clients travel as far as 15–20 miles for surgery with us, from St. Petersburg · Gulfport · Pinellas Park · Seminole · Bardmoor · Tyrone Square · South Pasadena · Kenneth City · Lealman and beyond · Open 7:30am–6:30pm, six days a week
It depends on one eye or both, and on what the exam shows. You receive a written, itemized estimate before any work begins.
Rarely for good. The gland can slip back and forth, but once the tissue holding it has weakened it usually comes back.
The gland makes part of your pet’s tears, so removing it can leave the eye dry for life. Putting it back in place is the usual aim.
Yes, though less often than dogs. The repair is the same idea.
Usually, so your pet cannot rub the eye while it heals. Recheck visits and suture removal are included.