09/09/2026
A look at the avian eye; I certainly got a crash course the last couple days. On Labor Day, I noticed my boy Bruce squinting and with redness around one of his eyes. I caught him to see if there’s any foreign body that needed to flush out. The video I took surprised me. I immediately sent it to CB Sebastopols and Heather Terrell (Blue Feather Farms) . went over all the differentials of what this tissue sticking out could be. The most concerning differential would be a tear of the nictitating membrane (3rd eye lid) . After consulting Heather, she forwarded the message to Howard Davenport 🤩 of Clear Creek Forest Animal Hospital
When Howard looked at the video, he was certain that the nictitating membrane was intact - however, he had a torn conjunctiva.
The nictitating membrane is fascinating . We humans do not have a transparent third eyelid. Our geese have a “third eyelid” that moves horizontally across the eye to protect and moisten it **while** allowing vision.
Long story short, my boy was taken to the OR today with Howard at Clear Creek Forest Animal Hospital to have this torn conjunctiva excised and also to look for corneal abrasion. Had he not underwent the surgery, it could result in blindness, corneal infections/ ulcers among other complications.
Thankful for this amazing vet clinic 💙
The way he got this was some trauma , probably scratching too hard 🤷♀️
Now, if it was a torn njctiating membrane - that would be a more complicated surgery . Thankful it was not .
I can’t thank everybody enough for their wisdom and helping Bruce the goose get better ❤️🩹