Reindeer receives treatment for eyelid tumour
Anaesthesising reindeer is a relatively unexplored topic, so their procedure presented a novel approach to the surgery.
A nine-year-old reindeer has had her eyesight saved by veterinary surgeons after a tumour was identified on her left third eyelid.
Snowflake, part of a herd of 20 reindeer in Rutland, was treated by the Ophthalmology Service at the Royal Veterinary College’s (RVC) Queen Mother Hospital for Animals after her owner identified a growth in her left eye.
In 2018, she was treated for a squamous cell carcinoma mass, a form of skin cancer, in her lower right eyelid.
Veterinary surgeons from the RVC did not see any signs that this had recurred on her lower right eyelid, and observed that her ocular reflexes and responses were as expected. She did display mild cataracts in her right eye, which did not seem likely to affect her vision.
However, they identified that the mass of her left third eyelid was nonpigmented, and displayed a poorly defined, mass-like lesion. The lesion had an irregular surface on the leading edge, and was consistent with squamous cell carcinoma.
The team, led by Dr Maria-Christine Fischer, lecturer in ophthalmology, Dr Sara Lawrence-Mills, senior clinical training fellow in anaesthesia, and Dr Carolina Palacios Jimenez, lecturer in anaesthesia, opted to perform surgery on the affected eye.
The procedure saw them apply local anaesthetic blocks and topical tetracaine eye drops to remove the third eyelid under sedation. They then applied cryotherapy to the wound edge as adjunctive therapy.
The eyelid was then sent for histopathology, which confirmed the squamous cell carcinoma had been completely removed.
Snowflake’s daughter remained with her throughout the surgery, and she has since made a full recovery and returned to her herd.
The team says that anaesthesising reindeer is a relatively unexplored topic, so their procedure presented a novel approach to the surgery. Their use of nerve blocks in ophthalmic surgery has not been reported before, and is being published.
Dr Fischer said: “Snowflake had a cancerous mass on her third eyelid. Surgical removal of the third eyelid in a reindeer has not been reported before. We were pleased that we could perform the surgery with Snowflake under a standing sedation and using local anaesthetics.
“As an ophthalmologist, I am committed to preserving vision so it’s rewarding that we were able to completely excise the tumour and did not have to remove the eyeball. It’s a very good outcome.”
Image © Royal Veterinary College
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
