Got back from vacation on Saturday, and our 12 yo yellow lab, who had been staying with relatives for the week, had a horrible looking eye. At first it looked to me that it had deflated, closer inspection showed an inflamed and swollen nictitating membrane. As I was not used to seeing these, it made it look like the eye had shrunken. Additional information is that that eye seems to be photosensitive, is definitely teary, those tears appear clear. The lid may be swollen. In retrospect she had been pawing at that eye for several months.
Since it seemed like a chronic problem I decided to wait until today to take her in. The appointment is for this afternoon.
I would like to look up the diseases that make up the differential diagnosis, so I can be an intelligent parent.
Any ideas?
So the vet says it is just atopic conjunctivitis. She also has hot spots. Gave her an prednisone injection, some prednisone pills, eye drops, and ointment for her (asymptomatic) ear infection. Just glad that was all it was. Really fond of this dog.
Glad to hear it’s treatable.
One of our dogs is undergoing an “eye gunk” issue right now that’s being treated with antibiotic cream.
I don’t think dogs have nictitating membranes. Surely you meant cornea.
The recipe calls for eye of newt and tongue of dog.
Damn. I was thinking eye of dog and tongue of frog. Or at least that made for a better subject line. Clearly that is one of a multitude of reasons that I am not William Shakespeare.
I did not think they had them either. I thought they were purely reptilian. In fact, most mammals have them. If you have never noticed one before they are weird, since they are fairly thick and opaque.
One of our German shepherds got an inflamed eye once, and the vet diagnosed it as glaucoma, and recommended removal. That done, a few months later my mom found an article somewhere on something called “blue eye”, which shepherds are prone too-would have gone away with treatment and care.
Yes, dogs (and cats,and a lot of other mammals) have the third eyelid.
JohnDiFool, while it is true that shepherds are prone to some types of ocular problems, glaucomas are diseases that cause increased intraocular pressure, and yes, some of the best treatments (in dogs) includes removal. It can result as a complication of other diseases. If the dog was diagnosed with glaucoma at the vet, enucleation may well have been the best option, as treatment may not have been successful in controlling the increases in ocular pressure.
So this is exactly why I like having prior information before going to a vet or any human medical practitioner. They are not always correct.
Also, since enucleation would likely cause blindness on that side, what is the rational for that treatment? Resolve pain? Prevent sympathetic ophthalmopathy?
We are not always correct, but we are more knowledgable than you about the issue, and more likely to know how to prioritize possible diseases. Also, clinicians can have the instruments to easily rule out one problem vs another.
I do recommend a site if you want general information: Here it is.
Enucleation causes blindness, period. The rationale is all that you mention and more. For some conditions, there is no effective treatment. Or there may be a treatment, but the owners may deem it too expensive. It may be a tumor in which the best treatment is to remove the eye so that it doesn’t spread. In other cases, the inflammation may have gone too far and damaged the eye as to make it functionally blind, but leaving the eye would cause more pain, inflammation, and further injury and infection.
A big problem with the internet. No way to put a huge arrow to sarcasm, such as enucleation would “likely” cause blindness. I guess I might think that it would them see whatever was on the shelf the eyeball was placed.
You are exactly right about clinical knowledge. However, if I am armed with the facts I can then rationally ask questions. Medical practitioners do not mind intelligent questioning of their opinions.
Sure, which is why I provided a site that offers information written by other veterinarians (including those with various boarded specialties). And that has also good links to other useful sites. 
I forgot to thank you for that web site. It is really, really good. The same dog has laryngeal paralysis and what is likely a histiocytoma on her nose.
I read this at the web site recommended: A newer technique of visualizing the larynx involves threading an endoscope down the patient’s nostril. This is tricky but the benefit is that sedation is not required. The downside is that specialized equipment is needed and the patient may not be cooperative.
I cannot imagine how you would do a nasal cannulation on a non sedated dog.