A week before thanksgiving I noticed some gunk in my dog’s eye. I took her to the vet the next day and they diagnosed it as an autoimune disease that causes dry-eye.
We put her on an eye-cream that suppresses the immune response.
After more than 3 weeks we saw no improvement, so I took her to a doggy eye specialist.
She said it is diabetes-induced neuropathy.
We are giving he drops to help stimulate the mucus and tear glands.
The new vet seems to think it is highly treatable - especially because I didn’t muck about with it. But we won’t know for 4-6 weeks.
Has anyone had any experience with this?
I am hating seeing her like this - she looks so uncomfortable.
Yeah, she got cataracts last year in September - which is when we started treating her diabetes. We had the cataracts out last spring.
It is hard to tell if she is in pain, but I suspect she is. She is, in general, such a good girl and happy dog that I have trouble knowing when she is hurting. (Even the vet commented that she seems to be quite happy, despite the discomfort.)
But she paws at the eye quite a bit and is always rubbing it against the ground or carpet.
If I were sure it was the right thing to do, I’d have them take the eye out - but if we can save it, I want to do that for her.
I know she is quite bored already with me putting crap in her eyes - but she still jumps up on the couch every time I tell her we’re going to do it. She gets the auto-immune cream, an anti-biotic and then, when I’m home, every hour I put artificial tears in. If we can keep the eye moist, she shouldn’t lose it. I even get up in the middle of the night and put tears in her eye. (The vet said she doesn’t think she knows of one other owner who would do that - but I suspect there are many.) Hopefully I can keep it moist enough until her own tears start flowing again that she keeps the eye.
My cat had to have an eye removed to due an upper respiratory infection blah blah blah. The end of the story is that most people don’t realize she only has one eye until they’ve met her quite a few times.
I’m so sorry your poor pup is going through this. Fingers crossed that all these treatments work. You are taking such good care of her.
Should it come to having to remove her eye, she will be fine. Working in rescue, I have seen a number of dogs who’ve had to have an eye removed. They all have recovered and didn’t seem to realize anything was “wrong” with them.
Our little dog Minnie lost her eye last January after being hit by a car. It was very tough, but she really was her old self again a couple of weeks after the operation. She’s the sweetest little dog and I always feel bad for letting it happen (we’ve since fenced in the yard)-- but Minnie can do everything she did before and is as sweet and wonderful as ever.
My sister’s dog had an ulcer on his eye that needed repeated courses of antibiotics and still wouldn’t heal. When she finally made the call to let the vet remove the eye, she was much more upset than the dog was. He did fine and is still doing well a year or so later.
There is a Cocker Spaniel that comes to the dog park where I take my own dog.
Poor doggie got some kind of tumors in her eyes and even with the treatments she was in terrible pain. So the vet had to remove both her eyes. She’s still alive and seems happy enough although she is now completely blind. She doesn’t run around fast because she can’t see where she’s going but if she keeps her head down and sniffs ahead she moves on her own quite well. The other dogs seem to know not to bother her too much, and if she appears to be walking into a chair or picnic table leg, we steer her away. Lovely dog.
I hope your dog responds to treatment. Keep us posted, will you? I’ll give my Nathan extra scritches in your dog’s honor.
I have fostered blind dogs for several years, including a couple with diabetes-related neuropathy and vision loss. I have also had two with amputations (due to cancer). I’m so sorry your dog has this but please realise that she’ll adapt much better than you.
Number one, two and three things to remember: Do NOT project “my poor dog is blind and pitiful” on your dog! Animals - well, dogs, certainly - are capable of amazing adaption and grace under fire. Much more so than humans. Your dog will pick up on your emotions more than you realise. If you are distraught and expect her to be diminished by this, she will be. If you remain upbeat and ready to help her adapt, she will do so.
I’ve taken in both dogs who have become completely blind in later years, and a couple who were blind from birth. I’m really not being glurgy when I say how impressed and humbled I am by how dogs adapt and learn with courage, without self-pity, and very well…it’as amazing. But it does depend in part on the owners, so whatever happens, give your girl credit and positive reinforcement instead of pity!
What kind of artificial tears are you using? The GenTeal brand comes in a “severe” gel that will work fine all night, and only needs to be applied a couple times a day. It’s available over the counter at most drug stores. Here’s Walgreens. One of my cats had to have an eye removed a year ago October. She adapted fine, and she was already dealing with deficits due to an old brain injury.
Well, I go back to the vet this Saturday. Her eye is looking much improved.
Christmas Eve, she threw up going up to Mom’s. She had been drooling all morning and I figured the meds were bothering her. The vet had said that if it gave her intestinal distress I should cut back, so I put a little less in her meals.
On Christmas day I started getting a lot of gunk out of her eye and I wondered if that meant things started working. She hated having me try to get the gunk out and hated having her eye all filmed over. There was rally no way to make her happy. (OK, food always makes her happy…)
Now I hardly get any gunk from her eye at all and IMO, it looks much better. She doesn’t squint so much and her eye seems to have more of a shine to it.
Update: A visual inspection gave good marks. The eye is shiny and she no longer keeps that right eye “squinted up.” (That’s a quote from the vet.)
The clinical test only showed a small amount of moisture on the test strip. The test strip showed no moisture at all when we first started treating her. So, not enough to say she is cured, but enough to show improvement.
I am going through a lot of non-fun due to dry-eye myself these days. I’ve got some prescription drops to help me produce tears (boy are they expensive!) but the opthamologist also suggested that I try a product called “Fresh-kote”. My local Target does not carry it but offered to order it for me. I’m going to check Walgreens first though.
Best of luck and patience to you and your dog. Dry eyes itch like mad.
