Canine Glaucoma: Bad News at the Doggie Opthamologist
We adopted Sam, a Blue Heeler (Australian Cattle Dog), from a pound in Las Vegas about three years ago. The vet guessed his age then at about two years old. Now he's five and a happy, active, teddy bear of a dog.
A few months ago, we noticed he couldn't always find food that dropped on the floor, even when we pointed it out to him. We chalked it up to excitement (or stupidity). But Friday night when I gave him his dinner, he tripped over it. Obviously something was wrong.
Monday (in a snowstorm) we took him to the vet, and she did a number of tests. Sam flunked the "menace" test, and his pupils failed to react when stimulated with light. The vet made a preliminary diagnosis of immature cataracts, drew some blood, and suggested we consider an opthamologist.
Tuesday, the vet came to our home free of charge and did some more tests. We put a big bundle of paper towels on the living room floor, and my wife called Sam: he ran right into them. And in bright sunlight, we could see his lenses fluttering inside his corneas. The vet strongly suggested we get him to an opthamologist as soon as possible. It takes a lot to upset our vet. Sewing up gashes in dogs is routine for her. So when she said we needed to do it quickly, we did: called Eye Care for Animals in Las Vegas, and they gave us an appointment for the next day (yesterday).
I drove Sam to Vegas yesterday morning, expecting to learn that we'd need to spend a couple of thousand dollars on surgery to get his sight back. Instead, the doctor told me Sam has glaucoma: his eye pressure, which should be at 15, measured 55. The pressure would certainly cause chronic pain. And, the doc said, it appeared that the condition had been present for "at least several weeks." His optic nerve had been damaged, and the doc said he doubted Sam could see anything at all. He had gone irreversibly blind. Instead of surgery to repair the eyes, the doc proposed removing them.
When I picked my jaw off the floor, I asked for more information. Glaucoma, it seems, has few observable symptoms. Over time, it causes permanent blindness. Once that happens, the pressure must be controlled, either with expensive medication ($150 per month) or one of several types of surgey. The company's website says pretty much what the doc told me: "our goal in treating the patient is to maintain a cosmetic, pain-free eye."
Three basic types of surgery are available: (1) eye removal, which is a permanent solution eliminating any future problems; (2) prosthetic implants inside the eyeball, which provides the most cosmetically appealing result but is both most invasive (since the eye must be cut open) and most expensive; and (3) several methods of killing the tissue that creates the eye fluid. Of the latter, only laser surgery preserves any remaining sight. But laser surgery is temporary, and requires expensive and potentially harmful drug therapy as well. And as long as the eye remains, there's a possibility the dog could run into something and cause external damage that would need to be treated. In short, none of the options are very good.
We've put Sam on the medication for the time being while we assess our options. We're not convinced (and neither is our vet) that he's completely sightless: he seems to see shadows under certain conditions. If that's the case, we want to preserve whatever sight he has for as long as possible.
I can't help but feel that we should have known sooner that he was losing his sight— but the reality is, we had no idea. I'd never heard of canine glaucoma before. It turns out it's not uncommon, and usually sets in between four and six years of age. Certain breeds, including cocker spaniels and basset hounds, are at higher risk. Some dogs exhibit eye redness or pain early on, but others (like Sam) have no visible symptoms at all until it's too late.
Glaucoma is treatable, but untreated, it results in irreversible blindness. If you have a high-risk breed, if your dog exhibits redness, swelling, or pain, or if your dog becomes less able to locate things than before, get him (or her) checked for glaucoma. The test isn't available everywhere (no vet in our area has it), but it's simple and painless.
How horrible. For you and for Sam. Wait. "The answers will come."
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I adopted a JRT/Beagle a yr ago. He was 10. I noticed that his lens was clouded and asked the Vet but she thought it was just old age after checking for cataracts. A few months later he was treated for an injury to the right eye with drops and it cleared up. A few months later the other eye looked injured only worse and lots of bloodshot areas. We now know he has glaucoma and it has been there quite a while. We are controlling the pressure sort of but the eye with the ulcer on the cornea has to be operated on to enable meds to help clear this problem up. Ultimately our aim is to make him comfortable and pain-free but the end result will be blindness and removal of the eyes. My Vet is confering with an Opthamologist and hoping to get some advice on what else we can do to regulate his condition.
Unfortunately, the nearest Opthamologist is very far from here and for a dog almost 12 years old, I cannot imagine doing all that travelling to treat this incurable disease.
It is very often misdiagnosed as in my dog's case. It sometimes appears like an injury to the eye. The redness and infection sometimes clears with the right meds. But if someone does not think of glaucoma and do a pressure test on the eyes, it goes undiagnosed.
Blindness is not the worst thing for the dog, pain is. They can adjust to blindness if it happens gradually.
Sudden blindness is anoather matter, what a trauma that must be for the dog and the family!!!
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Hi DJ
I read your story on the internet tonite after getting the same bad news as you did with Sam. I was wondering if you could maybe call me [phone number deleted] so that I could talk to you about our Baby Boy, Dingo who also has glaucoma, with his lends displaced.I would call you back imediately with my own minutes. My Cattle Dog looks just like yours, only doesn't have a tail. Please call if you can. Thank You, Patty in California.
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Isn't it curious how our animals are getting the same diseases as their humans? Cancer, glaucoma, obesity, liver disease, etc. This is a tremendous clue as to the quality of life on earth at this time. Tis quite the challenge when our cuddly canine is injured, ill or goes blind. We, as their human and caretaker, must see for them and continue to make ourselves better and brighter. Humanities success is partly measured by how we have taken care of our young, our old and our animals. Let's do not just a good job, but a great job.
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Certainly there's truth in the old saying that a society may be judged by how it treats its animals.
We should remember, however, that many diseases of animals have been with us for centuries, and some since the dawn of recorded history. Blind dogs occur in literature and folklore from times past. It appears the incidence of cancer among animals has increased markedly, as it has among humans in modern and post-modern times-- and surely that's an indication that something is not right. But other diseases are on the "increase" simply because of improved diagnostics and treatment, and regular testing. Where I grew up in the 1960s, we didn't have opthamologists for dogs. Eye conditions often went undiagnosed and/or untreated.
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I heard it posed that these diseases may also be showing up more often due to the increased longevity we and our animals are enjoying. As people and pets age there is certainly more opportunity for these things to develop than when we died at younger ages. Humans and their companion animals are now able to live longer lives due to the ability to diagnose and treat these diseases like never before as well as greater understanding of healthier lifestyles and diets in general.
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DJ
I read your story with sorrow in my heart. I too, have a dog with glaucoma. We just found out 2 weeks ago that our little Sweet Pea (a cocker spaniel we rescued just 2 months ago) has glaucoma in one eye. The vet estimated her age to be anywhere from 5-6 yrs old. We too had no idea that anything was wrong. Sometimes I would look at her eye and see a little cloudiness. I thought it was the beginning of cataracts. Never in a million years did glaucoma EVER enter my mind. Sweet Pea's blindness happened very acutely. Two weeks ago we took her to be groomed. She was fine that morning. When we went to pick her up and it looked like someone had taken a paint brush and painted her eye white. We took her to the vet immediately and she was diagnosed with glaucoma with a pressure of 36. The other eye, so far, is testing normal. We got the eye drops, which are very expensive, and started using them. We took her back to the vet a week later and her eye pressure was 60! I was heartbroken. The vet told us that she was completely blind in that eye. We have started her on yet another eye drop, plus pain medication. The total for all 3 medications is about $234 a month. The vet told us about all the surgery options, including the one to remove her eye. We are considering that option. She is blind in that eye and it is doing nothing for her but giving her pain. We go back to the vet tomorrow with our final decision. Thank you for your article, it was very informative. God Bless you and Sam and Good luck!
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I have empathy for all of you, and it sounds like we have walked much farther down the treatment path already. We have a 12 year old Bloodhound,a retired search and rescue dog. Her eye began tearing up and she began rubbing it on the carpet last June (2007). I took her to the vet expecting a diagnosis of allergies and ended up at a canine opthamologist in Cinti and then back at our beloved vet here in KY to have her eye removed. Even with medication, both Dr.s recommended removal as she had lost all sight and they had concerns about continued swelling and pain due to the pressure. Needless to say we were concerned about her age and having surgery but she came through like a champ (I was not as brave- I cried and cried...) We are treating the good eye very very conservatively due to the cost of meds. and her age. No one can tell she is blind in one eye (it helps that bloodhounds rely on their sense of smell so much) but it has amazed us how well she adapted to her lack of vision on that side- my husband commented that she "doesn't realized she doesn't have that eye!" Animals truly are amazing at overcoming obstacles.If anyone else is in the same situation, please try to remember that your pet can continue to live a happy and productive life if you must consider the eye removal option.
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Can you please tell me what was the exact cost for the eye removal surgery and follow up costs? Thanks
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Your Sam and my Nicky could be identical twins! Mine too has glaucoma. After 14 months of Rx treatment he's having CBA procedure done next week. His pressures were 60+ at his physical today. He's so loveable and has adapted better to this situation than I have. Aside from the occasional walk into a wall/door, he navigates very well at home and will walk unleashed with me if I jingle my car keys and constantly talk to him to he knows I'm near and watching out for him. I wish you the best with your "son" - it's not easy but our vet says dogs use their sight much less than humans to navigate so it's not as traumatic for them to lose it. Hopefully his bulging eyes will decrease in size after the procedure. I just want him to be comfortable, although he rarely shows any signs of discomfort. He really is a trooper!
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I have just had the same diagnosis for my almost 15 year old Bouvier girl - glaucoma in her right eye. Her eye had seemed like it was infected and I just assumed she had scratched it as she has rubbed her whole body and face since the age of 3 due to allergies. As we were going to the vets for annual heartworm testing I had them check her eye and I ended up making a flying trip to an opthamologist that day, 3 hrs away. Now we have to decide what to do - keep her on meds or go ahead with the removal. At her age, what will the end results be? A scary thought as it is possible she may not even make it thru the surgery.
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We have 3 siberian huskies. The youngest is 4 years old. We just returned from a week long vacation and found out he is completely blind in BOTH eyes. We have taken him to the vet before for eye infections but never mention of glaucoma. We took him to the vet's house as an emergency. She sid it was glaucoma. Gave us pain meds and eye drops. She said his eyes will need to both be removed. We are returning to her tomorrow with an answer as to what we should do. Does anyone have any suggestions or support for my husband and I. I am also worried about my 2 small children- 2 and 3 years. Our dog (Sherman) is a very outgoing pup. He's pure white and amazing. Please, any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated.
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