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.
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5/2/2008 7:49 AM
www.AsymptoticLife.com wrote:
Bev writes: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 ... -
5/23/2008 11:27 AM
www.AsymptoticLife.com wrote:
(Getty Images graphic)Increasingly, health insurance companies look to consumers to hold costs down. And that makes sense: as economist Charles Wheelan observes, consumers and doctors generally make decisions (for insured patients) without considering the financial ramifications, because they don't have to pay for it, at least not out of pocket. But insurance companies pass that cost back to consumers and their employers in the form of higher premiums. And if your employer has to pay more for your insurance, you can bet you'll get a smaller raise this year. \Insurance companies are increasingly making consumers aware ... -
5/28/2008 10:16 AM
www.AsymptoticLife.com wrote:
(Getty Images graphic)Increasingly, health insurance companies look to consumers to hold costs down. And that makes sense: as economist Charles Wheelan observes, consumers and doctors generally make decisions (for insured patients) without considering the financial ramifications, because they don't have to pay for it, at least not out of pocket. But insurance companies pass that cost back to consumers and their employers in the form of higher premiums. And if your employer has to pay more for your insurance, you can bet you'll get a smaller raise this year. \Insurance companies are increasingly making consumers aware ... -
6/6/2008 3:31 PM
www.AsymptoticLife.com wrote:
Sam in February 2007.Our dog, Sam, was diagnosed with canine glaucoma a few months ago. It had already progressed to the point that his optic nerve had been damaged-- to such an extent that the opthamologist said he doubted that Sam could see anything. We knew that he could see a little, however, and in the right light could even catch a snowball. So we treated him with Xalatan drops to keep the eye pressure down, deciding to give him as much time with his sight as we could. The medication was expensive, $150 a month, and it had ... -
7/6/2008 12:17 PM
www.AsymptoticLife.com wrote:
Because of his glaucoma, Sam had the ISP (interscleral prosthesis) surgery a month ago. He's now fully recovered, and the redness in his eyes (caused by internal bleeding from the surgery) has receded. Here's a photo of Sam with his new eyes. They don't have pupils, but they look fairly normal. Most importantly, they don't hurt him any more: they're solid, with no fluid inside and therefore no pressure to build up.Sam's still getting used to having no light sensitivity at all, but he's handling it pretty well. He does go through moods, though, where ... -
3/8/2009 12:18 PM
www.AsymptoticLife.com wrote:
(Spitfirelas photo.) “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust ...
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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What did you decide to do? We had our basset/terrier rescue dog for a month when he went blind in one eye from glaucoma. 10 months of drops (aka liquid gold) we have chosen for removal.
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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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Carrie:
Our GSP has been diagnosed with Glaucoma and I am still struggling with the diagnosis. She is 10 and has always been an active hunter. This spring, I noticed she was constantly winking and seemed to be sleeping more. I took her to the local vet; we did extensive lab work and her eyes were checked. I am still asking what happened? Now, I am faced with removing the bad eye; not sure what is the best surgery at this point. Her pressure on Monday was 59; we used drops and here pressure came down to 20. Today, I finally broke down, not knowing what is the best decision. Use the medications for a short time and have the surgery at a later date?
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It's a tough decision. We elected to give Sam as much sight as we could-- but when his sight was gone, we decided to have the eyes replaced with prostheses so there'd be no more pain.
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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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Finnegan, my Jack Russell has been battling Glaucoma since November of 2006. In 2004, he had his lenses removed after they luxated. I would take him to see the opthomalogist every 3 or 6 months for follow up when we discovered his IOPs were in the 40s. We have had to steadily increase his meds until we were up to 3 different kinds given alternately 5x a day. He has laser surgery to decrease fluid production 2 weeks ago. His meds had been decreased and his pressures decreased for the first week and then his IOPs spiked. I treat him with meds like crazy until his eyes clear up. In the last 2 years learned to really watch his eyes for blueness and bulging. These are his warning signs of IOPs increasing. His glaucoma is secondary and probably caused by inflammation, but nobody can say for certain. He continues to be visual, though his sight in his right eye has been reduced. This is a very expensive disease to fight and I know it will eventually lead to blindness. I have already made the decision to remove any eyes that become blind. I do not want to have my dog experience any pain for an eye that is no longer of any use to him and medicating a blind eye to keep IOPs low, seems unrealistic and expensive. My dog will get prosthetic eyes, they do not look strange from what I have seen. Good luck to all of you with your pups and their glaucoma. I know it is not easy!
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Just to let everyone know,you can buy your dog's medication from your pharmacy as they are the same glaucoma medications used by people. All you have to do is bring in an actual prescription from the vet I buy all of Finnegan's meds at Costco (in Canada). Xalatan from the vet was 65.00 and now I buy it for 32.00. My local vet would charge me 9.00 for every prescription though and they only gave me 10 refills, which isn't much when your dog is getting 3x a day. When Finnegan had his surgery (8 hours away), the opthamalogist wrote me one year prescriptions for all of his meds.
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Thanks, Esther. We bought Sam's at the local Sav-On. The vet didn't charge to write the prescription, but the Xalatan was $75 for a 2-week supply. (Wal-Mart was only a dollar cheaper, and their service is terrible. We don't have a Costco here.) Since Xalatan needs to be refrigerated, we didn't dare try mail order.
Following the ISP surgery, Xalatan is no longer necessary. The antibiotic eye drops we give him now are much cheaper-- and they're temporary, hopefully only another 6 weeks.
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Esther, did you even find out what the primary disease was ? They tell me my akita's glaucoma is secondary and want to do a lot of tests. Paul
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We're going through a similar experience with our 16 year old cocker. We had no idea she had glaucoma until it was too late. We've been doing the eye drops for four months with little reduction in eye pressure. Since she already has absolutely no vision in that eye we're now considering having the eyeball removed and a ball inserted and sutured over to prevent hollowing of the socket. She's gonna be beautiful to us no matter what.
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Good luck to you and your Cocker. I am having my 12 year old Cocker evaluated next week by an Optho. I have just noticed a slight size change in her left eye. I hope I have caught it early.
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My neighbour's dog seems to have the same symptom. It's good to know. So, I'll just go and give him..the bad news, unfortunately.
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Hello. I just found out my sweet little American Eskimo has glaucoma. It really does set in quickly! Luckily, her symptoms were recognizable and so we were able to get her in 48 hours after the onset. While this seemed like a good response time, we don't know if the affected eye is irreversibly blind yet. We've got her on two meds, one twice a day and another three times a day. She seems to be a lot happier now, and less in pain, but we won't know the extent of its severity until we see an ophthalmologist today or tomorrow (depending on when we can get in.) Luckily, I live in Las Vegas and so there are a lot of different vets/ophths we can see (and surgeons, if it comes to that.)
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Thanks for posting. We'll have your dog in our prayers.
We went to Eye Care for Animals in Vegas, and we were very happy with them. They helped us make the best of a bad situation.
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Thank you for the blog. My 7 year old bullmastiff has just been diagnosed, too late to save one eye. The opth. looked at me as if I was a horrible person when I asked about removal of the lost eye. First visit was $250 for the meds.(thank goodness we still have a couple of months left on VPI.) Not to sound horrible again, but if I can take away some of her discomfort while saving half of that money, it would be best for both of us. His response was "Well I wouldn't want you to remove my eye...." Well, you know what - I would. Hoping our return visit (3 hours away) will reveal that the "good eye" (with 50% vision) has slowed in it's progression. After reading this site and the comments, we'll be talking to our regular vet (and others if necessary) about the removal of the nonfunctioning eye. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this site!
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Thanks, Laura. As you know doubt saw from my other posts, we let Sam keep his eyes as long as he had sight. Our opthamologist actually encouraged us to take them out sooner-- and he clearly preferred complete removal over prosthetics.
We chose prosthetics because we wanted to know when he was awake. But with all the brush around our home, we do have to be careful that he doesn't scratch the surface of the eyes because only the interior is prosthetic. We bought him "Doggles," but he hates them and rubs them off whenever he thinks we're not looking. But having dealt with an erosion after the surgery, we don't want to take a chance on injury.
There's no good answer to this condition. The good news is, he no longer has pain from the constant pressure. But taking the eyes (with ot without prostheric replacements) is not an easy decision.
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Finnegan has just had his second laser surgery to destroy more of the ciliary body which produces the fluid that builds up in the eye. Apparently it grows back, so the surgeon it hoping he has created enough scar tissue to keep it from regrowing again. Finnegan's right retina has been severely degraded by the glaucoma, but he still reacts to menace on that side. When I had inquired on what we would do with the eye once it becomes becomes completely sightless, the surgeon told me that evisecration (removing the insides of the eye and replacing it with a ball) was only 400.00 more than enucleation (removal of the eye). I am for enucleation. I find the prothetic eye looks more normal and my dog reacts to the way people talk to him. I wouldn't want him to be responding to people who are shocked at seeing a dog with one eye stitched shut.
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My akita, Sophie, is 5. She was diagnosed with pink eye. They were wrong. Glaucoma. Within a week she was bumping into things. Now Sophie is getting four different eye drops and a pill three times a day each just to try and relieve the pressure. It's been three weeks. It's heartbreaking. The optho things the glaucoma is secondary and wants to do testing for cancer and lupus. They can test forever and may never figure out what it might be. It's hard to kow what to do. I've already spent over 2500.00 on vet visits and drugs. The money is running out and the next tests are supposes to cost up to 1400.00. In the middle of all this my older dog Bella (found her in Brooklyn, ny in 96') got critical...they found a large tumor on the spleen. At 14 the surgery would've been to much for her and soon after the diagnosis she had to be put down. She was obviously in pain. We are so sad. All this in the days leading up to christmas. We prayed for a miracle for Sophie...so she could live a happy life, running and playing, fetching and catching. But she mostly sleeps now. She just came into the room so I'll go now and sit with her for awhile. We wish we knew what the best thing is to do
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Paul, thanks for sharing about Sophie. There are no good answers. But what we found with Sam was that much of his moping was because of the pain he was in, not the loss of sight. When we relieved the pressure-- first with the drops and later with the ISP-- he was himself again. He did go through a period of depression after the ISP, which the optho said was unusual. But you should see him today playing with the other dogs in the snow!
I love our animals, but I'm a pragmatist, and there are times when our animals are beyond vet care. My wofe's 14-year-old doberman had bone cancer which caused her leg to break. They offered to amputate, but she was just too old to go through that-- and too old to learn to be a 3-legged dog.
Sam, on the other hand, has a long and happy life ahead of him even though he can't see.
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DJ, I appreciate your responding. Right now our vet thinks that Sophie's glaucoma might be secondary to another disease or infection. Her eyes move back and forth and the vet thinks that could be a sign of a brain problem. They want to do tests including a needle in the eye to remove fluid and test it, along with a chest xray and abdominal ultrasound, since she'll already be out to take the needle. I keep thinking they should just go for a cat scan or even an mri, since if they don't find anything that'll probably be next. I'm scared she could have cancer. We need to decide what to do. I'm not asking for anyone else to decide...just venting. I'm going to try and get her to go out now. Have a good day and enjoy Sam.
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Our prayers go with you and Sophie.
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My 5-year-old akita has glaucoma and is being treated with four different drops 3x a day to relieve pressure and inflammation. The glaucoma is apparently secondary to a as-yet unknown disease. Her eyes seem to go back-and-forth a lot. Does anyone have any experience with that sympton
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Paul, could you be more specific? Before Sam was diagnosed, he would shift his eyes from left to right quite often, as though scanning the room, which he could no longer see. We didn't know if then, but his lenses had become detached so the motion was quite pronounced because the fluid inside the eye would visibly swish back and forth as though his lenses were made of liquid. Is that what Sophie does, or is it something more?
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DJ, It doesn't really look like that. More like the eyes darting back and forth. She also seems a bit off balance at times. We have a vet appointment tomorrow morning and will hopefully find out more. Paul
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Paul, if the symptoms are what I have dealt with in the past on another pet, it is really an inner ear thing.
Canine Peripheral Vestibular Syndrome
http://www.essortment.com/all/dogearproblems_rmib.htm
Good luck!
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Tomorrow we are going into NYC for an mri and possibly other tests on my akita, Sophie. She is still on the eye drops and pill everyday, When out of the house she is better than before...breaking into a trot and playing in the snow. In the house she just sleeps. The vet is worried the primary cause might be some pressure on the brain, maybe even menengitis. The nuero mentioned doing a spinal tap if the mri shows nothing. I'm very worried. She's neven been put out for anything before. Wish her good luck, please.
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Good luck Sophie. I will be thinking about you tomorrow.
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We'll say a prayer.
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Thank you for doing this web site. I have been following it the past few weeks and it's nice to know there are other people and dogs dealing with this medical condition.
Jack, our four and a half year old Standard Poodle, came down with symptoms Dec 27, 2008. I had his bad eye removed last week, three and half weeks later. In one week we were at the vet four times and his eye pressure was jumping around from 64 to 17 and back up to 50, the drops were not working on a consistent basis anymore and he was in some sort of pain all the time. One morning he would not go out till his pain pills kicked in.
He is doing well now but it was a very traumatic week. Jack is stable now and we go back next week to have the stitches removed, I had the procedure done where they remove the eye place a sphere in place of the eye and sew the eye close. We don't groom Jack like a traditional poodle, more of a puppy cut so his hair covers his eyes somewhat most of the time. With removing the eye, the clinic is able to send the eye to another clinic that will tell us whether this is hereditary or caused by an injury. I'm glad we did this now however everything moved very quickly for us.
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Sophie seems to be doing better...her eye pressures are 10-15. Went to the neuro for the mri and was told it was not needed, because the symptoms have stopped. No more head tilt or intense circling. She is also eating better. The only additional problem is an infection of the anal glands and we have started her on another round of antibiotics to hopefully clear that up. Still won't play with her toys or eat in the kitchen, and still sleeps alot... figure she is still depressed from the loss of our other dog and being blind. We are taking long walks together when I'm home ( I travel sometimes for work). Thankyou so much for thinking of Sophie. It is much appreciated. Paul
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My 4 year old jack Russell terrier, Spaz, was diagnosed with glaucoma in September 2008. My husband and I used the expensive drops for 3 months and the pressure in his eye was still in the 50 range. When we took Spaz in for eye removal surgery, the pressure dropped to 15!!! We started to give Spaz Limu www.thelimucompany.com. I know it sounds crazy, but it worked...for a little bit. We took Spaz in for his a check up and to re-fill his drops and the pressure is back. This time it is at 60! Tuesday 3/3/09 at 2:30pm, Spaz will have his eye removed!
What my husband and I can't decide on now is to have a prosthetic eye or for it to be swen shut. Does anyone know if the prosthetic eye can cause more problems down the road? We should have done the surgery months ago, but had false hope that everything would get better. How easy it is to forget that glaucoma can NOT be cured!
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YES, a prosthetic can cause future problems. With my American Eskimo we had three surgical options: 1. remove the insides of the eye, leaving the original shell, having it filled with a ball 2. remove the entire eye, have a ball inserted, and sew the eyelid shut 3. remove the entire eye, and sew the eyelid shut, with no foreign objects replacing it.
We went with the last option because it poses the least amount of future conflict, it was also the cheapest! It may not be what some people are looking for cosmetically, but it's the safest option.
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Yes, it can cause problems because the exterior is live tissue and it can get scratched and/or infected. Our opthamologist clearly favored complete removal with the lids sewn shut, though he never actually came out and said it.
We chose prosthetic eyes (ISP) for our Sam for the simple reason that we wanted to know whether he was awake or not. He had some problems shortly after the surgery because his tear production was inhibited and he got a small ulcer, but we gave him artificial tears and some other stuff and that cleared up.
We're very careful when he's outside because we have a lot of thsitles and such in the yard. During the growing season, we put "Doggles" on him to protect his eyes. (He hates them, but that's tough.)
It's been nine months, and no further problems. And the way he looks at us, sometimes you'd swear he could see! It wasn't an easy decision, but we're happy with the choice we made.
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I don't know if I can jump in here on this conversation or not because my situation a little different then all of yours. Instead of a dog, my cat Max who has been diagnosed with glaucoma. It started a few months back when I noticed Max's left eye watering. I asked the vet about this and he said to just watch it. Well, for the past two weeks Max has been hiding under the couch (though he's been eating and drinking as usual). My mom said to leave him be and that he's fine. Turns out he wasn't. Last Sunday, march 1, he came out from under the couch and his eye ball was blue and bulging. I wanted to get sick! My poor kitty. I rushed him (in a snow storm) to an emergency vet hospital where he was diagnosed with glaucoma and an ulcer to the left eye. His pressure was 35. I felt horrible. I've had Max now for about 8 yrs. I adopted him as a stray in 2001 and the vets believe at that time he was 2. So if that is correct, Maxi is now 10. Max spent all day at the emergency hospital. I picked him up later that night. His pressure came down to 21. I was given very expensive eye drops, pain meds and anti-biotic cream to give to Max three times a day. So far it seems that the pressure has remained down. Today makes day 6 since taking him home from the hospital. The doctor told me it looks like Max has no vision in his left eye. So, now I have an appointment with the Ophthalmologist on 3/13/09. I was devastated to hear he may lose that by, but have now come to the realization that if he can't see out of his left eye and its causing him to have pain, I am going to opt for eye removal. His right eye is healthy. Thank goodness, but I feel like I should have caught this sooner. That way he wouldn't have to possibly lose this eye. I look at pictures of Max from Christmas time and yes his eye weeped in the picture, but all and all, his eye looked healthy, nothing like what I saw this past Sunday when he looked at me and his eye was bulging. I want to say thank you for having this website up and running. Reading everyone's stories has given me a different, more positive outlook on this unfortunate condition (glaucoma). Thanks everyone.
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My dog Angel was just diagnosed about 2 weeks ago. So far not doing so well on the medication and side effects. On good days I like to believe she will be fine and able to keep her eye with meds for the rest of life, but the vet is pretty much indicating it is only a matter of time. She is 8 yrs old. The vet recommended complete eye removal, if we can deal with the appearance. Less chance of infection and complications. We don't have an opthamologist in my town, so this is the local vets opinion. I'm not sure if a 2 hr drive for an exam by an opthamologist is worth it - from what I'm reading the same outcome. What have you done? I would love to hear any advice? For most of us this is sudden and the info is too little to late.
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Kim:
My cat Max had his eye removed on March 26th. He had glaucoma (came on very sudden as well) though he had symptoms of leaky left eye, color change of the eye itself..etc.. The vet dr kept telling me not to worry..... Right!
But the glaucoma part came on very quickly. Anyhow, because there was so much pressure built up Max's eye (pressure was at 38), Max, lost vision in that eye instantly and the eye detached itself from the retna. There was no other option, but can I tell you: he is like a different cat since he had his eye removed. Its been a miracle to me how he has recovered so quickly. He was in so much pain before and that eye was so horrible to look at. It was hard for me to see him like that. Suffering. medds seemed to keep pressure down, but he was still in a lot of pain. The poor thing. But like I said, the opthamologist said it was necessary to remove the eye. There is NO cure for glaucoma and if your pet is suffering, then I highly recommend having the eye removed. It has changed Max's life for the better!!! Hope this info is helpful!
Sherry
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We are about 3 hours from the opthamologist. We had no idea our Sam had glaucoma until it was too late, and faced the same options you do-- the optho clearly favored complete removal, but we felt strongly that we wanted to know when Sam was awake so opted for the ISP (prosthetic implants).
If you know what you want to do, you may be able to schedule an appointment at the opthomologist with the expectation of surgery immediately following. The ISP is more difficult than complete removal (more expensive, too), and it took about 4 hours. We went shopping until he was ready.
We waited as long as we could before committing to surgery, though, wanting Sam to have the benefit of sight for as long as possible. And I think we hoped it might never become necessary, though that was clearly unrealistic. Sam went into a depression for a month afterwards-- apparently not typical-- but now (10 months later) he's adjusted very well. Most people don't even realize he's blind.
As for post-surgery complications, Sam has already had one ulcer on his "new" eyes and may be developing a second. They're treatable, but we have to be careful not to let him run in the weeds where his eyes could be damaged unless he's wearing "Doggles," and we give him artifical tears every night ($6 per tube-- much cheaper than glaucoma meds) to keep his eyes moist. There IS less risk with complete removal, but he's so expressive with his eyes that we still think we made the right choice.
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My dog Jack was diagnosed Dec 27. We had the eye removed Jan 20. Glaucoma goes very fast in animals. The vet, I live in Chicago so we were able to see an animal opthamologist, gave us four options, I choose the eye removal. It helped when the vet said this is what the dog would choose. Jack had already lost the sight in that eye and it's the pressure that is painful to the animal. They sewed Jack's eye closed and he has long hair so you really can't tell right away that he is "One Eyed Jack" The period you are going through right now is very emotional and confusing. Recovery is hard also because the animal has to wear that cone around their head and getting but in the end, I'm glad we did this. I put one drop in his good eye once a day now and we're due back at the opthamologist to check the pressure in that eye. Good luck.
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My 8 year old Shar Pei has just been diagnose with glaucoma and the nearest opthamologist is 10 hours from here. The vet seems to think there are other things going on. We love this little guy and want to make the right decision.
The vet says we will have to give drops 6 times a day and a procedure may not help and will cost thousands. We just don't know what to do.
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That's a tough situation, and I wish I had concrete answers for you. If it was me, I'd take him to the opthamologist for diagnosis, then make my decision. They are specialists and know much more (and have much more equipment and expertise) than the regular vets.
You may even be able to schedule an appointment with a tentative surgery following. That way, if the optho says it'll help, you don't have to make two trips.
If there are other things going on, does the vet suggest what they are?
When we went to the optho, all we knew was that Sam's lenses were detached, we didn't know why. It was a three hour trip (nowhere near ten hours, but not a trip across town either), and it gave us the info we needed to make a decision. As you've no doubt read above, we decided to use the drops for as long as Sam had sight. Once his sight was gone, we chose a permanent solution-- the ISP (intra-scleral prosthesis). The doc warned us that there could be complications, and Sam did have an ulcer we had to treat. But he's good about not running into thistles and such so there's been no injury.
It's now nearly a year since the surgery and we still think we made the right decision.
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My 13 1/2 year old cocker spaniel was diagnosed just yesterday. After reading through all the comments, I'm devastated. He's lived a long, happy life but our nearest opthamologist is over 5 hours away.
Have any of you considered euthanasia? I'm beginning to worry that that may be our kindest option. The idea of total blindness on an already arthritic and deaf dog is just more than I want for him.
I had always hoped that he'd go quietly in his sleep. It breaks my heart to see him falling apart piece by piece.
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That's a tough one, and ultimately only you can answer it. On the one hand, I've seen how well our dog, Sam, has adjusted to his blindness. When we first learned that he had glaucoma, we thought his life was over, but it's not. He plays and finds his way around the yard-- and rarely misses a piece of food that drops on the floor. Some people who meet him can't believe he can't see. I will try to post a video tomorrow of Sam playing in the yard-- you'll be amazed at how well he's adjusted.
On the other hand, my wife had a dog when we got together, a 14-year-old Doberman, who had a bone cancer that caused her to break her leg. They could have amputated the leg, but my wife felt strongly that you don't make an arthritic 14-year-old into a 3-legged dog, so we made the decision to pur her down.
We haven't had to face the decision you have, but the criteria we would use would be, is he suffering? Only you know whether your dog is still enjoying his life. Being deaf and blind would certainly be a challenge. But if he's already losing his sight, it may not be as big a challenge as you expect. And you can always decide to euthanize him later.
It might be worthwhile to make at least one visit to the optho to see what your options are. It's possible that, because of your dog's age, a less invasive procedure would work, like the cryogenic or laser surgery. Those are also cheaper. With a referral from your vet, and knowing how far away you live, the optho might even be willing to leave time for surgery that same day if (after he examines your dog and talks it through with you) you decide that it's the way to go.
Good luck, and you'll be in our prayers. Please let us know how it goes.
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It's me again. :( 8 months after we removed her left eye for glaucoma, poor Koda has developed it in her right eye. Going in for a removal/sew close procedure tomorrow.
We'll have a blind doggie on our hands, which doesn't seem like it will be too much of a problem, but at least she won't be in pain and therefore happy. We just won't be rearranging furniture anytime soon. ;)
Eye diseases causing pain or blindness are tragic, but as long as there are options that benefit the dogs' quality of life, and as the other senses kick in to top gear, I find that the heartbreak can be overcome.
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My 7 year old Jack Russell Finnegan was diagnosed yesterday- pressure was 45 in one eye and 54 in the other (poor boy!!). We were sent home with drops, and after reading the comments here, I am hopeful we caught it early. The blue cloudiness we noticed before has already gone away in only 3 doses of the meds we were given. It seems so many here unfortunately ended up with a "too little too late" situation. Does anyone know how long I can expect to keep my dog pain free and seeing if he has not had any sight loss as of yet? We are due to be back at the vet's for a re-check of both eyes in 10 days. . . hopefully there will be good news!
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I'm glad you caught it early. (If you haven't seen it already, check out the video of our dog Sam who is now completely blind but very well adjusted.) The drops reduce pressure almost immediately, eliminating the pain and stopping the damage caused by the pressure. Our optho told us to expect that the drops would become less effective over time-- but he couldn't give us a time frame. He said it could be months or years. There were other drops available to use instead or in combination, but again over time the effectiveness would be reduced.
Of course, advances in medicine (veterinary and otherwise) happen so quickly now that by the time Finnegan's pressures begin to rise again, there may be other alternatives as well.
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Thanks for writing back so quickly! After Finn's 4th dose this evening, his eyes still seemed a little "bulgey", though the bluish haze has stayed away. Looks like we will be having a long discussion with the vet next week as far as what he suggests. I am sure Finn will be able to adjust to blindness as well (Sam is adorable!), if that is what is best, though it just breaks my heart to think of it- though him being in pain would be much worse... he's a very lively, go with the flow sort of guy- especially for a JRT. . . I just think he will miss hunting the squirrels and bunnies on our land as is one of his favorite hobbies. Thanks again for the reply. I will try to update Finn's progress after his next appt.
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Finnegan is my Jack Russell's name as well! My little guy was diagnosed with secondary glaucoma in November of 2005 and he is still visual. Keeping your dog's eyesight will not be easy or cheap. Finnegan's meds cost me roughly 200.00 per month and he has had the cilliary body in his eyes lasered twice (the cilliary body produces the fluid that builds up). I think what is sometimes worse than the cost of the meds is the dosing schedule, three meds, three times a day.It was worse before the lasering, I use to come home at lunch to medicate him a fourth time. I really can't go on holidays without the dog as I don't want to impose his med schedule on anyone. I know his eyes really well now and can see when his pressures are going up. If your dogs eyes are still blue and buggy, medicate him until they are normal. As long as they do not look right his pressures are still up and he is still feeling it. The risk of too much medication is pressures that are too low and a retina can detach, but that is the lesser of 2 evils for me at this point, besides Finnegan had his retinas lasered down when they had to remove his lenses after the luxated in 2004. The vet believes the scar tissue and inflammation from this surgery that has led to the glaucoma, but cannot say for sure. Good luck with Finnegan and forget about buying that new car! Ha ha, if we can't laugh about it then what have we got, right?
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I noticed Sophie squinting in March and thought she had ran into a twig or something but it turned out to be glaucoma. Her pressure in one eye was 60 and she was definitely in pain. She didn't want her head petted at all. Anyway, it is July and she is on Xalatan 2-3 times a day, Flurbiprofren when it gets inflamed and the Trusopt goes in both eyes 3 times a day. She seems to be hanging in there. My vet, too, says that there is no time frame. I found a good source for the xalatan which costs around $80 at the local pharmacy. I have been buying mine from the Canada Medicine Shop. It is about half for the name brand and for $25 you get free shipping for a year, I believe. Takes about 3 weeks to arrive and appears to come from Germany or the UK. This pharmacy was given to me by the opthamologist that saw Daisy after the initial swelling. Stick with the name brand, though. At least, I feel the most comfortable with that.
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I also have a cocker with glaucoma. and unfortunately we need to remove her right eye. We have begun to treat the left eye once a day with drops as a preventative. However, it seems to hinder her more than help. her "good" eye gets so red and scratchy when we apply the drop. Have any of you experienced this? What are your thoughts?
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My Jack Russell was diagnosed in July and has been on Timolol 3x daily ever since. His pressures were holding in the mid-twenties for months, doing well. Two weeks ago on a Friday, I called the vet for a refill, and to my dismay His answering machine said the office would be closed that day (and the remainder of the weekend)as he was on an emergency call at a farm in the next county. I called every other vet in my area, no-one carried the Timolol except one other office, and the one that did would not prescribe without an office visit, which they did not have available until the next week anyway. At the end of the weekend, however, Finn's eyes looked BETTER! not so bulgy or red and irritated. I took him in first thing Monday, and his pressures had DOUBLED and were reading in the fifties. =( Turns out that while the drops may LOOK like they are irritating, they are actually doing the job intended and the little bit of irritation is normal. Unfortunately, after the three days with no drops, even at another check-up 10 days later, Finn's IOPs are in the 40's. I think the idea that we could maintain with medication longterm has been shattered, and we are looking into other options. I can't help but wonder how long he would have had before surgery became necessary if the Rx had been available elsewhere that weekend.
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My Finnegan (Winnipeg, Canada)had his 3rd laser in October surgery to kill off some more cilliary body. He is still on the same amount of meds (Xalatan TIC, Trusopt and Maxidex BID) but I can relax as he is not experiencing any more pressure spikes. He does not have much sight in his right eye due to the previous spike but his vision in his left is still good. The ophthalmologist now thinks Finnegan will retain his eyesight for the rest of his life. This I did not expect to hear!
This has not been an easy process as the meds run over 2,000 per year, the eye clinic check ups 150 every 3-6 months and a laser surgery is about 1,200 for the surgery, hotel, and gas for the 8 hr drive to Saskatoon vet college. Obviously I will do anything I can for my dog and I am lucky enough to be able to (somewhat) afford it.
One bit of advice I would like to give about medicating your dog is that when there is a pressure spike, DO NOT stick to the schedule. Medicate the heck out of your dog until his pressures come down. I am talking every 20 minutes or so for a few hours until the eyes crystal clear with no signs of blueness or bulginess. Always have extra on hand in case of spikes. I always have an extra full bottle of each. You will get to know your dogs eyes and see a spike and stop it before it gets too bad. Finnegan has had glaucoma since November of 2005 and can still see!
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Esther you are so correct about medicating during a spike. I wish I had known this before my basset Bailey spiked last weekend. He was doing well on Xalatan, Timilol and methazolamide for 10 weeks and suddenly out of the blue woke up in trouble in his left eye. I was afraid I'd overmedicate him, but should have done what you suggest and dose every 20 minutes until the eye cleared. Instead we went to the ER opthamologist and they put him on IV meds, which was costly and didn't really do any more than if I would have medicated him at home. Pressure is down now, but I think he has completely lost sight in that eye. Vet is giving it 2 weeks to see if any sight returns. If not, we are looking at removing the eye and going with the prosthetic. His other eye isn't in great shape either but he does have some sight. I am watching it like a hawk now and when that pupil looks big, I give him another drop out of my arsenal of meds. Tricky disease to manage and like you, husband and I are now afraid to leave him with others as we know what missing a dose will mean.
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Our Sam is a blue heeler, and they never complain about pain-- so we didn't know how much pain he was in, even with the drops. When he lost jis sight, we opted for the ISP surgery (Intrascleral Prosthesis) in both eyes.
Once Sam healed, the pain was gone permanently. The tissue of his eyes is still his, but there's no internal pressure, there's a prosthetic instead of fluid. And once he adjusted, which took a couple of months, he became happier and more playful than he'd been in a couple of years.
If you haven't seen it, check out our video, "Who Needs Sight?" Most of the time, you'd never know Sam is blind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKOm-eS5gIA
If the meds are controlling your dog's pressures, great. But if they aren't, or if the sight is already gone and the ongoing expense is wearing on you, the permanent solution is not so bad. The adjustment was difficult for him, but I think the whole process was harder on us than on him!
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Our dog Packer had a sudden onset which we thought was possibly an insect bite or bee sting, eye swollen shut. We took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with glaucoma in his left eye. Totally blind. She gave us prescription for drops to bring down pressue and antibiotic meds. His pressure came down and we used drops in both eyes. Two months later he was following me and when I stopped he bumped into me! Took back to vet and although his pressure was somewhat normal, he was blind in the other eye. We have been using drops in his eyes 3 times a day but recently we noticed his eyes were red and buldging. Pressure is back up. We live near Cornell University who has a vet college and she recommended we take him to have an opth appointment. She recommended we have both eyes removed and eyelids sewn shut. He just turned 9 years old and seems happy and in his own home and fenced large yard he seems to do well. Adjusted very well. I am hoping the drops will work to keep pressure down but he doesn't act like he's in pain. He is a beautiful Chocolate Lab and has sired 2 beautiful litters of puppies. I think what will have to happen is to have his eyes removed eventually as that seems to be the procedure that will keep him from have problems. The artificial eyes may cause problems so even though it may be best I can't imagine how he will look with his eye lids closed all the time. Very sad. But he is a happy guy and we love him. Too young to be put down and has nothing else wrong with him. This is something we had never encountered before in our dogs that have passed on--two lab mixes. Both died of old age. This boy has potentially 4 or 5 years left so we will probably do what is best for him and forget how others see him, he will be beautiful to us always.
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We have a beautiful basset boy, Bailey who was diagnosed right before Thanksgiving. His third eyelids suddenly came up and he had light sensitivity. Our regular vet mis-diagnosed him with allergies and so by the time we got to a opthamologist( 2 weeks later) he had pressures over 50,and much sight was lost in both eyes. The specialist started him on Xalatan, Timilol drops and also oral methazolamide. Bailey did wonderful for 10 weeks.
Last Saturday he had a huge spike in the left eye with pressures over 80. Luckily his right eye pressure was only 9. With IV treatment and an added drop...azopt, they managed to get his pressure back down to 13. But, we fear he now has no sight in his left eye.
I think we will be removing that eye and we know the same will probably eventually happen to his good eye ( which he only has about 25% vision in already).
This disease is very sad, but, i am truly amazed at how well both owners and dogs adjust to their new world. Thank you to Sam's owners for posting that wonderful video of your doggie. It gives me hope that Bailey will be ok too and life will not be over for him no matter what happens with his eyes. He is only 4 years old and otherwise perfect. We love him so much.
This is a wonderful site to come to for inspiration and hope. And best of luck to all of you who are on this journey with your canine/feline companions.
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My boy Silver was diagnosed just last week after an episode in his right eye. I am certain he is blind or nearly so in that eye. My wonderful vet has him on meds and did a 'cut ot the chase' for me on treatment and cost etc. I found the xalatan out of Canada for 1/3 what I can get it here in the states which makes it much easier to continue his treatment.
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Janette, is Silver just on Xalatan? We see a opthalmologist vet and he has Bailey on 3 different drops, plus oral methazolamide. We are being aggressive as after a recent spike in pressure he has very little sight left. I get all his meds from either Canada Pharmacy or Costco.
My only advice is be as agressive in treatment as your vet will allow. I wish we had dosed bailey up more and maybe he wouldn't have had the pressure spike he had 2 weeks ago. Seems each spike takes more vision away :-(
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My shar pei was diagnosed 2 years ago with Glaucoma.. Does anyone know of the laser surgery to release pressure?
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Talk to your opthamologist. The surgery does work for some cases. But we were told our Sam was not a good candidate because his case was too severe-- that even if the surgery worked, he would need regular (expensive and traumatic) repeats.
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The laser surgery to kill off the cillary body was 800.00 Canadian in Saskatoon, SK Canada and it is not traumatic at all. My dog suffered no ill effects from the surgery other than being a little groggy from the aenathesia. He required no pain killers and was ready for an 8 hour car ride the next morning. Unless of course you are speaking of a different laser surgery.
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We live in a rural area, and it's three hours to the opthamologist, and an hour and a half to the nearest vet that can test pressures. The driving, long days or overnight stays, poking and prodding-- the whole process was traumatic for him. If the laser surgery was more likely to succeed with him, we definitely would have done it-- it was our first choice. But the optho warned that in Sam's case, the cells creating the pressure were likely to grow back, requiring retreatments as often as annually.
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Our prayers and best wishes go with you. Please keep us posted.
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DJ I am hoping you can give me some words of wisdom. I have posted here before about Bailey our basset. he was diagnosed in November and was on all the medications available.3 weeks ago he had a bad spike in his left eye and went completely blind. Wednesday of this week, we had the evisceration done with prosthesis. Bailey is home and so far his 3rd, eyelids are mostly up over both eyes. The pressure in his good eye is only between 6-9. As a result of the third eyelids being raised, he is walking into walls as if he were completely blind. Of course he is wearing the Elizabethan collar as well, which he hates. I am just wondering how long it took for your Sam to recover from the surgery. I am now second guessing myself and wondering if we should not have gone down this road. Watching Bailey suffer is almost unbearable for us. The vet is hoping that Bailey will get a year of vision with his good eye. I don't know if he or we can do another surgery like this. I am just very sad today and I guess having myself a little pity party :-(
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Linda, our thoughts are with you. The surgery is hard. Sam was in pain and on painkillers for 7 - 10 days (I can't remember exactly now). My wife slept on the floor with him for several nights because he would wake up in pain and panicked. He too wore the cone, and combined with the painkillers it really threw him off and we had to keep him confined to a small, safe area for a while. The most severe physical effects of the surgery took about 2 weeks to pass.
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DJ, I sent you a long e-mail under my secondary screenname. Thanks for listening.
Linda
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Hi MaryAnn,
You can get laser surgery to kill off the cillary body which produces the fluid. It may take a couple of rounds before it really takes well. Please read my earlier posts.
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Thank you guys for getting back to me..
It has been really weird with my shar pei..The optomologist has been telling me that he has to wait for the pressure to go up in order to do the laser surgery. For the past month he has been having problems..So his pressure was 60 yesterday, but now he wants to do the prosthetic and not the laser. But Im so confused as to why has he been telling me about the laser if its not something u can do now? I mean up to 2 weeks ago, he was saying it? And 2 weeks ago, his pressure was up, and wasnt able to see, but last week it was down to 30 and he had vision in it? So is his vision loss bc of the high pressure?? Or will he not get it back? I know these are questions for the Opt..but I really truly believe that he cant see bc of the pressure... I know my dog and when his pressure is down, I do the test on the right eye and he blinks, so he can see my hand? Im so confused, and my gutt tells me to do the laser surgery anyway before I do the prosthetic. my main concern is getting him comfortable. But I know if I dont do the laser, I will always wonder what if I did?
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Hi MaryAnn,
When the pressure goes up it squashes the optic nerve and prevents your dog from seeing. When the pressure goes down, your dog can see, but each time the dog will have less vision than what the dog had before the pressure spike and each spike steals more and more vision. Sustained pressure will permanently blind the dog. My dog still menaces (blinks when something is comes near the eye) with his right eye but has not much vision left on that side. Until you make your decision you should keep medicating your dog and keep the pressures low to prevent the dog from feeling the pain of increased pressure. I cannot tell you which route to take, that is your personal choice. Battling glaucoma can be expensive and futile. You should keep on the opthomologist to get all the answers you need and he should be providing you with the reasons for his reccomendation for any procedure.
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Yes, you are so right. Expensive and futile is correct because in the end it is always the same...the dog will eventually be blind. We are all just doing our best to give our pups the best chance at a few more days/weeks/months of vision.
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I am giving all his medication. And I totally understand what u are saying. Thats why I am alittle confused as too why my Dr says he is blind in that eye?? If he was blind he wouldnt be able to see me from that eye?? And I truly believe he cant see well out of it bc his pressure is high. I know when the pressure is high, they cant see..But when his pressure goes down, he is able to see . And I also understand every time it rises it takes away some vision. But what Im battling over in my mind is, If the laser surg will release the pressure, and maybe, just maybe he will have some vision in it? I know there's really no way to tell until u do it, but I do want to do it. I want to atleast try it for him. But my dr thinks I should go otherwise. He says 20% failure rate, which isnt high, but shar pei's have a hard time with it, and it probably wont work. But the probably, can also be a maybe, in my mind..
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Trust yourself if your dog is menacing for you, but remember it may only a shadow he sees and that may be why the Dr considers the dog to be blind.
My dog has had the laser surgery 3 times and each time lasts much longer than the previous. He had surgery in November and theere has not been a single spike. You still have to medicate all the time and go for check ups which run me about 2,300 a year, but my dog has good vision in his left eye and not great vision in his left. His opthomologist from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon expects him to retain his vision for the rest of his life. I don't know where you are located, but I suspect it is far from central Canada.
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I should mention the time between the second and third lasers were about a year. After the last (third) laser his eyes have never been better and I expect this surgery to last more than one year.
Also I menat to say above that he has good vision in his left and not great vision in his RIGHT eye.
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Thank you...I have made my decision and I went with the laser surgery. He goes in monday for it. I am very nervous for my boy, but I owe it to him this last chance to save whatever sight he has in the right eye. If I didn't do it, I would always wonder. And I know he can see me, whether its a shadow or more, he def sees me. So I am extremely comfortable with my decision. And if this doesn't work, I will have to go with the prostetic. But I am keeping positive :). He has been through so much, and has come so far, and to give up, its just not an option. Please say a prayer for my boy Junior. I thank you :)
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Hi MaryAnn,
I wish you and Junior the best of luck with the surgery. Watch him closely after the surgery as he should experience an IOP spike some hours later, just be ready with your pressure meds. Finnegan had spikes after the first two lasers but nothing after the third surgery. Again, good luck!!!
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