DogMom
08-15-2008, 09:48 PM
I'm posting this from our Flat-Coat group because it applies to ALL dogs....I don't think we can ever be too careful when it comes to the health and well-being of our beloved pets, if this only helps one person........
Piper has glaucoma. She has lost the sight in her right eye, and will likely lose the sight in her left eye at some point. Whether that is days, weeks, or months away, the vet can't say, but he said the average time is 18 months. She has primary glaucoma, meaning she has goniodysgenesis and it was not caused by injury or trauma. The veterinary opthamologist we were lucky enough to get to see was awesome, really great at explaining the situation and our options. He said that very few people know anything about glaucoma in dogs, we were the 3rd set of dog owners that day who'd brought in a dog in the same situation.
While the eye drops and drugs that we're giving her have temporarily reduced the pressure in her bad eye (and are preventing her good eye from getting worse), he explained that the best way to keep her pain-free is to have the blind eye removed as soon as possible. We've currently got that scheduled for next Wednesday. Thank goodness we've got a 'pet fund' and that the cost won't keep us from getting it done (because it's not cheap). We're probably not going to get the prosthetic eye done, simply because the vet said that that entails a longer recovery period, and somewhat more risks for Piper. At this point, all we want is for her to be pain-free as soon as possible, and with the least pain from the surgery. But I welcome any input from anyone who has any experience with this kind of situation. We don't have to decide until surgery day which way we want to go (prosthetic or not; in the latter case her eyelid will simply be sewn shut). Personally, I'd rather she had a "pretend" eye, but since that's simply for my comfort level, it's irrelevant- it's about her comfort, and she doesn't care if she has a fake eye or not.
I would like to give everyone a heads up: please, learn the symptoms of glaucoma, and if your dog shows ANY signs of eye problems, get it to a vet ASAP. All the information I've found since this happened says the same thing- it's an emergency situation, and treatment sooner rather than later will not only spare the dog pain, but may save at least some of the sight in the affected eye (or eyes). Piper's only symptom was that her right eye was squinty- she was eating fine, playing, getting around fine, tail wagging, etc. She had a little bump on her muzzle, so I thought she'd probably had a run-in with a bee, causing the squinty eye, and gave her a benadryl. When our regular vet couldn't get us in, they never suggested that this could be an emergency situation. But when she became lethargic on Tuesday, I knew something was up. We did get an appointment, and thank goodness we were both able to get off work to go- if I'd been there by myself and gotten the news, I don't know what I would have done. The vet at our regular clinic called the specialty clinic and they said they could see us, so we zoomed over there (in rush hour traffic- yes, let's please have additional stress!) and got to see the opthamologist, who'd stayed just for us. The day deteriorated from there.
The biggest shock for me was that in my years of working at vet clinics (when I was younger), my years of being part of this list, years of reading books and online articles about dog health and care, I don't recall ever seeing anything that said "Glaucoma symptoms = emergency". Even on this list, when I went back & did a search for 'glaucoma', all I found was a brief discussion in September 2006 that mostly had to do with the value of gonioscopy. Perhaps prior to our Google Groups days there was more discussion and I just wasn't paying attention because Piper was young and I thought (if I thought about it at all) that glaucoma was an "old dog" disease, and also that it was gradual, like in humans. Not so. In dogs, they can go from fine to blind in a matter of hours, and that's apparently what happened to Piper. The vet did point out that if she'd had gonioscopy done as early as 6 months old, we could have been told that it was likely (but not certain) that she would probably eventually get glaucoma. Or, if she'd had "good" eyes, that the likelihood of her getting glaucoma would be much slimmer (but not a guarantee that she wouldn't get it). Either way, we would have had the info about glaucoma and been aware, and perhaps things would have turned out differently. I'm hoping that by spreading the word, I can help keep someone else and their dog(s) from going through this awful situation.
Piper has glaucoma. She has lost the sight in her right eye, and will likely lose the sight in her left eye at some point. Whether that is days, weeks, or months away, the vet can't say, but he said the average time is 18 months. She has primary glaucoma, meaning she has goniodysgenesis and it was not caused by injury or trauma. The veterinary opthamologist we were lucky enough to get to see was awesome, really great at explaining the situation and our options. He said that very few people know anything about glaucoma in dogs, we were the 3rd set of dog owners that day who'd brought in a dog in the same situation.
While the eye drops and drugs that we're giving her have temporarily reduced the pressure in her bad eye (and are preventing her good eye from getting worse), he explained that the best way to keep her pain-free is to have the blind eye removed as soon as possible. We've currently got that scheduled for next Wednesday. Thank goodness we've got a 'pet fund' and that the cost won't keep us from getting it done (because it's not cheap). We're probably not going to get the prosthetic eye done, simply because the vet said that that entails a longer recovery period, and somewhat more risks for Piper. At this point, all we want is for her to be pain-free as soon as possible, and with the least pain from the surgery. But I welcome any input from anyone who has any experience with this kind of situation. We don't have to decide until surgery day which way we want to go (prosthetic or not; in the latter case her eyelid will simply be sewn shut). Personally, I'd rather she had a "pretend" eye, but since that's simply for my comfort level, it's irrelevant- it's about her comfort, and she doesn't care if she has a fake eye or not.
I would like to give everyone a heads up: please, learn the symptoms of glaucoma, and if your dog shows ANY signs of eye problems, get it to a vet ASAP. All the information I've found since this happened says the same thing- it's an emergency situation, and treatment sooner rather than later will not only spare the dog pain, but may save at least some of the sight in the affected eye (or eyes). Piper's only symptom was that her right eye was squinty- she was eating fine, playing, getting around fine, tail wagging, etc. She had a little bump on her muzzle, so I thought she'd probably had a run-in with a bee, causing the squinty eye, and gave her a benadryl. When our regular vet couldn't get us in, they never suggested that this could be an emergency situation. But when she became lethargic on Tuesday, I knew something was up. We did get an appointment, and thank goodness we were both able to get off work to go- if I'd been there by myself and gotten the news, I don't know what I would have done. The vet at our regular clinic called the specialty clinic and they said they could see us, so we zoomed over there (in rush hour traffic- yes, let's please have additional stress!) and got to see the opthamologist, who'd stayed just for us. The day deteriorated from there.
The biggest shock for me was that in my years of working at vet clinics (when I was younger), my years of being part of this list, years of reading books and online articles about dog health and care, I don't recall ever seeing anything that said "Glaucoma symptoms = emergency". Even on this list, when I went back & did a search for 'glaucoma', all I found was a brief discussion in September 2006 that mostly had to do with the value of gonioscopy. Perhaps prior to our Google Groups days there was more discussion and I just wasn't paying attention because Piper was young and I thought (if I thought about it at all) that glaucoma was an "old dog" disease, and also that it was gradual, like in humans. Not so. In dogs, they can go from fine to blind in a matter of hours, and that's apparently what happened to Piper. The vet did point out that if she'd had gonioscopy done as early as 6 months old, we could have been told that it was likely (but not certain) that she would probably eventually get glaucoma. Or, if she'd had "good" eyes, that the likelihood of her getting glaucoma would be much slimmer (but not a guarantee that she wouldn't get it). Either way, we would have had the info about glaucoma and been aware, and perhaps things would have turned out differently. I'm hoping that by spreading the word, I can help keep someone else and their dog(s) from going through this awful situation.