corneal ulcer?
Submitted by Missy Violet an... on February 2, 2011 - 12:09pmHi Folks,
I posted last week about my 8 year old BD's eye squinting. I'll try to give a quick version...he started squinting his right eye 3 weeks ago and vet initially stained eyes and checked for scratches & ulcers, there were none. He put him on artificial tears for a couple days which didn't help, so we added Gentimicin. Still no better so then we did neo/poly/dex for 5 days, which did seem to help the squinting for the most part. For the past week, after the neo/poly/dex, he would go back and forth with a few good days, then a day of squinting. They never seems to be fully healed. Last night when I held him up to the light I noticed a white spot in the lower part of his iris, not over the pupil though. I'm taking him back in this evening. Does this sound like a corneal ulcer?
Did the vet check for distichia?
We just had a second procedure on Maggie on Monday due to distichia - the eyelashes turned in and rubbing on the eye (which can cause an ulcer). I don't have any knowledge as to whether or not what you've described is an ulcer.
I'm just guessing that they
I'm just guessing that they did check for that. I know for sure they did the stain to check for scratches/ulcers and they did the dry eye test. Ironically, the eye that he wasn't squinting tested pretty dry, at a 7. The irritated eye tested normal, at a 15...I'm just wondering if that is accurate since it was so teary and irritated at the time of the test? Thanks for your input!
Don't assume
anything when it comes to vets properly testing. Under good light you can see if he has distichia. The eyelashes are growing on the inside of the eyelid not the outside. He could also have entropian, which is the rolling of the eyelid. Either way at 7 weeks (did you say)...that is very young to be dealing with this. Did the seller actually sell you a 7 week old puppy and let you take it home. Maybe I'm getting the age worng.
If the vets keep guessing I would find an eye specialist. Did the vet throughly check inside the lower lid for any debris. My Suri puppy got a horse hair inside her lower lid and it caused all kinds of trouble.
He's not a puppy, he's
He's not a puppy, he's actually 8 years old. I can say with certainty that it's not distichia and it doesn't look like the eyelids are rolling either. I took him to the vet last evening and the white spot that I'm seeing is indeed an ulcer. He said it's actually on the healing side of things now and that it's not too bad at all. We now have him on antibiotics drops.
I'm confused as to why the ulcer didn't show up on the original stain test when I first took him in? I was right there and saw for myself that there were no scratches or ulcers. I guess it's just a wait and see thing at this point...if he continues to have issues figure out the underlying problem. If not, assume he just hurt himself while rubbing his face or some kind of debris, as you mentioned.
Well I'm glad I found this forum. All of your input is greatly appreciated!
Ulcers can happen very quickly
and if it was tiny and he has access to any tree branches, twigs, etc it is likely he got a little poke. Also if it was there and healing on it's own they can get a layer over the top of the ulcer that wouldn't take the stain so you may not have seen the ulcer.
My 1 yr. Old Sally is 3 wks post op from having entropion
(2nd surgery for this), plus dystacia and double cherry eye surgery. The very first time I took her to the vet (last summer), because she too was squinting, they did not see an ulcer. Couple weeks later and a few antibiotic drops later, they finally see an ulcer. Long story short, ulcers can appear at any time and what I have found is that eye issues should be dealt with a canine opthamologist. I have a fairly good vet, but he is not an expert on eyes and his first entropion surgery did not take well. I ended up using an excellent specialist, and 3 wks later her eyes are doing great. When it comes to eyes, it pays to use someone who knows what they are doing!
"Still Plays In the Dirt"