I am pretty much sick to DEATH about this dogs eye! (For those of you who don't know, we've had issues with Chatums right eye for AGES!) There have been problems with it since he was adopted almost a year ago in July, but were only first noticed a few weeks after adoption - and he was a stray when the animal shelter found him, so NOTHING was known about his medical history other than he was a 2.5 year old dog that had been neutered, was in (relatively) good health, happy, well adjusted, liked people/other dogs, had been previously trained, had LOTS of mats in his fur and his nails hadn't been trimmed in quite some time.
He's had multiple dye tests to check for ulcers, tear tests to make sure that his eyes were producing enough tears and were able to get rid of any bacteria that might be in his eye, cultures were taken and sent away to see if there were any underlying issues that might present as an eye condition, eye pressures taken on multiple occassions... and on and on.
The vet we see originally thought that he had pink eye, which made sense at the time. It was red, it was irritated and we had a discharge going on. They prescribed a little bottle of BNPH (a steroid cream) to put in his eye. On the meds, his eye cleared up, but a day or two after he went off the meds, it came back in full force. Our vet thought that maybe not all the pink eye bacteria was wiped out and it was just a matter of being on the meds longer since it got better with the steriod. So, we went home with another little tube of the stuff, only to have the issue flare up again one-two days later.
It was after that that I'd noticed that the whites of his eyes were white after he slept a full night or had naps during the day and started turning pink/red when he was awake. The conclusion? It wasn't pink eye. The next diagnosis was uveitis. Put simply, his eye was inflamed and the pressure was higher in his right eye (the one with all the issues) than his left eye - sort of like when one of your kitchen sinks is clogged and the other one doesn't drain as well as it should. The solution? New meds. This time a drop. Outcome? His eye STILL turned red shortly after discontinuing his meds.
FINALLY we were referred to a pet opthamologist (but in the meantime were given another kind of drop until we could get an appointment). Downside? We had to take a LONG drive from our tiny middle-o-nowhere town to the city (but I got Starbucks and indian food, it was sort of worth it) It was the longest car ride Chatum had ever been on, so he whined the whole way there, was crazy once we got there because we were in a new place with new smells and LOTS of other dogs waiting in the lobby. I had to fill out new patient paperwork for him. So I'm sitting in the lobby, trying to control an excited and restless dog pulling to try so he can visit with the other dogs, fill out paperwork at the same time, with a pen that didn't work... did I mention that was in my second trimester and I was alone? Yeah. Not so fun.
We did find out what was wrong with his eye though. I can't remember the medical term for what is going on with Chatums eye, but his eye membrane "fooled" into thinking that something was in his eye and was trying to get rid of it. His eye membrane was thickening in one spot which was causing the irritation, redness, swelling and discharge. So, we were sent home with some eye drops he was supposed to receive for 3 times a day for a few weeks, then 2 times for a few weeks, then 1 day for a few weeks and then finally discontinue. The first course was successful... for longer than just a couple days until the redness returned. Thankfully, we didn't have to take a drive again and our doggy eye doc suggested to use the same drops for a little longer. Outcome? Two weeks passed before his eye started turning pink again.
So, this time we *did* have to drive back. This time, our doggy eye doc noticed that it was the same condition and that he didn't miss anything, his membrane wasn't thickening anymore, so there had been improvement, which was REALLY good news. Now, we have the same drops as before, which we have to give to him 3 times a day for a month, then two times a day for a month, then one time a day for a month and then alternating days for a month - along with a steriod tablet which he has to take with food. Two tablets once a day for two weeks, then one tablet once a day for two weeks, then half a tablet a day for two weeks. The hope is that the tablets in the beginning of this course of meds in addition to the drops will be aggressive enough to finish this thing off. It's rare that a pet will have to have one type of medication for an eye condition like this for the rest of its life. Right now, for us, it's a matter of finding the right meds in the right dosage to put this behind us. Hopefully, by the end of July - and going into August, we see improvement and don't EVER have to worry about this again. I'm just REALLY thankful that Chatum is really good about taking his meds and is (more or less) okay with things being put in his eye. I guess it doesn't hurt that by now, I'm a pro at administering his meds.
Another plus side? With this last trip to the city I was able to get Starbucks again :)
He's had multiple dye tests to check for ulcers, tear tests to make sure that his eyes were producing enough tears and were able to get rid of any bacteria that might be in his eye, cultures were taken and sent away to see if there were any underlying issues that might present as an eye condition, eye pressures taken on multiple occassions... and on and on.
The vet we see originally thought that he had pink eye, which made sense at the time. It was red, it was irritated and we had a discharge going on. They prescribed a little bottle of BNPH (a steroid cream) to put in his eye. On the meds, his eye cleared up, but a day or two after he went off the meds, it came back in full force. Our vet thought that maybe not all the pink eye bacteria was wiped out and it was just a matter of being on the meds longer since it got better with the steriod. So, we went home with another little tube of the stuff, only to have the issue flare up again one-two days later.
It was after that that I'd noticed that the whites of his eyes were white after he slept a full night or had naps during the day and started turning pink/red when he was awake. The conclusion? It wasn't pink eye. The next diagnosis was uveitis. Put simply, his eye was inflamed and the pressure was higher in his right eye (the one with all the issues) than his left eye - sort of like when one of your kitchen sinks is clogged and the other one doesn't drain as well as it should. The solution? New meds. This time a drop. Outcome? His eye STILL turned red shortly after discontinuing his meds.
FINALLY we were referred to a pet opthamologist (but in the meantime were given another kind of drop until we could get an appointment). Downside? We had to take a LONG drive from our tiny middle-o-nowhere town to the city (but I got Starbucks and indian food, it was sort of worth it) It was the longest car ride Chatum had ever been on, so he whined the whole way there, was crazy once we got there because we were in a new place with new smells and LOTS of other dogs waiting in the lobby. I had to fill out new patient paperwork for him. So I'm sitting in the lobby, trying to control an excited and restless dog pulling to try so he can visit with the other dogs, fill out paperwork at the same time, with a pen that didn't work... did I mention that was in my second trimester and I was alone? Yeah. Not so fun.
We did find out what was wrong with his eye though. I can't remember the medical term for what is going on with Chatums eye, but his eye membrane "fooled" into thinking that something was in his eye and was trying to get rid of it. His eye membrane was thickening in one spot which was causing the irritation, redness, swelling and discharge. So, we were sent home with some eye drops he was supposed to receive for 3 times a day for a few weeks, then 2 times for a few weeks, then 1 day for a few weeks and then finally discontinue. The first course was successful... for longer than just a couple days until the redness returned. Thankfully, we didn't have to take a drive again and our doggy eye doc suggested to use the same drops for a little longer. Outcome? Two weeks passed before his eye started turning pink again.
So, this time we *did* have to drive back. This time, our doggy eye doc noticed that it was the same condition and that he didn't miss anything, his membrane wasn't thickening anymore, so there had been improvement, which was REALLY good news. Now, we have the same drops as before, which we have to give to him 3 times a day for a month, then two times a day for a month, then one time a day for a month and then alternating days for a month - along with a steriod tablet which he has to take with food. Two tablets once a day for two weeks, then one tablet once a day for two weeks, then half a tablet a day for two weeks. The hope is that the tablets in the beginning of this course of meds in addition to the drops will be aggressive enough to finish this thing off. It's rare that a pet will have to have one type of medication for an eye condition like this for the rest of its life. Right now, for us, it's a matter of finding the right meds in the right dosage to put this behind us. Hopefully, by the end of July - and going into August, we see improvement and don't EVER have to worry about this again. I'm just REALLY thankful that Chatum is really good about taking his meds and is (more or less) okay with things being put in his eye. I guess it doesn't hurt that by now, I'm a pro at administering his meds.
Another plus side? With this last trip to the city I was able to get Starbucks again :)
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