[Lightning&Stomps]

Lightning has uveitis of undetermined cause in one eye. The vet said he might need to be on prednisolone acetate eyedrops for 8 weeks. He's very good about letting me put the drops in his eye. It's been about 3 weeks since I started the drops, and I really can't tell if his eye is any better (there's a blue film over his eye, which is the only visible sign of the uveitis), but it doesn't appear to be worse. I'm almost out of the eyedrops. Should I take him back to the vet's when I go to get more drops for another check, or just give the drops for a few more weeks? He's not in any pain, but obviously I don't want any permanent damage done to his eye. I guess I can ask the vet about bringing him back in, but I'd like to know if anyone on this forum has gone through this before and what their experiences were.

 

[Soundtrack]

Did the vet do a tear test or any other testing? Ginger had uveitis, but it was primarily due to dry eye and insufficient tear production, in which case there is medication to help reverse the problem. She gets a Schirmer Tear Test every time we see the opthamologist.

I doubt that Lightning's case is as severe, but if it were me I think I'd have the vet take a look at it if I were not seeing improvement.

Really, I wish we'd seen the specialist sooner, perhaps we might have been able to save at least one of her eyes.

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

Thanks Miriam. I'm taking him back to the vet tomorrow.

 

[BubbaLeroy]

How is Lightning Doing? I sure hope you got good news at the vets.

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

Thanks for asking. They've done every test they can at the vet, and still can't determine the cause of the uveitis. He was extremely anxious at the vet's, and when they took his blood pressure it was very high. So they put him on BP medication (high blood pressure can be one reason for uveitis). And they had to send some of his urine off to a lab in Texas to be looked at, so it will be a couple of days before I hear back about that. and the vet is going to talk to an opthalmologist. At this point, I'm very worried that the eye will have to be removed. I'm trying not to think ahead, but that goes against my nature. I know dogs can do fine with limited or even no vision, but it still kills me to think of them taking one of his beautiful eyes out.

 

[Soundtrack]

We are actually looking at removing Ginger's eyes. She has been on drops since spring, and although her eyes are stable they are not improving much and she is totally blind. We're thinking she may be more comfortable to simply have them removed and not having to bother with drops every 4 hours.

And yes, she manages beautifully with no vision.

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

I'm glad to hear she gets around so well. Do you know what they do after they remove a basset hound's eye? Do they sew the lids together? Given the excess skin, it seems something must be done (I'm really trying not to think the worst-case scenario, but I have been wondering about the cosmetic aspects of dealing with a basset.)

 

[Kris L. Christine]

Lightning has uveitis of undetermined cause in one eye.

Did you recently have LIghtning vaccinated? Uveitis is one of the known adverse reactions to vaccinations, please see the article from the World Small Animal Veterinary Association at the link below.


http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2003&PID=6547&O=Generic

Avoiding Vaccine Reactions in Dogs and Cats

Type III hypersensitivity reaction, associated with immune-complex formation and deposition, is responsible for the anterior uveitis that occurs in some dogs receiving the MLV--CAV-1 vaccine. This local type III, or Arthus reaction results from virus-antibody complex formation within the eye. The process resolves spontaneously unless secondary complications such as glaucoma develop.

 

[Lightning&Stomps]

No, he hasn't been vaccinated in well over a year.

 

[Soundtrack]

I beleive they either sew the eye shut or put in a prosthetic. Most of the dogs I've seen have the eye shut, but I know one lady on another board who had prosthetics put in. To me they (prosthetics) looked kind of creepy, at least in photos. The ones with the eye shut always look like they're winking at you.

 

[Beverly Anne]

With Francis they put a prosthetic in his first "failed" eye then destroyed the other eye with direct injections of gentamycin when the pain got to be constant.
It's been 5 or 6 years since he went totally blind and he gets around beautifully.
Nice to see some familiar faces!