Aleeya's Eye- Nictitating Membrane Won't Retract?

[Guest sorenkkg]

I'm totally freaking out -- DH just left for the e-vet (cuz wouldn't you know that we have to take her in and our vet closes at 7pm, and we noticed this at 6:55pm...)

Aleeya's right eye is, weird?

 

Her nictitating (sp?) membrane is 1/2 covering her eye, so she's sort of keeping it closed, but that's what it's like when it's open.

 

No discharge, blood, or redness that I see.

 

I thought I saw this earlier, but she was sleeping, and the membrane is often visible when she's asleep with her eyes open....

 

 

Any thoughts on what this could be? I've got NO experience with eyes-- Haka usually injures his leg or paw, so that's where my current "expertise" lies... He's currently taken up the pharoh position by the front door-- didn't know he liked her that much...

 

I'm hoping maybe a scratch or something in it? I didn't think to flush it, not that I know how to do that for a dog...

Maybe they'll give her eye drops and a doggy eye patch?

 

oy.... someone say something comforting please....

Edited May 6, 2010 by sorenkkg

[JAJ2010]

Could be a scratch or something irritating it. If there is a scratch just make sure the drops or ointment has NO steroids in it. But I bet your vet knows that. Let us know how she is.

[Batmom]

Usually something easy like scratch, foreign body, infection.

 

I say easy. These things can take time to heal but again, usually not big and life threatening.

 

Hugs. Let us know what e-vet says.

[Guest ThunderPaws]

One of my grey's "third eyelids" always covered about 1/4 of her eye. On windy days they turned red but never bothered her. Aleeya's eye sounds worse, though, and it seems as if it happened all of the sudden? Hope she's ok! Let us know what the vet says.

 

 

I googled and found this:

"The Third Eyelid is also known as the Nictitating Membrane. It serves as added protection for the eye through an interesting ability to close upward and over the dog's eyeball. The canine is able to retract the entire eyeball backward into the eye socket, and coupled with this retraction is the Third Eyelid's ability to slide up and over the retracted globe."

 

"Each eye of a dog has three eyelids, the main upper and lower lids and a third lid hidden between them in the inner corner of the eye. The third eyelid can sweep across the transparent cornea of the eye and clean it like a windshield wiper."

 

"Regardless of the cause, a patient with conjunctivitis will often squint and/or keep the third eyelid partially covering the eyeball. Conjunctivitis is often painful, causing a dog to paw at or rub the eye against objects such as your leg or the carpet."

Edited April 20, 2010 by ThunderPaws

[Guest sorenkkg]

Update-- they say it's not debris or infection-- some sort of pressure on the inside? Glaucoma? how can that come on so suddenly?

 

her BP is high... don't know anything more DH it at the vet and I'm getting updates unless I join him

[Guest sorenkkg]

another update-- eye pressure was 37 (normal is around 20) and the good eye was 22. They checked a 2nd time and it was back down to about 26.

 

DH says they did some test to see scratches-- nothing. They gave some lidocaine and she was able to relax and open both eyes-- then they did the above tests.

 

He thinks they are going to give some eye drops and send her home and I guess we f/up with our own vet, but if he calls back before coming home I'll post.

 

I'm still totally freaking out.

 

Could she have eaten something that did this?

[Guest sorenkkg]

Update: Her BP was around 200... I found an article (citing Dr Couto) that greyhounds, especially females, can become hypertensive... normal BP is 140-160.

 

But-- I also spoke with my "greyhound lady" from our group in Montreal-- she thinks this all came on too suddenly to be a pressure issue, and that every grey she's known gets freaked out at the vet to some degree and their BP, when measured, is high.

 

She's convinced that this is a scratch of some sort, even if it didn't show up on the test (something about green liquid and a UV light?).

 

Our plan is this: find out what the e-vet prescribes, drops and/or antibiotics, and follow up with our own vet. I have an appt on Wednesday for Haka's nail bed infection, so if we can wait until then, I'll bring her along.

 

In the article I was reading (here http://mapleviewanimalhospital.net/uploads/docs/hypertension.pdf ) it says that after BP, they would look at kidney function-- we just had the wellness tests done, and Aleeya came back perfect.

 

So, I'm starting to relax a bit-- you don't get glaucoma or whatever overnight, right?

 

sigh.

 

 

[JAJ2010]

Yes def calm down and follow up with your reg vet. Hopefully its nothing. As long as she can rest comfortably than you should be fine tonight. (((((Hugs)))))))

[EllenEveBaz]

No knowledge here, just sending cyberhugs.

[Guest sorenkkg]

Update: BP is back down to 160 after a long walk around outside... opening her eye a bit, rubbing at it. No visit from vet yet though since the the BP was updated.

 

I'm betting we wind up with drops and I've asked DH to buy another e-collar (ours is currently being used on Haka b/c of his infected toe... ) so I think we need 2 in the house at this point-- I'm sure part of the remedy will be her not rubbing her eye....

[Guest sorenkkg]

Could be a scratch or something irritating it. If there is a scratch just make sure the drops or ointment has NO steroids in it. But I bet your vet knows that. Let us know how she is.

 

 

Why are steroid eye drops bad?

[JAJ2010]

They are just bad of there is a scratch present on the eye. Honestly can't remember why but it was drilled into my head when I was working at a stable and medicating horses and dealing with typical first aid there. Basically if u think there might be a scratch don't use ointment with steroids in it. Not sure if eye drops could have steroids we only delt with ointment.

[Guest sorenkkg]

Gotcha.

These drops do have some steroid in them, so we'll watch her very carefully, but there's inflammation so I think that's what they are targeting.

 

Update-- DH is home with Aleeya-- 4hrs at the vet.

 

Basically, reading the report-- they are concerned about her interocular pressure, it's still high in the one eye, and both eyes are inflamed and she's squinting or keeping them entirely closed.

 

We got Trammadol for 2x a day, and the eye drops are 4x a day for 3 days, then 3x a day.

 

They want us to f/up with our vet, and since they have an opthamologist specialist, either come back to them or find another referral-- I guess we'll go back to them after we see our vet?

 

The thing that I find weird is if they are suspecting hypertension, she's got no other signs-- her wellness test came back all normal in kidney functions, proteins etc-- I guess they'll have to test again? Her BP at the e-vet came back to normal, so it's just the interocular pressure that still elevated... I can't believe glaucoma comes on with a sudden attack?

 

I just gave her the Trammadol (I've never given that to them before-- can someone give me a Coles-notes on what to expect if anything?) and I did her eye drops, much easier than I expected.

 

She's got a lovely see-through e-collar on, I hope it's long enough to prevent her getting in at her eye (Haka's ecollar is much much bigger!).

 

That's it for now-- thanks for all the {{{{{hugs}}}}} and any further advice is very very welcome!

S.

[Guest sorenkkg]

I neglected to mention that they think it might be uveitis... I've googled it and I'm thoroughly freaked out

 

The e-vet has an opthamologist specialist on staff with a spot open on thursday, so I'll call first thing tomorrow to book that, and I'll call my own vet's office and see if I can get one of my 2 favorites tomorrow sometime.

 

sigh. I can't stand the thought of a sightless sighthound :(

[JAJ2010]

You sound like me who always jumps to the worst case scenario! In that case lots of dogs do perfectly well w/o any sight. The important part is keeping her comfy since I'm sure she feels icy now with hurting eyes. I hope your vet knows an eye specialist that has an earlier app. Keep hanging in there! The steroids should be fine since they did stain her eyes to look for scratches

[Guest sorenkkg]

Update: back from our normal vet office--

 

BP is still around 162. IOP (interocular pressure) is lower than yesterday, but he used a different instrument so I can't compare the numbers directly.

 

He's still pretty sure its early uveitis, so now they are testing for what would be causing it: 1) took blood to test for TBD and whatever else they can find, 2) I'll give them her stool sample b/c it could be worms.

 

Meds: he upped the frequency we give the Maxitrol to 6x a day (that's got antibiotics and steroid), and he added some gel (fucithalmic) to be given 2x a day.

 

He's also putting both of them on de-worming (panacur) for 3 days just in case, but we will do the fecal so we can be sure.

 

So, while I'm waiting for the meds and notes, I start to cry in the waiting room-- luckily I'm the only one there... The other vet (owner) came to give me water, and the vet I'm working with on this came out to comfort me-- I felt so stupid...

 

He said uveitis can come on suddenly-- maybe something was "brewing" and now it just tipped and here we are. He's never lost a dog to it, and never lost an eye.

 

He doesn't think it's cancer related, since it's in both eyes-- and he says it would be very very long odds that it's related to a cancer elsewhere in her body (i.e. it maybe would've been eye cancer, but since it's in both, unlikely).

He basically said, when you hear hoofbeats think horses, not zebras-- most cases are textbook, which is why they write the text books... and to stop reading the internet

 

I'm bringing her brother Haka in for his infected nail bed check to his vet tomorrow, so we added Aleeya so that we can get another reading on her IOP.

 

I'm going to create the med schedule now, since the gel and the drops for her eyes shouldn't be given at the exact same time... he said at least 15 min apart.

 

Now, if only I could stop crying...

[JAJ2010]

((((HUGS)))) is she in any pain? or are the meds working for that?

[Guest goofydog]

The vet needs to find the cause of the uveitis. From your earlier post they are testing for TBDs already. You might ask them to test for toxoplasmosis also. If it is toxo it can be managed with daily eye drops.

 

The reason I say this is because I took Get Em to the regular vet for an eye issue and he took one look and said 'off to the ophthalmologist'. She diagnosed the uveitis and tested for everything she could think of and the final result was toxo. He was placed on clindimycin(sp) 1200mg a day for 2 weeks to knock it down, and pred-acetate drops daily. The drops keep the pressure in check and blood titres yearly to make sure the toxo itself is still in check.

 

Hoping they get to the root cause so your girl can feel better.

[Guest sorenkkg]

re: pain

she's not feeling great-- when they numb her eyes to do the pressure testing, she can open both and so I know that otherwise, they are bothering her, know what I mean? She's getting Tramadol 2x a day, but she's not whining or anything. Only paws at her face (protected by the oh-so-stylish cone) when get gets up and about-- otherwise she's just lying around.

 

re: toxo-- I'll ask. He mentioned Erlichia and something else... I'm trying to listen to what they're saying and be helpful, and then I get upset and some of the info goes right by me...

 

I'm also trying to hold onto his belief that this will be manageable if not curable.

 

Off for the 4pm walk, and hopefully to get a "sample"...

 

 

[Batmom]

Still keeping fingers crossed that it turns out to be simple and quite treatable.

 

Usually you don't want pred because it retards healing somewhat. However, sometimes you have to balance comfort (pred) and healing. Have been thru this issue myself.

 

Hugs to you and your pupper.

[HopeForHounds]

Poor baby. I hope your vet finds the cause quickly.

 

Soren have you done a tick panel on her? The reason I'm asking is we had done thorough tick testing on Jake before and during the time he was a blood donor. He has never left the Ottawa area since he came home at 3 yrs. A couple of years ago he started having swelling in his legs (different one each time) we tested him for all kinds of things but came up empty. The swellings, lameness, fever were coming more frequently, then in Dec he had two legs swollen at once. My vet and Dr Couto were stumped so we treated him as if he had tick disease. Since you have to know which tick disease you are looking for and since there are so many, and many more being identified all the time, we didn't re test. One month on doxy and he has been symptom free. It looks like he had a dormant tick disease that wasn't one of the ones on the typical panel.

[Guest sorenkkg]

I'm not sure what TBD's she's being tested for -- I heard erlichia, but I didn't catch anything else he said-- I'll try to find out for sure, and I'll ask about toxoplasmosis also... DH found a good page http://www.gopetsamerica.com/dog-health/anterior_uveitis.aspx and it looks like it lists every single infectious cause-- not making me feel much better but I guess it's good to know what we're up against?

 

I'll keep in mind the doxy treatment in the "as if she had tick disease" approach-- seems to be what we're doing with the Panacur (I think I have a stockpile of this at this point, and Surolan, but that's another story).

 

I have to say, even though I'm still prone to bursting into tears, Aleeya's eyes seem to be a bit better-- more open anyway. Might be b/c she could be photosensitive, so now that it's dark its better?

 

She also figured out how to go up the stairs with her cone on! Small victory, but I'll take it...

 

Now I just have to stay up until 2am for her next dose of eyedrops (Tramadol and eye gel at 12:30am, then drops at 2am)-- DH has the 6am shift.

 

Our f/up for an eye pressure check (and poor Haka's infected nail bed) is at 11:15am tomorrow, will report back then.

 

thanks for all your support-- stuff with Aleeya seems to affect me more emotionally than something with Haka.... but then, he generally gets into accidents and foot-injury trouble, whereas her one big other "situation" was also mysterious and deeply scary (they thought she had osteo for a couple weeks in 2007, turned out not to be ANYTHING, but I just was a mess until we knew...

[DevilDog]

Hi Soren.. i just saw this thread and was responding, looking for the link to my old thread, and I saw you posted in my thread!!

 

Yes, it was a nightmare with Roscoe, but we finally found the right meds. He was put on 2 different eye drops and 2 different antibiotics (because of his neck), as well as pain meds. I think it was the antibiotics that kicked in and got him feeling better. We went through 2 rounds of the antibiotics, and he is all better now!

 

From what i understood, there could be a million things to have caused the uveitis, in Roscoes case it was the severe infection in his neck. Take it a step at a time, she could have a minor infection somewhere causing this.. keep your eye out for other symptoms. Ask your vet about putting her on an antibiotic just to cover all bases. Cant hurt. The 2 that worked for Roscoe were Clavamox and Amoxcicillin. He tried Doxycyline with poor results. The eye drops he had were dexamethasone/neo soln and flurbiprofen.03%.

 

If you have anymore questions i may be able to help!

[Guest sorenkkg]

I'm so glad Roscoe is better! That does give me a bit of hope for my girlie... How long did it take from start to back-to-normal for you guys?

 

 

So far, she's not on any oral antibiotics-- just Panacur in case it's worms and Tramadol pills for pain. We should have blood tests back tomorrow though. This is sooooo weird b/c we just did a wellness check last week and it was all fine for her, but I guess we need to go more in depth with the blood tests.

 

The eye drops right now are Maxitrol (neomycin and polymyxinB sulfates and dexamethasone (that's the steroid part)) and a gel that goes in her lower lid (Fucithalmic gel, which is all antibiotic).

 

 

We'll see the eye specialist Thursday... meanwhile, they've got her blood, and if she ever poops they'll have that too and they can have all the blood they want to test for anything they can find, I just want this over and her better.

 

[Guest jerrybird]

If your appt. is with Dr. Ziegler, you will have the best of care. The IO pressure would concern me.