Cloudy Eyes

[fourofem]

One of my girls, Lizzie, is six years old. She's very healthy, eats like a horse but it seems like overnight, her eyes have become cloudy looking and while not runny, yuckier in the corners. I thought it was just me until I compared her with my other three. She's always had very clear, very bright almost golden brown eyes. She has an appointment w/ the vet on Friday. Cataracts? Can they come on that quickly and at such a young age? I've seen much, much older dogs w/ cataracts and hers don't look anything like that but they just don't look right to me. I don't think her vision is affected...I watched her out in the yard this afternoon and she was chasing after everything like she always does. It just bothers me. She had her teeth cleaned about a month ago but bounced back from that the next day. Other than that, nothing has really changed in her routine. Any thoughts?

[ElizabethGPAPS]

A few months ago a friend's 3 year old Greyhound developed sudden eye cloudiness...over a matter of hours he went from normal to completely blind. He was diagnosed with "sudden onset immune-mediated uveitis". With steroidal eye drops he has gotten most of his vision back in one eye but not as much in the other. I hope your pup's case is something less severe.

 

[Guest argolola]

Prayers for your little sweetie.

[Guest greyhound1]

[nyGreys]

Prayers on the way for your little girl. :hope

[Guest vahoundlover]

Sending prayers!

[Guest Snowy8]

Wow...hope you get a good diagnosis quickly

[Guest greybookends]

Most dogs eyes get cloudy with age. It usually happens later in life. Monty is 5 and his eyes are cloudy. The vet checked them and said it is the normal cloudiness that occurs it just happened to Monty at a younger age. He has no problems seeing and the normal eye boogers. Hopefully this is all that is going on with your baby.

:hope :hope :hope

[silverfish]

A few months ago a friend's 3 year old Greyhound developed sudden eye cloudiness...over a matter of hours he went from normal to completely blind. He was diagnosed with "sudden onset immune-mediated uveitis". With steroidal eye drops he has gotten most of his vision back in one eye but not as much in the other. I hope your pup's case is something less severe.

This is what I was wondering about. While it's probably not strictly an emergency, it does need urgent attention so I'm glad you have an appointment. Be sure to let them know how sudden it was.

 

'Old age' cloudiness ALWAYS comes on slowly. If any eye changes happen suddenly, a vet visit ASAP is required.

 

Could be the uveitis mentioned above, or it could be something like a TBD, or blastomycosis among other things. Not that I know that much about any of these conditions, just enough to know that it can be a symptom.

 

Good luck! And let us know what the vet says.

[Greytlady94]

Glad you made an appointment. Could be Pannus or any number of things. If it is Pannus that can be kept under control with daily prednosolone drops.

[Guest ss556]

Good luck, sending prayers.

[Guest meakah]

Could be Pannus. There are many of us here on GT with puppers that have Pannus. It is a lifetime problem that is very easily treated with eye drops. Here is a pic of Koda's for you to compare (she was diagnosed at age 5). Hope it is nothing serious.

 

[fourofem]

One of my girls, Lizzie, is six years old. She's very healthy, eats like a horse but it seems like overnight, her eyes have become cloudy looking and while not runny, yuckier in the corners. I thought it was just me until I compared her with my other three. She's always had very clear, very bright almost golden brown eyes. She has an appointment w/ the vet on Friday. Cataracts? Can they come on that quickly and at such a young age? I've seen much, much older dogs w/ cataracts and hers don't look anything like that but they just don't look right to me. I don't think her vision is affected...I watched her out in the yard this afternoon and she was chasing after everything like she always does. It just bothers me. She had her teeth cleaned about a month ago but bounced back from that the next day. Other than that, nothing has really changed in her routine. Any thoughts?

 

 

UPDATE: Thank you all for your good thoughts and advice. This morning, I caught her in just the right light and saw what was really up....her eyes really weren't so much cloudy as what looked like covered with a "grainy" film. I called the vet right away and arranged to have her worked into their schedule this afternoon. It turns out she has somehow scratched both eyes....how that happened will forever remain a mystery. He asked if she had been out in the woods or rooting through bushes or brush and she hasn't. Thanks to Stella and Hitch, I no longer have any bushes in my backyard and there's nothing like that on our walks. Dr. Larrick numbed both of her eyes, and put some drops in that would indicate infection. Her left eye is less scratched and is already in the healing process. Her right eye, however, still has an active infection. He prescribed Gentamicin drops (twice a day, both eyes) for the infection and Atropine ointment (twice a day, right eye) for pain. He said these lesions can often be quite painful and was amazed at how stoic she was and that I hadn't noticed any difference in her behavior (squinting, loss of appetite, etc.). He also said he thought greyhounds were just that way. He is a kind, country vet...very laid back and he loves my greyhounds. He said I should see some definite improvement over the next 4-5 days and there shouldn't be any permanent damage. She might end up with a very tiny white dot in her iris but that is nothing. She's had her dinner and is curled up next to Hitchie on the sofa right now. The only thing I have to figure out now is how in the world I'm going to get those drops in her eyes tomorrow morning by myself!!!! Thanks again and I will give everyone an update after Christmas and hopefully, I'll be able to figure out how to post some pictures so you all can see my crew. Have a wonderful holiday!

[Guest meakah]

Oh good, glad it is something that is easily treated. Ulcers in the eyes can lead to bad things so it is good that you brought her in quickly. An out of control eye infection can lead to loss of eyesight. Glad she is on the mend! You will likely notice an improvement in a day or two. I find those eye ulcers heal very quickly. One day the cloudiness is there and the next day you can't even find it. Just be diligent with the ol' eye drops and she will be all better before you know it. With regards to the eye drops....I would make a point of giving her a good treat right afterwards. I always do this for Koda's eye drops....that way she 'tolerates' the drops and then is immediately sniffing around for that treat. Catching them when they are laying down helps too I find (assuming they are laying on the correct side ).

 

Oh, and one other thing I do is warm up the drops in my hands for a few mins first....make them a little warmer so that it isn't such a shock when it goes in the eye.

[fourofem]

Oh good, glad it is something that is easily treated. Ulcers in the eyes can lead to bad things so it is good that you brought her in quickly. An out of control eye infection can lead to loss of eyesight. Glad she is on the mend! You will likely notice an improvement in a day or two. I find those eye ulcers heal very quickly. One day the cloudiness is there and the next day you can't even find it. Just be diligent with the ol' eye drops and she will be all better before you know it. With regards to the eye drops....I would make a point of giving her a good treat right afterwards. I always do this for Koda's eye drops....that way she 'tolerates' the drops and then is immediately sniffing around for that treat. Catching them when they are laying down helps too I find (assuming they are laying on the correct side ).

 

Oh, and one other thing I do is warm up the drops in my hands for a few mins first....make them a little warmer so that it isn't such a shock when it goes in the eye.

Greyt advice!!!! Thank you. I've done almost everything for these hounds of mine but this is my first time with eyedrops. I would have never thought of the warming up trick...smart!!!! She loves her treats so that just might work too. Thank you so much!

[Cynthia]

It turns out she has somehow scratched both eyes....how that happened will forever remain a mystery. He asked if she had been out in the woods or rooting through bushes or brush and she hasn't. Thanks to Stella and Hitch, I no longer have any bushes in my backyard and there's nothing like that on our walks.

 

Do you have a Christmas tree ?

 

I can't imagine how a dog could scratch both eyes either. I hope the DX is correct and that things clear (?!) up soon.

[fourofem]

It turns out she has somehow scratched both eyes....how that happened will forever remain a mystery. He asked if she had been out in the woods or rooting through bushes or brush and she hasn't. Thanks to Stella and Hitch, I no longer have any bushes in my backyard and there's nothing like that on our walks.

 

Do you have a Christmas tree ?

 

I can't imagine how a dog could scratch both eyes either. I hope the DX is correct and that things clear (?!) up soon.

Yes, I do have a Christmas tree but not where any of these creatures can get to it....those long tails don't bode well with ornaments. So no, I can't blame her scratches on a Christmas tree. I don't know....

[silverfish]

Good news! I'm glad it's something easily treatable!

 

The only thing I have to figure out now is how in the world I'm going to get those drops in her eyes tomorrow morning by myself!!!!

 

 

My Jack is the twitchiest little soul - the lady who used to board them for us and does the local greyhound rehoming, said she'd never seen a more twitchy dog to do anything to - but if I approach properly he is absolutely no trouble with eye drops. I wait till he's lying in his bed, and very quietly sit down next to him, and just rest the heel of the hand holding the dropper bottle on top of his head so that the bottle is above and behind his eye. He can't see it looming towards him that way. My hand on his head steadies him and I can drag the skin backwards to open his eye with that hand while holding him under the chin with the other and pulling gently downwards on the cheek skin to open the eye further. Tilt his head back a little and sqeeze and voila! He looks surprised when the drop hits his eyeball but he doesn't startle and even if he did, the fact that I'm resting the side of the dropper hand on his head means it's impossible for the dropper to hit him in the eye.

 

You need to have that dropper hand resting on his head quite close to his eye, so that when you drag the skin back the dropper itself is still over his eye, but with practice you'll find it's fairly easy.

 

Treats to follow, of course.

 

Warming the bottle a little sounds like a good idea, but remember that antibiotics - and in fact most eye drops - need to be kept cool. Also, eye drops can get contaminated easily, and in some cases the active ingredients may degrade if they're too warm.

 

Oh, and I meant to say - it's odd that he got scratched in both eyes like that. I'm wondering if he got any sand or harsh dust in them? That might be a possible cause.

 

Running in a sandy place? Anyone doing DIY - rubbing down plaster, electric sanding, drilling masonry, anything like that?

[Guest greybookends]

Ginny scratched one of her corneas when she was a little puppy. There was no permanent damage. I'm glad your girl is gonna be fine.

[fourofem]

Good news! I'm glad it's something easily treatable!

 

The only thing I have to figure out now is how in the world I'm going to get those drops in her eyes tomorrow morning by myself!!!!

 

 

My Jack is the twitchiest little soul - the lady who used to board them for us and does the local greyhound rehoming, said she'd never seen a more twitchy dog to do anything to - but if I approach properly he is absolutely no trouble with eye drops. I wait till he's lying in his bed, and very quietly sit down next to him, and just rest the heel of the hand holding the dropper bottle on top of his head so that the bottle is above and behind his eye. He can't see it looming towards him that way. My hand on his head steadies him and I can drag the skin backwards to open his eye with that hand while holding him under the chin with the other and pulling gently downwards on the cheek skin to open the eye further. Tilt his head back a little and sqeeze and voila! He looks surprised when the drop hits his eyeball but he doesn't startle and even if he did, the fact that I'm resting the side of the dropper hand on his head means it's impossible for the dropper to hit him in the eye.

 

You need to have that dropper hand resting on his head quite close to his eye, so that when you drag the skin back the dropper itself is still over his eye, but with practice you'll find it's fairly easy.

 

Treats to follow, of course.

 

Warming the bottle a little sounds like a good idea, but remember that antibiotics - and in fact most eye drops - need to be kept cool. Also, eye drops can get contaminated easily, and in some cases the active ingredients may degrade if they're too warm.

 

Oh, and I meant to say - it's odd that he got scratched in both eyes like that. I'm wondering if he got any sand or harsh dust in them? That might be a possible cause.

 

Running in a sandy place? Anyone doing DIY - rubbing down plaster, electric sanding, drilling masonry, anything like that?

 

 

She got her first dose this morning and it wasn't bad at all. I missed her left eye the first go round but after that, she stood perfectly still....she didn't like it but didn't put up a fuss.

 

There are only a couple of things I can think of that possibly could have caused this. I have two diggers and when either of them gets going, dirt is flying. Lizzie could have been standing too close and gotten a face full of dirt? Second, I have two spiky looking plants (they're very pliable but spiky) out on the deck. Maybe she got too close to one of those? Last, when any of them gets really excited with one of their toys, they start swinging in around. Her favorite is an octopus (or the remains of an octopus) that is pretty long. Maybe in all that swinging, one of the "tentacles" got her in the eyes? Truly a mystery. I am just SO relieved that it's nothing worse and very treatable. I don't like it when one of these hounds is "off".

[silverfish]

Ooops, sorry to have got Lizzie's gender wrong!

 

Yes, any of those is a possiblity. She could possibly have got smacked in both eyes at once with the octopus - I have one of those too! But I still favour the dirt theory, myself. To scratch up both eyes like that at the same time ... it seems most likely to be a spray of something and then she rubbed them. Just my thoughts.

 

I hope she improves soon on the drops!