Possible Pannus? Advice Sought!

[Guest felicity]

I've had Lancer for about a year and a half and he has always had reddish eye whites (only on the outside, not the inside of the eye). I never really thought much about it since this was my first greyhound and I didn't have an idea of what was normal (although now I really really wish I had). In the last couple weeks I have noticed the outer edge of his iris has become slightly cloudy in both eyes, but one more than the other. Based on what I have researched it seems most likely to be pannus.

 

I've looked up old threads on Greytalk, but I would appreciate any advice from those who are pannus-experienced. Do you think this sounds like pannus or something else? What is the best treatment for pannus (type of eyedrops/injections)? Is it possible that the cloudiness will go away will treatment or will treatment just stop progression? Will treatment 100% prevent blindness in greyhounds, or does it vary from case to case?

 

I'm going to take Lancer to the vet ASAP, but in the meantime I am worried about him. He is only 3 3/4 years old, and I love him dearly.

 

Any advice appreciated!!

[45MPHK9]

Bee Wiseman had pannus.. It was easily controlled with eye drops. I'd seek a diagnosis from a veterinary ophthalmologist as opposed to your regular vet.

[Guest felicity]

Bee Wiseman had pannus.. It was easily controlled with eye drops. I'd seek a diagnosis from a veterinary ophthalmologist as opposed to your regular vet.

 

We are planning on taking him to a specialist, but the appointment is in a couple weeks. Before then I was thinking about going to my regular vet and seeing if we can get a confirmation that its probably pannus & some drops prescribed to slow the progress in the meantime. Because he probably isn't an expert on it I was hoping to go in with some ideas about drops that are particularly effective, etc. I wouldn't bother with this interim step except that the cloudiness seems to have developed quite quickly.

[OwnedBySummer]

I did research on Pannus recently and it's also a German Shepherd disease, which the vets are pretty familiar with (both the breed and the Pannus). Part of the problem with regular vets is that they don't LOOK for or suspect Pannus in the greyhounds. But if you tell him to look for it and he's willing to do what you ask, you should get some sound information.

[krissy]

If it's only a couple of weeks you may not need to worry too much. Depends on how quickly you noticed the onset. Summit was just diagnosed on Tuesday. I'm taking him back sometime this week to get a script for meds. I noticed when I adopted him a year ago that his eyes were a little cloudy, but his pannus is so mild that it really went undetected until we did a thorough ophtho exam on him last week. Originally I thought it was nuclear sclerosis because he's 6. Then we thought it might be lipid deposits. In working him up for possible lipid though we finally saw the tiny little vessels coming in. So in a year with no treatment he really hasn't progressed. Lancer's may be progressing faster since you say you've actually noticed changes in the appearance of his eyes.

 

Treatment is steroid (or cyclosporine, a non-steroid immunosuppressive drug) eyedrops for life. Most greyhounds can get by with every other day treatment. It should slow the progression fairly effectively, especially since in comparison to GSDs the greyhound version of pannus seems to be a lot milder/slower progressing, at least that's what I've noticed.

[seeh2o]

I'd go to the ophthalmologist first. Carl was misdiagnosed with Pannus by his regular vet at the time. We went 2 or 3 months with Pannus treatment, things weren't getting better. Ultimately, we went to a BOARD CERTIFIED veterinary ophthalmologist (very very important) and got a real diagnosis. I wouldn't mess around with a regular vet again, unless the vet ophthalmologist requires a referral from your vet.

[Guest greyers]

It's been about 7 years since I had my Pannus greyhound, but at the time it was easily controlled with steroidal drops. We found Costco was the cheapest RX at the time. So check around.

 

If you vet is VERY greyhound savvy then I would trust their diagnosis. We did end up going to a certified doggie opthomologist and got the actual diagnosis and script from him because our vet at the time (9 years ago) didn't know much about it and we were one of only a very small handful of his greyhound customers. Our Current vet is very versed in Greys, a large portion of her own dogs are greyhounds and she does all the spray/ neuters and dentals for a local adoption group. So if SHE told me it was def Pannus I would believe her. But like seeh20 mentioned, it can be misdiagnosed if the vet doesn't really know their greyhound stuff.

 

Good luck.

[seeh2o]

Greyers has good advice, but in my case...my vet assured me he was greyhound savvy..."I worked with greyhounds in vet school"...yada, yada, yada...he was way wrong. I don't know that he had any greys in his practice other than Carl when we were going there other than my lost half grey heart dog, Kobie. Proceed with extreme caution!

Edited October 31, 2011 by seeh2o

[Guest KennelMom]

I second a (board certified) vet. ophthalmologist. You may have to visit your regular vet to get a referral. Even if they are a million per cent sure on their diagnosis, we still go to the specialist to confirm everything. There's a reason eyes are a specialty. Pannus isn't a greyhound thing, it's a eye thing so it doesn't really matter to me how "grey savvy" a vet is. We've had a pannus dog, a PRA dog and a blind-in-one-eye-from-traumatic-injury-during-racing-days dog...the specialist is worth it. Your regular vet should be able to manage the follow up care and re-visits to the ophthalmologist as needed.

 

Pannus is usually very easily and well controlled in greyhounds. Of all the things that can go wrong, it's not one I'd sweat too much.

Edited October 31, 2011 by KennelMom

[Guest greyers]

I think my comments must have come out not sounding the way I intended them to be.

 

My apologies if I came across to any of you as sounding pompous or reckless by suggesting that a regular vet "could" provide an accurate diagnosis. In my particular case, and with extensive years my vet has dealt with greyhounds, the fact that probably 30% or more of her clientele are greyhounds, she owns her own, and does all the spays, neuters and dental for a large adoption group in my area, "I" personally would feel comfortable with HER diagnosing one of my dogs. I can say with 100% certainty that she has seen many a dog (and greyhound) client with pannus over her career. That said, I did state that with a previous vet and a previous grey I owned we DID seek a board certified ophthalmologist and I would recommend this in Lancers case. Not knowing Lancers vet, I gave my answer based on my own opinion and experiences.

 

Best of luck to you with Lancer. As Kennelmom and others have stated it really is very treatable. All will be OK.

[Guest goofyfoot1]

Hi, for what it's worth. We had Buster for about 1 1/2 years before i saw something in his left eye. somthing to what you stated then he started to rub his left eye. so off to the vet. good thing we did he recommend a ophthalmologist and he stated that Buster had Pannus in both eyes but at such early stages that now the drops are once a day. it is very treatable.

Lots of luck.

[Guest felicity]

Thanks all for your advice and encouraging stories. I have an appointment with my regular vet tomorrow, and we will get a confirmation from an opthamologist soon after. I agree that with eye issues it is important to check with someone who specializes in eyes - Lancer's vision is very important to me, especially because I hope that he has many many years of good vision ahead of him (he is only 3 after all).

 

I will update tomorrow on what the vet has to say. Again, thanks for all your advice.

[seeh2o]

When you see your regular vet tomorrow you might want to ask for a blood panel, including a complete thyroid panel. It was invaluable in diagnosing Carl's problem, my vet made sure the ophthal had the results by the time we saw her.

[Sirocco_Nikki]

Sirocco's opthamologist said he usually only saw cases like Sirocco in german shepherds. Even though he had a stubborn case of pannus, it was eventually well-controlled with cyclosporine in corn oil and prednisolone drops twice a day. He had to have a couple of steroid injections to get it controlled first. Of all the chronic conditions a dog could have, pannus is one of the cheaper and easiest to treat.

 

Our grey savvy vet wouldn't treat his pannus. He wanted Sirocco seen by a board certified opthamologist since there are other conditions that mimic the symptoms.

 

Good luck!

[Guest felicity]

Just wanted to update: Lancer saw the vet today and he is quite sure that Lancer has pannus. He seemed quite knowledgeable about the condition, even with respect to its occurrence in greyhounds. He said that it was still in early stages and likely has not yet affected Lancer's vision. Lancer is now on a regimen of neo poly dex (a steroid eye drop). I think we will wait for a couple weeks to see if there is any improvement and, if not, then we will go to the opthamologist (I would go regardless except that the NYC opthamologist I've found charges $200 just to get seen, which is a lot for a student like me).

[Guest greyers]

I'm glad your doc was able to see Lancer and I am glad to see he is on the steroidal eye drops.

 

Opthomologist for dogs are indeed very expensive. I have never paid so much for a vet as I have the once we went to the opthomologist to get the initial diagnosis. It may be worthwhile tho to check around and see if there are others in your area. Or to ask if the doctor can work with you since you are a college student. It never hurts to ask.

 

Hopefully after today's apptointment you have a little feeling of relief.

[Sirocco_Nikki]

except that the NYC opthamologist I've found charges $200 just to get seen

 

 

Ouch! That is more than twice what we paid the opthamologist here in Indy.