Cheery Suddenly Went Blind In One Eye

[Guest Twogreythounds]

Does anyone have any experience with this problem? Or advice on where to start research?

 

My 10 year old greyhound suddenly went blind in her left eye this weekend. She was a little weird on saturday but we have on going medical problems with another dog in the house so I figured she was just absorbing that stress. On sunday it became apparent that she was having trouble seeing out of her left eye. She walked into the wall and hit the trashcan all on her left side. She also had trouble finding a treat if given to her on the left side. Lastly she also literally walked on top of the two other dogs in the house and was so confused when they stood up from underneath her snapping and growling at her. She is always a happy dog and it was so sad to see her confused and out of sorts.

 

Today is a little better. She seems to have learned to cope with her blindness very quickly. Gave me a heart attack when she decided to run zoomies in our small backyard - but she was fine (and I re-directed her to a safer playtime just in case something happened). We went to the vet today and tested negative for glaucoma and cataracts. We got more good news in that the vet thinks its highly unlikely that we are dealing with a tumor (her face is symmetrical, she responses to stimulating the other senses, not pain when the areas around her eyes are pressed). The vet thinks she is completely blind in her left eye and agrees that is probably happened suddenly considering her behaviors.

 

A little history about my girl in case it helps. She raced in Ireland, was brought to the US at age 5 and had lots of puppies. We adopted her 12/2010, just before her 9th birthday on february 14 (my little valentines day baby). She has no known problems, issues, and has been healthy and active since we got her. She eats a raw diet and is fed exactly what another greyhound in my house eats. The only other thing is we suspect she had a concussion after running full speed into our sliding glass door one night in April 2012. No idea why, she knew the door was there (I have since put up lattice work on it so its CLEARLY visible). Our vet said to give her rimadyl for a few days and call if anything seems abnormal. I brought her in a couple days later just for a check up. The vet said everything looked and we had no worries about lasting damage.

 

We have an appointment to see a highly recommended specialist on thursday. Our vet was doubtful that he would be able to diagnoise the problem and/or correct her vision but we want to give her every chance at a normal life with perfect vision. In the event that this isn't possible she seems to have adjusted almost 100% to her blindness and we would continue to work with her to develop her other senses. As long as nothing major is causing the blindness she should be able to live a great life regardless of how things go on thursday.

 

I really appreciate any help or information you might have! Thanks!

[Guest Twogreythounds]

I should also mention that her eyes appear to be gray when a light is shined on them. Both eyes appear to be the same color gray so its doubtful this has anything to do with why she suddenly went blind in one eye. Our vet was concerned about the color last year and she tested negative for cataracts back then too. I've seen dogs with Pannus and this looks completely different so I'm fairly certain its not that (plus the vet has experience diagnosing and treating at least one pannus greyhound).

 

She can be a hypertensive and her eyes bug out of her head when she's very excited or very nervous. Her blood pressure high today was 140 (taken at vet's office) so I don't think this problem is related to that.

Edited September 11, 2012 by Twogreythounds

[silverfish]

So sorry to hear that your girl has suddenly gone blind in one eye. The good news is that - as you're discovering - dogs adapt really well, and quite quickly.

 

She will make mistakes at first (like walking on the other dogs) but she will learn how much space she needs to allow for on that side and she'll be fine. I was at our dogs' trainer's place yesterday and she has a pretty girl called Sylvie who has lost an eye completely many years ago. You would never know it by her behaviour, and she runs out into a huge yard full of trees and obstacles with about ten other hounds (numbers depend on 'holiday residents') every day and never, ever, runs into anything. Dogs don't rely on sight as much as we do, not even sighthounds.

 

I would suspect a stroke, at her age, especially with a history of high BP. Readings vary tremendously during the day (as I know from my own BP problem) so don't discount it; you can get spikes. Good idea to take her to a specialist to check her out though - I know I would!

[tbhounds]

I would take her to an Opthamologist ASAP. Many GP vets are very versed in eye ailments but, with the sudden onset of blindness a trip to a specialist IMO is in order.

[Scooby172]

My 9 month old puppy Jack is blind in one eye. Jack had some sort of eye trauma before I got him that led to his blindness. Jack's eye is bluish in color, I think the vet eye specialist called it corneal pigmentation? Anyway his eye is getting bigger due to increased pressure/glaucoma he will eventually lose his eye. Really, you cannot tell Jack is blind in one eye, he runs and plays and runs and plays, an occasional mis step but he never makes the same mistake twice. Good luck with your girl, if she does not regain sight in the eye, I would not worry too much about it, she will do fine.

Linda, Keeva and Jack

[GeorgeofNE]

My 9 month old puppy Jack is blind in one eye. Jack had some sort of eye trauma before I got him that led to his blindness. Jack's eye is bluish in color, I think the vet eye specialist called it corneal pigmentation? Anyway his eye is getting bigger due to increased pressure/glaucoma he will eventually lose his eye. Really, you cannot tell Jack is blind in one eye, he runs and plays and runs and plays, an occasional mis step but he never makes the same mistake twice. Good luck with your girl, if she does not regain sight in the eye, I would not worry too much about it, she will do fine.

Linda, Keeva and Jack

 

Are you saying your dog has a confirmed case of glaucoma and you're not doing anything to treat it?

 

Glaucoma isn't a disease of just one eye--so if he REALLY does have it, and you're not doing anything, he will go completely blind.

 

Perhaps I've misunderstood?

[silverfish]

Goodness yes - and glaucoma is horribly painful, too, by all accounts! I would definitely see a specialist on that one if your vet is not treating it. Or even if he is .. but that's just me.

 

TBHounds - the OP has already said she is taking her dog to a highly recommended specialist.

[carronstar]

No real advice. One of our family iggies went blind overnight one Christmas with no explanation.Finding a vet early the morning after Christmas was no picnic. While she never regained her sight, and was already blind, she did quite well and she took it in stride quite easily. I do second (or third) the suggestion to see a specialist. Hugs to your happy girl.

[Scooby172]

Not to worry, Jack is being seen regularly by a vet ophthalmologist! At this point pressure in the eye is still within the normal range. We have regular appointments and are watching pressures carefully. Specialist believes he will need treatment but not yet. Jack's blindness was due to an accident, unless there is a trauma to the other eye there should not be a problem with it.

Linda, Jack, Keeva

[Guest Twogreythounds]

The vet and I did not discuss whether she might have had a stroke. I just called the office to ask about this possiblity and will post more when the vet calls me back. As far as I know this specialist has not dealt with a greyhound with sudden blindness like what we are experiencing with Cheery but he is highly recommended by other adopters who have had eyes removed due to other problems, as well as greyhounds with pannus, cataracts, dry eye, etc. I'll update you when we know more!

[Guest OPointyDog]

One of our cats went blind suddenly in both eyes - in her case it was due to a stroke from undiagnosed hypertension. It sounds like at 140 (I assume that's the systolic pressure) Cheery is within normal range, though.

 

Hope the specialist can help - good luck and let us know what you find out.

[Guest Twogreythounds]

Hey everyone, we have our answer as to why Cheery went blind in one eye. An MRI confirmed she has two meningiomas near her right optic nerves. The specialist feels they were putting pressure on the nerves and that effected her sight. Her brain was able to adjust to the pressure and she had regained some vision in her left eye (but not 100%). Now we are trying to find more answers about her meningiomas.

[Guest kess]

you wouldn't think it would happen that quickly would you. Hope she regains her sight. I used to work with a girl and she actually made me laugh the way she told the story about herself, sounds awful but I did laugh and so did she. She woke up one morning and said to her partner I can't open my eye he said what do you mean your eyes are both open she said no it isn't I can't open it. Well he convinced her it was open, she had gone blind in one eye, she was was living in a remote area and the flying doctor came and flew her to a city hospital. They never actually found out what caused the blindness and her sight came back and she hasn't had a problem since.