Guest BeakerBoy Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 After dealing with some diarrhea issues both while I was on an extended vacation and after I returned, I had to take Beaker to the vet again today for what looked like pink eye, but it was in both eyes and appeared seemingly out of nowhere over the last couple of days. The vet gave him a diagnosis of uveitis and gave me some pred drops to put in both eyes 3x/day. Aside from the squinting/tearing, he's acting normal. He was rubbing his eyes a bit yesterday, but I haven't seen him do it today at all, so I'm hoping that means the drops are starting to work and that this will clear up. Has anyone else had much experience with uveitis? I did a little forum digging and found some threads about it, but I'd love to hear any additional advice folks have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJNg Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Uveitis is often secondary to other underlying disease. I'd consider doing some bloodwork, including tick-borne disease testing. Quote Jennifer & Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On), Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby172 Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 My grey/whippet mix had uveitis, did a lot of testing and saw a specialist. Eventually found she was hypothyroid. Vet opthalmologist reported that uveitis is very painful and also told me sometimes you just never find out what is causing it despite testing. I had uveitis once, it was very uncomfortable, especially sensitive to light. Good luck. Linda, Jack and Keeva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest june Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 (edited) No advice, but lots of sympathy. I agree with JJNg and esp with the big D I'd do some blood work and testing for worms. june Edited October 24, 2012 by june Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BeakerBoy Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Thanks for the responses, all! The vet did say that this can be secondary to other issues, so I'm keeping a close eye on him and have a recheck scheduled in a week. It's both comforting and frustrating to know that other people have dealt with this and that sometimes there just isn't a clear answer as to how/why the uveitis started (I got that same message from my vet, too). JJNg, you mentioned looking at tick-borne disease testing, but are there any diseases in particular you're thinking of? Thanks for the callout about worms as well, june. His stool was tested a couple of weeks ago and they didn't find anything. Is there another test I should be asking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest happygrey Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Uveitis is often secondary to other underlying disease. I'd consider doing some bloodwork, including tick-borne disease testing. You may have found one of the threads I've posted here about it. As JJNg states, it's often the result of some of some other disease. We spent thousands treating our dog who had it at an doggie ophthalmologist and never found any root cause. Our usual vet at the time told us that every case she'd seen in her practice had ended up being idiopathic. That said, I don't regret spending the $$ that we did for a minute. As an aside, it's often very painful for the dog. You may wish to ask your vet about adding atropine to the mix to help with the pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJNg Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Any of the common tick-borne diseases have the potential to cause uveitis, so I'd recommend doing a full panel. Quote Jennifer & Willow (Wilma Waggle), Wiki (Wiki Hard Ten), Carter (Let's Get It On), Ollie (whippet), Gracie (whippet x), & Terra (whippet) + Just Saying + Just Alice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BeakerBoy Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Thanks for the continued advice, all! Beaker definitely seems to be on the mend, so I'm hoping that will continue. When I put his drops in this morning, I didn't even need to hold his eyelids open, so I'm hoping he's on the road to recovery now. I'll keep at the drops and see how he's doing at his vet recheck next week though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cometdust1 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Definitely check for tickborne disease.Constant eye discharge and unexplained massive diahrrea along with a persistent cough were the first signs that my Jax had ehrlichiosis.He was tested at that time that I took him to the vet and his test came back negative so nothing was done at that time.Over the next 5 months, the cough went away but the eye discharge got worse and he started losing muscle,especially in his face, and he got increasingly lethargic.I took him to a different vet and he retested for tick disease and he came up positive for ehrlichiosis and he diagnosed uveitis at that time.he referred me to an internist who ran bloodwork and a subsequent ultrasound which, unfortunately,that by this time the disease was causing bone marrow failure and had invaded allhis organs, they were all enlarged. He tried treating with antibiotics but it was too late and he passed away. I hope that your dog's uveitis turns out to be idiopathic.Just keep in mind that TBD, at least ehrlichiosis, does not always test positive in the early stages. My dogs uveitis was treated with cyclosporin which helped him a lot. Bright sunlight is very painful to them so try to avoid that. Good luck!Hope Beaker feels better soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BeakerBoy Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Wow, thanks for all that info, cometdust1! I'll definitely bring that up to my vet when I see her next week. I've never heard of ehrlichiosis, but I just did a quick search on it and the symptoms don't seem like anything that Beaker has (aside from the diarrhea he had last week and his current eye problems). I haven't seen any discharge from his eyes either - just tears. Regardless, I feel well-armed to talk to my vet next week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaineysMom Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I've actually had this myself. Very painful. Mine came on out of the blue as well, eye drops fixed me right up in a few days. Hope your baby is ok! Quote Kim and Bruce - with Rick (Rick Roufus 6/30/16) and missing my sweet greyhound Angels Rainey (LG's Rainey 10/4/2000 - 3/8/2011), Anubis (RJ's Saint Nick 12/25/2001 - 9/12/12) and Zeke (Hey Who Whiz It 4/6/2009 - 7/20/2020) and Larry (PTL Laroach 2/24/2007 - 8/2/2020) -- and Chester (Lab) (8/31/1990 - 5/3/2005), Captain (Schipperke) (10/12/1992 - 6/13/2005) and Remy (GSP) (?/?/1998 - 1/6/2005) at the bridge"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." -- Ernest Hemmingway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greytkidsmom Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Kebo was diagnosed with uveitis in January of this year. He was rubbing his eyes a lot and they looked sunken in. When the vet measured his eye pressures, the pen almost wouldn't register. Tick panel was negative. Chest x-ray was negative (he does have a history of cancer). We did pred drops and checked his pressures every 2 weeks for about 2 months. The pressures got better but never reached "normal" range. We checked with OSU to see if greys have a different intraocular pressure range than other dogs and Dr. Couto responded that greys' pressures are the same. We consulted by phone with an ophthalomologist who said what you have heard - either an underlying problem or idiopathic. After a while on the drops he stopped rubbing at his eyes and his pressures were stable (although they were never normal). He was fine for several months then started rubbing at them again (while he was undergoing treatments for a new cancer). His pressures had dropped several points. After another call to the ophthalomologist, we decided to just give him one drop of pred in each eye every day. He remains asymptomatic and at 10 years of age, we figure the benefits outweigh the risks (our Tiel-girl has been on pred drops for pannus for about 4 years without complications). He seems to see just fine - he can see a cookie in my hand from the back corner of the yard and has been able to catch several birds and mice recently. Hope your boy gets to feeling better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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