Show Has Some Perplexing Symptoms

[Guest Cara_Lea]

About a week and a half ago, we noticed Show was squinting a lot with his right eye and we were seeing his third eyelid in that eye a fair bit. This was right after we made an abrupt food change (not on purpose.. life had gotten crazy, we ran out of kibble and had to feed what we could get on short notice). As soon as I saw something was wrong, we pulled both dogs off the new kibble and started cooking ground beef and pasta for them until we could get their proper kibble. I also took Show to the vet, just in case it wasn't the food. The vet examined his eye thoroughly. She did a dye test to see if he had some kind of injury. He had some redness, but no sign of injury. We started him on an antibiotic ointment.

 

He was on the ointment for a few days and we saw no improvement. In fact, his other eye started to flare up. The vet asked about his grooming habits, and how much he licks his paws and bum. The answer to that was "a fair bit, actually..." so she began to suspect allergies as a possible cause. She switched him to a steroid based eye drop and we got him back on his normal kibble. Over the next 2 days his eyes got worse, not better. We also noticed he was laying on our cold basement floor a lot.. rather than on his usual dog bed or the couch. He was showing no interest in playing with his favourite toys, though he was constantly looking for attention. The other thing we noticed is that his eyes were seeming somewhat sunken. After the 4th or 5th dosage of his drops he had an odd "spell". He tensed all up and his 3rd eyelids covered his eyes completely. We pet and reassured him and the spell passed within a minute or two. We called the vet and got him back in to see her. After another thorough exam, including another dye test, the vet said she suspected that the drops were causing him pain and that was what the odd spell was about. We stopped the drops immediately and went onto our next option.. anti-histamines.

 

He is now getting 30mg of Reactine once a day. The Reactine seems to be helping some.. his eyes are definitely improved (though not back to normal).. and he seems to be licking less. However, he is NOT back to being completely right. He is still wanting to lay on the cold floor far more than seems reasonable. He still isn't interested in play. Also, after we started the Reactine, he started drinking and peeing a LOT. He had 2 accidents in the house.. and since then we've been making sure he goes out at least twice more a day than the normal schedule.

 

I'm planning to call his vet tomorrow to update her and see what she thinks about where we are at... but if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions for me, I'd be really appreciative.

[Guest Downtownhoundz]

Is he running a slight fever that he's choosing the cold floor? Did the vet check for signs of glaucoma or maybe a cold in the eye? Any respiratory issues? I know how nuts the not knowing can make you...keep us posted!

[krissn333]

Pinky had a weird eyelid episode, but, it turned out her eyes were just dry after she woke up one morning.

 

Natural tears helped her, but it sounds like Show's situation is much more complex.

 

Hope you find some answers!

[Guest june]

laying on the cool floor and excess drinking make me think of fever or diabetes as possibilities, but I don't know how that would fit with the eye problem. How grey-savey is you vet? Not criticizing, just asking.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Is there an actual veterinary ophthalmologist in your area? I'm thinking you and Show need a specialist.

 

If there isn't one, I'd get in touch with OSU right away.

[Guest mld]

Vitamine A Deficiency can affect the eyes!

[Houndtime]

I was going to suggest a doggie opthomologist. I had a collie with third eyelid problems and turned out to be an issue with a nerve in his neck. My vet couldn't diagnose it but the opthomologist did. Good luck.

[Guest mld]

Hope its nothing serious, but it sounds like everyone agrees on seeing the Ophthalmologist

[tbhounds]

I'm interpreting this as a systemic illness. You need to get your pup back to the vet for another full exam and blood work--perhaps the er clinic tonight.

 

[Guest Cara_Lea]

I will try to answer everyone's questions.. please forgive me if I miss something.

 

- The vet examined his eyes thoroughly, twice. No signs of glaucoma or any other eye illness or injury.

 

- No other signs of any respiratory issues.

 

- Vet is very grey savvy. She has been working with the breed for years.

 

- As for fever, she has checked his temperature each time he was there. No sign. Doesn't mean he isn't getting them at home and then having them break. I don't have a thermometer for the dogs, so I admit I can't check properly.. but I have been checking how physically warm he is feeling and he only seemed very warm to me on one occasion over this whole time and he had been curled up in bed with his jammies on and blankets nested around him, so it made sense he was that warm. The next time he decides he wants to lay on the cold floor, I am going to sacrifice our human thermometer and check his temp and see if it is elevated. I keep saying I should buy one for the dogs... I'll just buy a new one for the humans.

 

- We have been seriously wondering if it could be diabetes. The drinking and peeing started after he last saw the vet on Friday, so I am going to tell her about it tomorrow.

 

- Not sure about a local opthamologist. I will ask my vet tomorrow.

 

Thank you all for your concern. As I said, he does seem to be improving, but not quite all the way. I will update after we talk to/see the vet tomorrow.

Edited November 27, 2012 by Cara_Lea

[tbhounds]

The next time you go to the drug store just pick up a cheapie digital thermometer-they work pretty well.

Please update after your vet visit tomorrow-fingers crossed he will continue to improve.

[greysmom]

Just to throw this out there, our Copper had a weird eye problem - one of his eyes was protruding a good quarter inch further from his head than the other (look down from the top) - and it turned out he had abcessed teeth in his upper jaw underneath that eye. You might check his mouth thoroughly and even his ears.

[Guest Cara_Lea]

Greysmom - Show had a full dental about a month and a half ago because of an absessed tooth that led to an infection. That tooth was on the bottom jaw, but on the same side that the eye issue started on. I will remind my vet about this and see if she thinks there could be a correlation.

 

tbhounds - I'll be getting that thermometer tomorrow.. and I will definitely update as well. For now Show is sound asleep in a full roach.

[Hawthorn]

I knew a greyhound who had similar issues with his third eyelids and it eventually turned out he was hypothyroid and the eye issues resolved once he was on medication. Just wanted to throw this into the mix as a possibility.

[Scooby172]

Uveitis? One of my dogs had this in both eyes, third eyelid, red eyes, squinting, not herself. Good luck with your boy, would also

recommend an opthalmologist if the condition does not improve.

Linda, Jack and Keeva

[Batmom]

Also, after we started the Reactine, he started drinking and peeing a LOT. He had 2 accidents in the house.. and since then we've been making sure he goes out at least twice more a day than the normal schedule.

.

 

Almost certainly a reaction to the medication.

 

Hope you can get to the bottom of things!

[cometdust1]

You said his eyes appeared sunken.I would be concerned with uveitis too.Mine had it as part of ehrlichiosis and the eyes got soft and sunken. Did your vet perform a tear production test and a pressure test? If symptoms are not resolving maybe these should be done.

[TheFullHouse]

No experience Cara Lea, but thinking good thoughts for Show. I hope this mystery is solved quickly.

[Guest Cara_Lea]

Post Vet Trip Update: Not much to share. Another exam, blood draw for a list of tests, urine taken for another list of tests. Continuing with the antihistamines as they do seem to be improving his eyes and the licking of his bum and paws. Will update tomorrow when we get the test results.

[Guest Cara_Lea]

So, Show's bloodwork and urinalysis show him as being perfectly healthy. As for Uveitis, the steroid drops he was on that made his eyes worse.. they would have treated uveitis if it was that. The vet believes (as Batmom called) that the peeing and drinking is a reaction to the antihistamine. So she suggested we try another antihistamine. I've actually decided that I am going to go with my gut on this one for a couple of days, rather than trying yet another medication. I'm taking him off his kibble and going to feed him only a protein source that he has eaten before and had no issues with. I want to see if this is a food related allergy.