Has anyone ever dealt with Canine Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca (Dry Eye)?

[Rgeurts]

Just wondering if anyone here has ever dealt with this, and if so, been successful in reversing it? I searched the forum and couldn't find any posts where someone was actually dealing with it.
Seems our monster always has this weird stuff, which is ok, we will take care of it. But it would be nice to be able to compare notes.

Thanks!

Robyn

[Love4himies]

Rgeurts, could you take a pic of poor Nanooks eye to post?

[chico2]

OMG,there just is no breaks for our poor little Nookie-Monster or you
I don't know anything about this,but hope you find a solution

[Goldfields]

Yes, I have had it before, but a long time ago, and I did cure it. I would have to track down Shady's book though and see if I wrote all about it in that. No, it's not in that. I know it was some special eye drops I got from the vet that fixed it, and it had a diabolical effect on her eyes instantly, seemed to sort of make her screw them tight so they looked sore and small, no doubt hurting her, but one drop fixed it, we had tears back again, which was a relief after having her on liquid tears during the day and a longer lasting eye drop overnight for a while. That awful immediate effect on her eyes lasted for hours though , it was horrible. This happened back in the 80's, it was my first Shady, an ACD, don't know if the vet would recall what it was now that he used. I can ask him tomorrow. I think I have an idea what these drops are used for primarily but don't want to say until I check with him first.
I don't know that eye cures are ever nice. We had blocked tear ducts with Ben, our lovely Sheltie boy, and I fixed that by using Kojo(?) , an eye conditioner/cleanser, and that stung like crazy. Not nice, but not lasting a while like those other drops, and far better for Ben than having to have his tear ducts manually unblocked.

[TeriM]

Rgeurts, I would definately check with your homeopathic vet as those are the types of situations I think can be greatly assisted homeopathically. There are some very good eye drops I have used in the past Oculoheel http://www.heel.ca/pub/datasheet.jsp?product=50 that contain euphrasia which is very good for eye stuff.

[Rgeurts]

Originally Posted by Goldfields

Yes, I have had it before, but a long time ago, and I did cure it. I would have to track down Shady's book though and see if I wrote all about it in that. No, it's not in that. I know it was some special eye drops I got from the vet that fixed it, and it had a diabolical effect on her eyes instantly, seemed to sort of make her screw them tight so they looked sore and small, no doubt hurting her, but one drop fixed it, we had tears back again, which was a relief after having her on liquid tears during the day and a longer lasting eye drop overnight for a while. That awful immediate effect on her eyes lasted for hours though , it was horrible. This happened back in the 80's, it was my first Shady, an ACD, don't know if the vet would recall what it was now that he used. I can ask him tomorrow. I think I have an idea what these drops are used for primarily but don't want to say until I check with him first.
I don't know that eye cures are ever nice. We had blocked tear ducts with Ben, our lovely Sheltie boy, and I fixed that by using Kojo(?) , an eye conditioner/cleanser, and that stung like crazy. Not nice, but not lasting a while like those other drops, and far better for Ben than having to have his tear ducts manually unblocked.

Thank you Goldfields. I'm glad yours was able to recover from it. Dr. Karen Marsden didn't mention anything about that 1 drop medicine, I'll have to ask her about that if this doesn't work.

[Rgeurts]

This is a pic of his eyes tonight. They look a LOT better than they did 2 days ago, so I'm thinking the ointment is helping. For the last couple of weeks the whole right side of his little face was just soaking wet and the dark red circles went well down on to his cheekbone and his eyes were almost swollen shut at times. His right eye is a bit swollen and squinty tonight, but still looking better than it has been! Such an odd name for this disorder! When I was reading thryoid symptoms, one of them was "Dry Eyes" and I told Shaun he definitely didn't have that symptom because his eyes are so runny lol. Turns out that dry eye isn't so dry! The way Dr. Marsden explained was the tears work in 2 stages:

1. Actual tears that flush the eye, keep it moist and help to stave off bacteria and infections
2. Mucus

In Dry Eye the dog is missing the first stage. He has plenty of mucus but hardly any actual tears.

From what I've read, it's very similar to pink eye in a dog. Some dogs recover while others live with it for life.

[Goldfields]

Originally Posted by Rgeurts

Thank you Goldfields. I'm glad yours was able to recover from it. Dr. Karen Marsden didn't mention anything about that 1 drop medicine, I'll have to ask her about that if this doesn't work.

It wasn't meant to be just 1 drop. I forget now whether it was drops for 3 days in a row but the reaction Shady had was so alarming I vowed not to use it again, and fortunately it had worked so I didn't have to.

[BMDLuver]

our crested was born with a deformed eye socket and she has issues with her eye. Part of the deformation causes dry eye which causes her to rub at it. We put drops in daily that are very oily and it helps minimally. I clean her eyes daily and some days we have to add an eye ointment as well if she's been bothering it. In her case, the only surgical option is eye removal but we will not do that until such time as she does not have vision or appears very uncomfortable as they are unable to reform an eye socket on such a small dog.

[Love4himies]

Poor Nanook, that eye looks like it is really bothering her .

[Rgeurts]

Originally Posted by BMDLuver

our crested was born with a deformed eye socket and she has issues with her eye. Part of the deformation causes dry eye which causes her to rub at it. We put drops in daily that are very oily and it helps minimally. I clean her eyes daily and some days we have to add an eye ointment as well if she's been bothering it. In her case, the only surgical option is eye removal but we will not do that until such time as she does not have vision or appears very uncomfortable as they are unable to reform an eye socket on such a small dog.

Poor baby, and poor you! It's a lot to deal with, especially if you work as well
I have read about surgery as an option, but it isn't one that would be viable for Nanook. Unless it's something life-threatening, he can't be put under because the risk of a relapse in the meningoencephalitis is very high.

Originally Posted by Love4himies

Poor Nanook, that eye looks like it is really bothering her .

His eyes look bad, but it doesn't seem to bother him too much now. He was pawing at his eyes constantly, but now it's just every once in awhile

[rainbow]

Poor Nookie just doesn't get a break.

I hope the ointment is all that he needs.

[Rgeurts]

I don't really know if the ointment is going to help all that much This is what his eyes are looking like now. They weren't too bad this morning, though.

[Rgeurts]

Originally Posted by BMDLuver

our crested was born with a deformed eye socket and she has issues with her eye. Part of the deformation causes dry eye which causes her to rub at it. We put drops in daily that are very oily and it helps minimally. I clean her eyes daily and some days we have to add an eye ointment as well if she's been bothering it. In her case, the only surgical option is eye removal but we will not do that until such time as she does not have vision or appears very uncomfortable as they are unable to reform an eye socket on such a small dog.

I'm wondering if it isn't an issue with his eye socket as well. When he was on prednisone he developed "pred-head" which is a wasting of the muscle in his head. His eyes got really sunken in and he developed a bit of atrophy. Even though his head has really filled back in nice, his eyes are still very sunken compared to what they used to be.

[BMDLuver]

Poor guy, he really has been through the ringer. I found his eyes looked better in the last photos, less squishy for lack of a better term!

[Rgeurts]

Originally Posted by BMDLuver

Poor guy, he really has been through the ringer. I found his eyes looked better in the last photos, less squishy for lack of a better term!

They just look bad to me, but I'm a bit neurotic when it comes to him
But it really doesn't seem to be bothering him near as much now. He was constantly pawing at them before, now it's just once in awhile
They will re-do the Shirmer strip test again on Friday. I'm 'ing that it will be improved!

[BMDLuver]

well that's a really good sign that he isn't at them as much.

[Rgeurts]

His poor little eyes are looking bad again. He has SO much mucus coming from them. He still isn't scratching at em as much, but it's looking bad again, like it did the last couple of weeks.

[BMDLuver]

Poor dude. It looks runny but no infection so perhaps it is the drops causing overproduction which I think is what they are supposed to do?

[chico2]

Poor Nookie-Monster,through all the health-problems I am so glad he is with you and not someone who would have given up a long time.
I there will be a turning-point soon,where Nookie will be without discomfort.

[Rgeurts]

Originally Posted by BMDLuver

Poor dude. It looks runny but no infection so perhaps it is the drops causing overproduction which I think is what they are supposed to do?

I didn't know that's what it's supposed to do. Hopefully that's all it is. We will be going in later today instead of Friday. He has a nasty bladder infection and no appetite for the last couple of days and threw up some bile this morning. I don't know if the loss of appetite is caused by the antibiotic or not, but hopefully we'll find out today.

Originally Posted by chico2

Poor Nookie-Monster,through all the health-problems I am so glad he is with you and not someone who would have given up a long time.
I there will be a turning-point soon,where Nookie will be without discomfort.

He still seems to be pretty happy and playful. I'm hoping this is just a little hiccup and he will be back to himself in a few days. DH and I won't give up on him until he gives up and let's us know it's time, which I fully believe he would. He's a little fighter, and such a happy boy