Glaucoma

What is your experience with canine glaucoma? Our 9 year old female went in last week for it - or at least that was the diagnosis. She's under treatment, but we could not really afford the $2500 + travel to get any surgery done within the 3 day window.

How long did the eye take to degrade or become too painful while being treated for you? I was told that eye removal is pretty much a given within a year.

Also found out that the primary medication for this is no longer readily available, since it is no longer prescribed for human glaucoma. So, it's second -tier meds for the systemic/oral medication.

Hopefully this is limited to one eye. No obvious cause.

Is this a skip?
deb

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Originally Posted by Longgun

Is this a skip?
deb

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Yes she is.

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Originally Posted by Noseyarentcha

I have no experience with glaucoma but am dealing with a dog with Mitral Heart Valve Insufficiency. I'm very sorry to hear about your pal. My heart goes out to you and your furry friend. Big hugs to you both.

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Thanks, it was a shock to say the least, I was expecting a corneal scratch or infection. We were lucky that we did not wait to take her in, after we notice she was acting funny.

Sorry to hear about the valve insufficiency diagnosis in your friend- it's tough to get that kind of news back.

I had a beagle that developed it. Vet said we could control for about a year with drops but when that stopped working it would be quite painful. He wasn't wrong. I put him down almost 12 months exactly from initial diagnosing. Interestingly I myself have this condition also. It was controlled with meds (drops) for about 10 years then we did lazer surgery and so far everything is in control. Wish I had better news, sorry.
glaucoma is a geneticly transferred condition. You should advise your breeder to remove that bloodline from his breeding program.

Never had a dog get glaucoma. Did have a dog get cataracts in both eyes at age 5. Left him with tunnel vision only. $3500. per eye which I couldn't afford. Even in the backyard he would slam into trees/fences. Had to put him down , which was maybe the hardest thing I've ever had to do with a dog . He was a great dog.

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Originally Posted by terrym

Glaucoma is a geneticly transferred condition. You should advise your breeder to remove that bloodline from his breeding program.

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I'll make her aware of it, thanks.

I have a similar situation currently, my 5 yr female has been diagnosed with glaucoma but the specialist isn't sure if it is primary (genetic) or secondary (injury).

Essentially we have confirmed she is blind in the one eye but a special test needs to be performed before we can determine that cause of the glaucoma. If it is primary, it is likely she will develop it in the other eye within a year or two. If its secondary then the options include life long eye drops to reduce pressure (pain mgmt), remove the eye completely and replace with a glass sphere or destroy the eye insitu, leaving just the eye ball but no plumbing. No plumbing = no pressure = no pain.

I had her out for a run in the woods on thanksgiving weekend, she can back from the run with one eye closed. We took her to the vet on Tuesday after waking up to find her eyeball was all grey/white, opaque like a glass of milk. She immediately went on anti-inflammatory and pain mgmt drugs and was at the specialist 5 days later. According to the specialist you have hours to get the swelling down to prevent permanent damage, not days.

I suspect early in the new year I will be having the one eye removed ($2500-3000) and performing the test on the later eye. If it is determine that it is primary glaucoma then we will enjoy the time we have until she is completely blind, and then at that point the sad eventuality will become reality.

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Originally Posted by jobbershunting

I have a similar situation currently, my 5 yr female has been diagnosed with glaucoma but the specialist isn't sure if it is primary (genetic) or secondary (injury).

Essentially we have confirmed she is blind in the one eye but a special test needs to be performed before we can determine that cause of the glaucoma. If it is primary, it is likely she will develop it in the other eye within a year or two. If its secondary then the options include life long eye drops to reduce pressure (pain mgmt), remove the eye completely and replace with a glass sphere or destroy the eye insitu, leaving just the eye ball but no plumbing. No plumbing = no pressure = no pain.

I had her out for a run in the woods on thanksgiving weekend, she can back from the run with one eye closed. We took her to the vet on Tuesday after waking up to find her eyeball was all grey/white, opaque like a glass of milk. She immediately went on anti-inflammatory and pain mgmt drugs and was at the specialist 5 days later. According to the specialist you have hours to get the swelling down to prevent permanent damage, not days.

I suspect early in the new year I will be having the one eye removed ($2500-3000) and performing the test on the later eye. If it is determine that it is primary glaucoma then we will enjoy the time we have until she is completely blind, and then at that point the sad eventuality will become reality.

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Our dog still has some vision in the affected eye. Her pressure was 76 at admission, and has dropped to <33. Other eye is normal at 17 so far.

We do the drops and oral meds 3x a day. Seems to be keeping it at bay, and we will just go with it until we figure out our timeline.

We were quoted ~$800 for the enucleation, without prosthetic I believe. I'm getting a second quote from our other vet.

The laser capillary surgery, or other possible treatment surgery was quoted at ~$2500. However, we would have had to go to Minneapolis, or the GTA, so add $400+ either choice. We opted not to go that route, especially with the timeframe involved.

She's almost normal in behaviour. Not quite eating all she used to, and sleeps a bit more, but mostly the same. We will be monitoring her discomfort, and pressure, and see how it goes. A refill of meds is $168 for me, so that will be a factor as well.

Good luck to you.

Interesting to hear that your dog has maintained vision with sustained pressures in that range. Two weeks ago the pressure in her affected eye was 61 and 12 in the other. We are also administering three types of eye drops, three times daily + anti inflammatory. I will have to consult our vet about the enucleation, I don't her to have a prosthetic, so this sounds like a cheaper option.

In terms of comfort relating to the eye injury, I think she is fairly normal, albeit a bit more sedentary. Aside from being partially blind the biggest issue resulting from the glaucoma was when she tried to hop up into the back of the truck, she missed and careened into the bumper ultimately causing a slipped disk or similar injury to her back. Stairs, doors sills, hoping onto the couch, etc., are now painful for her.

How is everyone's pup making out?

The pressure in the one eye was still creeping up, even under treatment of Azopt, Travoprost, and acetazolamide, so we went ahead with enucleation two weeks ago.

As a bonus, the remaining eye that tested normal throughout the treatment now reads pressure at 31. We have started treating her again. Not the outcome we hoped for, but it was always a risk since the cause of the glaucoma is not known.

Sometimes I hate that building.

A friend's toller is being treated right now. It is affecting both eyes. They thought the one was going to be alright but he has suffered a set back. It just seemed to hit him out of the blue. Thanks for the heads up on the genetics. I will pass that on to her.