Cedric was (almost) a ten-year-old cocker spaniel when glaucoma affected his right eye. He was obviously in great pain & we did not know what was going on. We took him to the vet & the pressure in his eye was extremely high. We put him on a couple of kinds of drops & then took him to an eye specialist.
It was three weeks after his original diagnosis that Cedric had a procedure which involves removing the fluid from the eye & then injecting the eye with something which makes the eye unable to produce any more fluid. No fluid=no pressure=no pain. He got drops for his left eye for 2-1/2 years until he woke up this past St. Patrick’s Day totally blind (& very, very confused).
He had done great with sight in only one eye–he was even able to still chase & catch rodents, but total blindness really threw him for a loop. We took him to the vet the next day & it was confirmed that the glaucoma had gotten the other eye. He went on different drops & the pressure went down from about 60 to 6 the next day. We continued giving him four different kinds of drops, multiple times a day, but the pressure kept increasing.
He eventually had the procedure done in his other eye. Cedric has been a bit slow coming around (he is also hard of hearing), but is getting better all the time. His (full) sister is also blind due to cataracts, but she may still have a tiny bit of light sensitivity. And, since her blindness came on gradually, she had time to adjust & does just fine (a cross between Mr. Magoo & a pinball machine). The attached photos are Cedric the night before he went totally blind.
My dog was the same. One day she had sight – the next morning she woke up and she was totally blind. It’s amazing how quickly glaucoma can hit.
But Cedric did well to go 2 1/2 years before the second eye went. For my dog it was about 6 months or so.
It really was amazing how quickly it happened. The day before he went blind in his second eye, he chased a (stray) cat across the yard, found & ate an avocado he found up in the grove & seemed to be just fine.
We were thrilled that the second eye worked for 2-1/2 years–the other eye typically goes within eight months of the first eye.
Did you have any sign that the eye was changing? I keep looking at Kodie’s eye. So far the color is the same. He doesn’t do any squinting like he did with his bad eye. He doesn’t have any redness in it. His bad eye was so red and inflammed. I keep thinking since I don’t see any changes that it is fine right now. But, maybe that isn’t the case.
There were no signs of any eye color changing at all in my dog. Here eye was fine one day and then the next day she was blind.
Sorry–just saw this. No, we saw no sign that the eye was changing. He seemed just fine one day & woke up completely blind (& very confused) the next.
Debbie, how often is Kodie’s eye pressure checked. For now my vet wants Sasha checked quarterly (unless… of course). When the pressure increases much more it will be monthly (and again, unless… it blows out). We do her drops twice a day and I think it’s helping. Occasionally when I see irritation in the white area, I give her the steroid drops.