Maggie came into our lives as a 1 1/2 yr old rescue. Sweet as you could be while we were making the choice on who to add to the family, but we soon learned that she is definitely the Alpha Dog! She is now 11 years old, runs the house and only behaves for a treat.
We took her to the Vet on 17 Aug 2012 because I thought she was having a severe allergy attack. She had the runny nose and eye symptoms before, and typical a dose or two of Benedryl would fix the problem, but this time it was much worse. She also kept tilting her head to one side and was not her usual energetic self. New to our area, we took her to a “country doctor” as he likes to call himself and after a brief look, he said he thought it looked like glaucoma, but he would have to refer us to another clinic to check the pressure. He prescribed a steroid drop and sent us on our way.
The following Friday we took her to the next vet clinic where they measured her eyes. The right eye was at 16 and the left eye was at 53. Unfortunately that was all the info that vet could give us and then referred us to a specialist. Yesterday, 5 Sept 2012 we were given the conclusive news that Maggie indeed has glaucoma, along with cataracts in both eyes.
Luckily I had “surfed the net” for any information I could find for dogs with glaucoma after the first vet visit. I cried realizing she must be in tremendous pain and coming to terms about her possibilities that I was a little more prepared for all the details and explanations of what was going on with her eyes from this vet. After learning that drug treatment could only prolong the inevitable, we have opted to have her left eye removed. Maggie is scheduled to go into surgery next Tuesday, 11 Sept 2012. We were sent home with 2 medications, Dorzolamide/Timolo solution and Latanoprost (Xalatan), both eye drops, to help reduce the pressure and I believe as a preventative messure to help save the “good” right eye.
Like many I had read about, initially we too thought the possibility of Maggie going totally blind was a death sentence. I am happy to see the wonderful stories of those going through this and how your beloved family members are doing so well and adjusting. It gives me hope that our Maggie will be back to her usually bad behavior once she is a little more pain free.
Good luck to your family with the upcoming surgery. I’m trying to come to term with the fact that the eyes are painful and afterwards it will be a relief for them for the affected eye to be gone. I wish a speedy recovery for Maggie.
I’m surprised at how much more common this seems to be then I thought. Even though I wish no one had to go through this, it is reassuring to know that there are so many success stories!!
Thank you Deena, I am too praying that all goes well.
It was surprising the differences on the procedures/final outcome with humans and animals, considering both utilize the same medicines. I never realized until this happened to her that they would have to actually remove the eye. We’ve had many pets throughout the years, both dogs and cats, but she is the first with this problem. We’ve dealt with sickness, operations and seizures with a few of the others, but this one just seems harder. I think because she’ll have the permanent mark as a daily reminder. I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea that she will always be winking at me. Sounds better anyway. 🙂
Thanks for your comments! I’ll keep you posted.
Let us know how the operation goes Celeste. We’ll be thinking of you and Maggie.
Yes, please post an update on Celeste. I have been thinking about you and Maggie all day. I am sure we will be going through the same surgery very soon. Post an update as soon as you can. Thoughts are with you and Maggie!!!!
Bless your heart. I know exactly how you are feeling. Our 3 year old Siberian Husky has glaucoma. We are trying to manage it right now with medicine. He is on 3 types of drops and 2 types of pills. They have prepared us that he will probably lose his eye or even eyes eventually. It breaks my heart. I will be thinking about you on Sept 11th and the days that follow. Please post updates. The surgery process scares me. I wonder how much pain he will be in after the surgery. The whole thing just scares me to death.
Good Luck!!!!
I think the dogs are in more pain before the surgery. When my dog had her eye removed and I went to pick her up after the surgery, I was expecting her to be groggy and in pain and I’d have to carry her to the car. Instead she jumped all over me when she she saw me and walked without any problem to the car. I knew then that everything would be okay. She was already coping without the eye and I think she was just extremely happy that the glaucoma pain was gone.
Thanks Paula. That makes me feel better. Kodie’s eye has been looking horrible the last couple days. We go to our local vet tonight for a pressure check. I am really wondering if we should just go ahead and take the bad left eye out and then concentrate on keeping the right eye. I will speak to them about it. I think he can still see out the eye, but not sure. He doesn’t act like he is in pain, but the last couple days he is sinking the eye in his head and it is very red. He isn’t opening his eye very wide. It is all just breaking my heart. I have my first grandchild arriving next month. My stress and worries of Kodie are taking my excitement away from the baby.
Thanks for the encourgement. I couldn’t go through this process without you all.
How did the visit with the vet go? Was the pressure okay? Probably not based on what you’ve said. He sounds like he isn’t very happy.
His bad eye has been the left eye. The pressure was down to 4 in it. The right eye has been down to 4 the last couple visits. It was up to 16. His eye was looking horrible. The vet thinks the 3 combination of drops are to much for the left eye so they have told me to stop 1 of the drops in his left eye for this week. We have to go back next Wednesday for another pressure check. His eye is looking a lot better since Wednesday. This is just going to be a roller coaster ride I guess. I guess I just better buckle up for the ride. I asked the Vet if they had any idea how long it would be before he goes blind. She said that we caught it extremely quick so she wasn’t sure, but her guess is that he will be completely blind in both eyes within a year. I just have to accept it some how. I hope you don’t mind me staying in the support group. He isn’t blind yet, but he will be and you all are helping me so much to prepare. My family doesn’t want to talk about it and I am the type of person that has to talk about my problems. Thanks for being there for me.
This is the best thing I have heard in awhile! 🙂
Of course we are happy to have you here Debbie. We want to help you get through this.
The pressure in the eyes was very low so yes the amount of medications is probably a bit much. I am glad the eye is looking better now. Keep us updated.
I agree with your sentiment about this being harder because you will always see the reminder.
My P.J. Has gone through a surgery for a torn acl. I had a rough time with that. But I saw how tough she was with that and I know she will be ok with this too. It is strange the differences in the disease between humans and dogs. However if it means no more pain for them, that’s what we need to keep in mind.
Thinking of you today Celeste and Maggie!
My 12 lb chihuahua/fox terrier mix EVA had a lens in her right eye luxate about 3 yrs ago…at age 4. then, 8 months later the left lens. both lenses are in the posterior chamber of her eyes,and are shriveled up and dissolving and we have been able to manage the pressures etc pretty well with drops. 2 months ago, a blood vessel in the right eye burst…the vet thinks behind the iris. no active bleeding, but the eye is completely red and demonic looking. she has had no vision in that eye for years, and very little vision in the other one, but still fetches, goes on walks, gets around beautifully. now the pressure is building in the right eye and she is obviously uncomfortable. I have started discussions with the vet about removal of the eye if we can’t get this under control….thank you all for sharing your experiences