Has anyone had any experience with this rather painful problem? My vet has offered surgery (3rd re-occurence in 3 months :( ) but i wondered if anyone had tried anything else?

Hi Sam

Sorry to hear about your dog.  These ulcers a very painful.  Has  you had your pet tested for hypo-thyroidism.  Corneal ulcers can be a sign of this problem.  Ask your vet to do a full panel thyroid test not just a t4. 

Hi Sam

Sorry to hear about your dog.  These ulcers a very painful.  Have  you had your pet tested for hypo-thyroidism.  Corneal ulcers can be a sign of this problem.  Ask your vet to do a full panel thyroid test not just a t4.  You need T4, T3, FT4, T4AA. T3AA also TSH and TgAA.  You must ask your vet what the normal levels are for the lab that they use and also ask for a print out of the results so that you have them for reference.  I was referred to a specialist who said that her tear production was a little low but not enough to keep getting ulcers and even on the drops to help with the tear production she still kept getting them. I was then informed that corneal ulcers can be a sign of hypo-thyroidism, unfortunately too late to save one of her eyes and too late to stop the other then getting ulcers once she had lost one eye.  She now has a graft on her remaining eye to save the cornea, but touch wood since she has been on thyroid treatment for the last 18months her remaining eye has been ok.  Ebony's thyroid result was only just below the limit set by the lab my vet uses but it was obviously enough to cause a problem.

If you wish to know anything else please feel free to private message me.

Sue

hI
WE HAVE A 19MONTH OLD GREAT DANE MALE CALLED MANSON WHO SUFFERS BADLEY FROM ULCERS ON THE EYE, HE HAS HAD A LAMPSHADE ON :) FOR TWO WEEKS NOW.....hIS FIRST ULCER TOOK WEEKS TO CLEAR UP AND HE HAD REGULAR DROPS TO TREAT THIS , JUST AFTER WE WERE GETTING SOMEWHERE HE NOW HAS AN ULCER ON HIS GOOD EYE AND HE IS BACK ON EYE TREAMENT INCLUDING SEDATION TABLETS TO CALM HIM DOWN AS HE STILL MANAGES TO RUB HIS EYE THROUGH IT , HE IS GETTING CLEVER :)........
tHE REASON WHY I THINK HE STARTED WITH THEM IS HE SUFFERED FROM DRY EYE ORGINALLY AND ENTROPIAN WHERE THE EYELID AND UNDERNEATH TURN IN AND THE EYELASHES CAN COARSE INFECTION. WE WERE TOLD THAT THE WORST CASE SENARIO WOULD BE HE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE HIS EYE SEWN UP SO IT COULD HEAL ITSELF :( :( BUT I CANNOT BEAR THE THOUGHT OF IT :( SO HE WOULD BE BLIND IN ONE EYE AND PARCIALLY SIGHTED IN THE OTHER AS AFTER AN ULCER IT DOES LEAVE SCARRING IN THE CENTRE OF THE EYE LIKE A TINY LUMP. dUNNO HOW WE WOULD COPE SEEING HIM GO THROUGH ALL THIS DISCOMFORT AND LOOKING AFTER HIM, REMEBERING HE IS 12 STONE IN WEIGHT, WE HAVE TO FIGHT WITH HIM TO GET HIS EYE DROPS IN AND SOME TIMES IT TAKED THREE OF US...... SAD.... NEED SOME REASURING WORDS ..

Sorry to hear about the problems Manson is suffering. :( If it's any reassurance, dogs who have an eye sewn shut (it's temporary, not permanent!) to allow it to heal generally do extremely well in the long term.

My Megan an ESS had a entropian eye. I asked the vet to sew the eylids together as the eye itself had already started to ulcerate. They also took a peice of skin out of her eylid (a bit like plastic surgery) so the eyelid was lifted into a correct position. The stitches stayed in for just over 3 weeks and when they were removed the ulcer had healed and Megan had excellent vision after a few weeks. She lived and enjoyed life to the full until I lost her last June at 9 years old.

I cant advise you as only your vet can do this, but this is a very painful condition and even if Manson were to be partially sighted, I would certainly consider this. Partial sight or severe pain, I know which I would choose

Kay

hi Kay

manson has already had both the eyes done and lifted, the thought of having his eye sewn i dread, how would we cope :( working both of us work , i work part time so i can be at home with him more..... He is so full of life and healthy in evry other way, apart from when the sedation tablets kick in so he sleeps a lot of the time, this is to slow him down and sleep more as then the eye is relaxed and he cannot harm it.... :(  Now we have this problem with his testicles which are very sore and red, we keep thinking my god what's next, his life at only 19months has been constant visits and stays at the doggy hospital :(........ We cannot even take him for a walk as the vet said he could pick up another infection :(

JU :(

Hi Ju, Poor Manson, it must be awful for him, and you having to go through this. I can only say that the difference to Megans eye after it was sewn up was unbelievable. As I said, the stitches are only in for three weeks, and she did get used to it after a couple of days. If I had to do this again, I would not hesitate.  If I remember rightly it is not the whole eye that is stitched, but the haw (third eyelid) is stitched to the underneath of the eyelid. It looks awful and looks painful but Megan hardly noticed it. When the stitching was removed the ulcerations had healed and left just the tiniest scarring.
Kay

hi kay

he has already had his third eyelid removed.  also i think because he had a terrible reaction to medication last year, maybe the vet is unsure about what to do next , but he did mention that sewing the eye up would be the last resort.... if you send me your email i will send you some before and after and present piccys which i have just sent to cloe, she has had similar problems.... well not her her dog :)

Julie

Hi Julie, my e-mail is exelbylabradors@yahoo.co.uk. I am really sorry for you and samson, you seem to be going through a lot. I must admit Megan was quite lucky, the first operation did the trick and we never had anymore eye problems with her, (everything else yes :D ) but her eye healed exceptionally well.  Unfortunately, although I do have the before and after photos, they were taken 8 years ago and  are on normal print photo. scanning them is not very good so cannot e-mail them to you.
Kay

hi
these tests for thyroid any idea how much they cost.....

julie-anne

hi sam

how much are these thyroid tests any ideas

Julie