Glaucoma (long)

[breeze50uk]

Breeze (the black newfie)woke up last Sunday morning with her right eye cloudy, she wasn't in any discomfort, so I watched her all day with the intention of calling the vet first thing Monday morning. Meantime I phoned a few friends with newfs of similar age (she's 11) and some of their dogs had that but it wore away again after a few days.
Monday morning I called the vet and was told to bring her in for the afternoon appointments. She could still see out of the eye, when I phoned them but as the day wore on, she began to show definate signs of discomfort and pain and began to shy away from me, when I went near her head.
By the time we went to the vet at 3o'clock she was totally blind in that eye.
She was diagnosed with rapid onset glaucoma and yes it all happened that fast and there was nothing I did or could have done to stop it or get any warning of it happening.
Since last Monday shes been on two different types of eye drops, one to clear any infection and one to keep the pressure down in the eye and Rimadyl for pain control.
Sadly, this Monday she goes in to have the eye taken out, since the sight loss is not going to change and she would have to be on constant meds. to keep the pressure down etc.
I know this is the best thing for her and the vet gave me the option of keeping her eye, but common sense tells me that at some point the eye will have to be removed anyway and as the vet told me, this will be harder on me/us (hubby is upset too)than on the dog.
She has already adjusted to seeing out of one eye, she learned to cope almost within the day!
The strange thing is, that friends of ours had to have their newfy boy's eye taken out just two weeks ago for the same thing, (he is also 11)and the same vet dealt with it (it's a huge practise and this vet is not the normal one I would ask to see) their dog was sent to an eye specialist just to check it was the right diagnosis.
I kinda feel that fate stepped in here and got me to this particular vet on that day.
Anyhow I've checked back on newf-net archives and found some of your stories about similar problems. This vet now wants to take precautions against Breeze's other eye going the same way (it appears to be ok at the moment) and so we will start a regime of preventative eye drops after she recovers from her operation. The vet also started the same treatment for Ben our friends dog, although his other eye was showing signs of having glaucoma as well.
I didn't see any mention of this on any of the previous threads, has anyone been advised to take preventative measures for the good eye?
Also I've been reading the thread on Rimadyl and although Breeze seems to be feeling better than she has in a long time (it seems to be helping her arthritic hips)I'm very concerned about the side effects of the drug.
Any reassurance, advice or alternatives you may have will be gratefully read and accepted.
She was on glucosamine for a short time, but I stopped them when the Rimadyl was prescribed,would it be safe to put her back on the glucosamine?
Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Blacknewfs]

Sorry to hear about Breeze's glaucoma. While I have no experience with this, I do have a Newf with cataracts - she is 6 yrs old and 95% blind. She gets along very well considering (unless the power goes out and her auditory cues are gone, but that's another story.)

We opted not to have surgery, and we use preventative drops daily to prevent inflammation, discomfort and most importantly retinal detachment. I personally would rather prevent issues from happening, than risk it and not use prevention.

Good luck with Breeze, I hope she's feeling much better.

[ 06-15-2007, 07:47 PM: Message edited by: Black Newfs ]

 

[Joan Fisher]

Hi,
My Bonnie who will be 8 yrs old this week developed glaucoma on her 7th birthday last June 28th. She spent Canada Day in ICU when she was supposed to be representing Sable Chief, the Nfld dog mascot of the Royal Nfld Regiment in WWI at the ceremony for the 60th Anniversary of Beaumont Hamel. She had a swelling in her face which we thought was due to a hornet sting. The vet gave me antibiotic ointment but I went back on the 30th and he freaked when he saw her eye. Of course it was the Fiday of the long weekend and no eye vets were available. Her eye pressure was 65 so she lost her sight. She was admitted for around 20 hrs until they could get the pressure down. The eye vet thought it was primary glaucoma because he did a gonioscopy and said there was also narrowing of the channel in her other eye. He said in 14 years as an eye vet he had never seen it in a NEWF and none of the textbooks or literature mention it being something that afflicts Newfs. However, when I contacted the breeder I found out Bonnie had a half sister who went completely blind from glaucoma. We went all summer visiting the eye vet and using drops to try and keep the pressure down. Finally, at the end of August Bonnie had surgery to remove the insides of her eye and replace it with a black silicone ball. She still looks pretty normal. It just looks like one eye is lighter than the other. Anyway - total costs were around $5000.00 Cdn. A year later her good eye is just fine with no pressure increases. The vet wanted us to use preventative drops in the good eye but when I questioned him about doing it when her pressures were good he said he really wanted someone to look closely at her eye every day and putting drops in was a way to ensure the owner did that. That was enough for me to say "not doing that, thanks!"
Joan Fisher

 

[breeze50uk]

Thanks for that Joan, I will be taking Breeze in for her check up on Wednesday and will question the vet about the preventative eye drops.

 

[NewfMom]

Originally posted by breeze:
Also I've been reading the thread on Rimadyl and although Breeze seems to be feeling better than she has in a long time (it seems to be helping her arthritic hips)I'm very concerned about the side effects of the drug.
Any reassurance, advice or alternatives you may have will be gratefully read and accepted.
She was on glucosamine for a short time, but I stopped them when the Rimadyl was prescribed,would it be safe to put her back on the glucosamine?

Kimber was on Rimadyl for about five years. It worked great for her for a long time. Then she started having a touchy stomach so we switched to Deramaxx.

You can definately give Glucosamine with Rimadyl. It helps the joints get less arthritis so there isn't as great a need for the Rimadyl.

Also, if that doesn't keep her comfortable enough, you might want to talk to your vet about Adequan. It's helped Kimber a huge amount. It's an injection and pricey but in Kimber's case at least, worth every penny. It also helps to keep the arthritis down. You may still need Rimadyl or something like it as well.

I'm sorry Breeze and you have had to go through the glaucoma. I'm so glad she's adjusted so well and you were able to relieve the pain so quickly. Good luck with the surgery.

 

[breeze50uk]

Breeze went for her check up yesterday and the eye is doing really well. If it stays that way and no infection gets in, the stitches will be out on Monday.
The rectal bleeding is going to be investigated fruther, as of Monday as well. I need to take fecal(sp) samples frid, sat,and sun to make sure there isnt a bacteria causing the problem.
Oh joy! lol Tiptoeing through the newfie tulips all weekend!