Corneal Ulcer - Updated

[zenon_bass]

Vet visit completed at dinnertime. Both eyes checked again, as Millie had looked distinctly like a bloodhound this morning. Thankfully it is just the one eye with the corneal ulcer. Apparently she showed more reaction to light with this eye than before, there were minimal signs of healing, so the vet again abraded the ulcer. There was less dead tissue than before.
Instead of the Remend gel, she now has to have serum eye drops after the Exocin antibiotic drops. The serum is white blood cells extracted from the blood of the vets own springer, done while we were there!
On top of this we're fighting an ear infection, previously in one ear, but now in both! Poor Millie!

I do hope Willow is on the mend...

[MillicentWight]

I am sorry the news wasn't that good for poor Millie but hopefully things will start to improve with the serum.
We have just come back from a short walk with Willow and she too is looking a bit like a Bloodhound now.
I feel sure that pollen allergy is at least part of her problem. We will just have to see what they find tomorrow.

[PennyB]

Vet visit completed at dinnertime. Both eyes checked again, as Millie had looked distinctly like a bloodhound this morning. Thankfully it is just the one eye with the corneal ulcer. Apparently she showed more reaction to light with this eye than before, there were minimal signs of healing, so the vet again abraded the ulcer. There was less dead tissue than before.
Instead of the Remend gel, she now has to have serum eye drops after the Exocin antibiotic drops. The serum is white blood cells extracted from the blood of the vets own springer, done while we were there!
On top of this we're fighting an ear infection, previously in one ear, but now in both! Poor Millie!

I do hope Willow is on the mend...

Bosley had the exocin drops the other week.

Is the new problem re light because the pupil isn't reacting as it should, ie, more fixed so letting in light and not contracting as it should do

[MillicentWight]

Just brought Willow back from the vets and we are very upset. He found nothing to cause the red watery eyes and has come to the conclusion that it probably an allergic reaction, but he has cauterized the ulcer and stitched up the third eyelid to aid healing for two weeks.
Worst news though is that he thinks he may have seen the early signs of PRA which means that Willow may end up going completely blind.
According to the breeder all her stud dogs are Optigen A1 tested for PRA and FN so I am praying that the vet has got it wrong. Meanwhile we are devastated. Be happier when we have managed to speak to her.

[bizzylizzy]

So sorry to hear you still don't have any answers and are now even more worried! Sorry, don't have a much idea about PRA but just wondered what your vet meant by he "thinks" he "may" have seen signs of it? Might a second opinion perhaps help? If its worst case, you could at least prepare yourself but if he's wrong, then you'd save yourself a lot of anguish. I would at least ask him to be a little more specific.
Keeping fingers crossed for you!! 

[elaine.e]

Just brought Willow back from the vets and we are very upset. He found nothing to cause the red watery eyes and has come to the conclusion that it probably an allergic reaction, but he has cauterized the ulcer and stitched up the third eyelid to aid healing for two weeks.
Worst news though is that he thinks he may have seen the early signs of PRA which means that Willow may end up going completely blind.
According to the breeder all her stud dogs are Optigen A1 tested for PRA and FN so I am praying that the vet has got it wrong. Meanwhile we are devastated. Be happier when we have managed to speak to her.

I'm sorry to hear that. The type of PRA that can be DNA tested for is the one most commonly found in Cockers and onset is typically in middle age, around 7+ years, so it seems unlikely at Willow's age. However, there are other types of PRA that can't be tested for, although they're not common in Cockers.

Speaking to the breeder is a good idea in case she knows anything about this, but also to inform her in case it's a hereditary problem that she's not aware of.

Are there any ophthalmic vets on the IOW? If not, there are a couple at Seadown Veterinary Hospital, near Hythe, about 20 minutes drive from Lymington. I don't know if that would be an option for you.

[pam1]

So sorry to hear that news, but I would really try and get to see a specialist.  When we took Poppy to the vet they couldn't see the tiny ingrown hair on the inside of her eyelid. The specialists have equipment that you wouldn't get in ordinary vet practices.   The opthalamist saw it straight away when we took her there and sorted it straight away.

Really hope you can get it sorted.

[zenon_bass]

So sorry to hear the news about Willow. Wonder if this is any good for you, as I've been drifting through it for ideas for Millie: www.blinddogdescueuk.com.

We meet a blind cocker quite regularly in our local park. Honey has had both eyes removed and is all the more comfortable for it. She's about seven yrs old. She's learnt extra commands quickly according to her owner, such as wait, mind, up, down (steps) turn (away from danger/other dogs) Most other owners dont realise that she is blind as Honey reacts so normally. Indeed they are puzzled,  as when, during conversation, her owner seems to make irrelevant comments to her dog! Honey's and indeed Millie's nose rule now!

[zenon_bass]

Vet visit completed at dinnertime. Both eyes checked again, as Millie had looked distinctly like a bloodhound this morning. Thankfully it is just the one eye with the corneal ulcer. Apparently she showed more reaction to light with this eye than before, there were minimal signs of healing, so the vet again abraded the ulcer. There was less dead tissue than before.
Instead of the Remend gel, she now has to have serum eye drops after the Exocin antibiotic drops. The serum is white blood cells extracted from the blood of the vets own springer, done while we were there!
On top of this we're fighting an ear infection, previously in one ear, but now in both! Poor Millie!

I do hope Willow is on the mend...

Bosley had the exocin drops the other week.

Is the new problem re light because the pupil isn't reacting as it should, ie, more fixed so letting in light and not contracting as it should do

Actually there's a little improvement, with her pupil showing more reaction than before...just hoping it continues, especially with the serum instead of the Remend drops. The Exocin drops continue as before.

[MillicentWight]

Thanks for the replies, just have to see how things go now. Having spoken to the breeder she said that it is very improbable that Willow could develop PRA as both parents have to carry the gene to pass the disease on, and this is echoed on the kennel club and cocker spaniel sites so we just hope the vet is mistaken. Since speaking to him again he has said that PRA is just a suspicion and not a diagnosis at this time, so we are trying to feel positive.

[MacTavish Boys]

Sending over positive thoughts for Willow
Stephanie, George and Hamish xxx

[PennyB]

Just brought Willow back from the vets and we are very upset. He found nothing to cause the red watery eyes and has come to the conclusion that it probably an allergic reaction, but he has cauterized the ulcer and stitched up the third eyelid to aid healing for two weeks.
Worst news though is that he thinks he may have seen the early signs of PRA which means that Willow may end up going completely blind.
According to the breeder all her stud dogs are Optigen A1 tested for PRA and FN so I am praying that the vet has got it wrong. Meanwhile we are devastated. Be happier when we have managed to speak to her.

did you see a specialist eye vet or is this a vet from your own practice

[MillicentWight]

We saw a vet from our own practice. The PRA is in no way related to the eye problems that he has been seeing Willow for, so we will wait until they are sorted and then see if there is anyway of taking her to a specialist eye clinic.
 

[PennyB]

We saw a vet from our own practice. The PRA is in no way related to the eye problems that he has been seeing Willow for, so we will wait until they are sorted and then see if there is anyway of taking her to a specialist eye clinic.
 

I would see the eye specialist if I were you - what you don't want is for your insurance/money to run out before you get there

[MillicentWight]

We took Willow back to the vets yesterday as we were worried because her eye was half open and we could see the third eyelid but he said that it was ok and we should bring her back in ten days time to have the stitches removed.
Today we had to go back again as her eye was fully open with the third eyelid not visible. The vet looked at her eye and said willow had burst the stiches but not to worry as her eye is healing well, and then he removed the stitches. We are so pleased but a little worried in case it is too soon.
As for the PRA, he said it was not meant to be a positive diagnoses but just that when looking into her eyes he saw something in the back of her retinas which triggered his suspicion and thought we should know. We are trying to feel positive but in all honesty we would rather we hadn't been told and just the thought of Willow going blind at such a young age is breaking our hearts, especially as our last cocker spaniel, Millie, developed thrombocytopenia at just about the same age and lost her fight for life aged just six years old.