Does anyone know if corneal ulcers are an hereditary trait in Corgis? Bubba had one last summer in his right eye that took nearly four months to heal. Now, he has another in his left eye. It wasn't caused by a scrape or scratch and he doesn't have dry eye or diabetes. Although deemed "superficial" there was no reason for it to thave happened.
Yesterday, they debrided that eye and spun some blood serum so, he's getting that in conjunction with the Atropine and antibiotic ointment. This Friday he has to see the vet again and she said she may have to debride it again. I feel so bad for him seeing him like this again.
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I was afraid of that.I talked with his breeder and she told me neither his Dad or Mom have this problem. I don't know about the grand parents.
Those are some horrific pictures and thankfully, his eye looks nothing like those photos. Thanks for that link-I've never seen that one before.They had to do the grid keratotomy last year on his other eye but I'm hoping that won't be necessary this time. I wish I were home with him as I'm wondering if he's still pawing at it. I think I could do better with this if I knew he did it brushing against a bush or scooting his head along the grass and scraped his eye with a twig but, that wasn't the case according to the vet.
Do you know if the sire and dam of your dog were actually tested by a Canine Ophthalmologist and have their CERF's? (meaning they actually had their eyes registered through OFA database of having no known genetic issues) If you go onto the CERF website at http://www.vmdb.org/history.html you can learn more. Also, try to join the ShowPem_L...there are many show breeders, owners, vets of Corgis that might have some insight for you and have or are going through exactly what you are going through and might find some answers or thoughts your vet has not covered. Like the old saying goes "2 heads are better then one"!! Good luck
Just an update. Last Friday I took Bubba to the vet again and it seems it's just not healing with the use of Atropine, Tobramycin and blood serum. Tomorrow I think the vet is going to debride again and I'm afraid it appears a grid keratotomy is going to be in order. This is the same thing he had done in the other eye summer before last.
I find it so very odd most all, if not all indeed, all the Corgis I've known from the 20+ his breeder has to those I know that have 2-4 of them, this has never been an issue with none of them. It doesn't make sense but, we have to do what we have to do and I hate what he's going to have to go through with this but, there is no alternative. This has to be dealt with and aggressively treated regardless. My main concern is getting him healed as soon as possible and I'm hoping this will be the end of it and no more ulcers! Had he scratched it I could deal with that-it's the not knowing the cause. You can't prevent what you don't know.
It is frustrating as I don't know how to prevent it and I feel so badly for him that I can't help other than follow doctor's orders. I took him back this afternoon and thought she would do another debridement or the grid keratotomy but when I got home to take him, his eye was open and stayed open the entire trip to the vet...about 8 miles. She looked at it from different angles and decided not to do those things yet that it looked good. She told me to keep dong what I was doing and to see her again next Tuesday. She did indicate she may do the debridement then depending on how things looked.
One thing jI was puzzled about. I told her I was down to two vial of the serum and probably would need more before next Tuesday and also some more of the antibiotic ointment. She wrote all that down in her chart and then told me to wait out front awhile. I wondered why she didn't take Bubba back in the other room and draw blood for the serum. About 15 minutes or so later she came out with the ointment and four vials of serum. I left puzzled and wondered if she had some of his blood stored and perhaps that's how she had in in stock. Looking at my receipt when I got home it had serum(dog donar). I guess she got it from another one somewhere. I don't know why she didn't get it from Bubba. Guess I'll ask about that next time.
I took bubba back to the vet last week for a checkup and his eye was not better so, they debrided it once again and I guess the vet figured he'd be ok soon and set up another appointment for the 21st of this month which was two weeks away. We didn't last that long. About five or six days later I called to tell them his eye was still mostly shut and tearing and I took him in yesterday. She debrided it again and did a small grid and took him off the serum in favor of some other drops. I can't recall the name as I'm at work and it's at home. He's still on Atropine and Terramycin.
The vet seems to think he has SCCED, which is Spontaneous Chronic Corneal Epithelial Defect and I'm having a hard time accepting that. What it is, there seems to be some defect in the epithelial layer that covers the cornea. Its an ulcer that occurs because of an inherent abnormality of the front part of the cornea that doesn not "stick down" properly to heal after a spontaneous ulceration. In other words, they just seem to happen without anything done on his part and it delays healing. The treatment is basically what the vet is doing. The problem for me is there's no assurance in the future that this won't happen again to those that are predisposed to it and recurrence in common and almost inevitable. Apparently it happens mostly in middle aged to older dogs-Bubba just turned seven in August.
So, I'm not doing well with this prognosis and even though I may be a man, I'm still human and don't display the John Wayen image I may have in my younger years and don't mind telling you I've broke down more times than once and hugged him, cried and he's in the forefront of my mind throughout the day at work-waiting to get back home to him. I hope no one ever has to go through this as it's an emotional shredding experience...for you and your beloved friend.
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