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Permalink Reply by Jessica on January 13, 2009 at 7:06pm

Have you talked to her vet?

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Permalink Reply by D46 on January 13, 2009 at 7:15pm

No I don't know the vet but, I was told by her owner that's what the vet said but in actuality, I don' t think he's holding a whole lot if you know what I mean and the diagnosis may have been made via the telephone... not a very trustworthy source. I took the photo and was going to take it to my vet but, that's pretty hard to try and diagnosis a problem in a photo.

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Permalink Reply by D46 on January 13, 2009 at 7:36pm

I had heard about the salivary gland "bypass" which didn't sound very appealing to me. Maybe she's just bound to have the drops twice a day forevermore...sad. Perhaps a birth situation or a scrap with a sibling when young could have caused it.

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Permalink Reply by Lori Getz on February 14, 2009 at 8:50pm

My sweet Karma has had the "bypass". It was successful in her right eye the first time, but due to a bit of negligence on the part of the surgeon, she has had to have the left eye done a few times. Overall, I would say this is definitely a viable option, as long as you have a local & knowledgable opthomologist. Even when the surgery is completely successful, your pup will only "tear" when the saliva glands are activated, such as feeding and treat times. Otherwise, you will still need to provide drops and or gels for the inbetween times. I would recommend the procedure based on the lessened need to give the drops, which we found ourselves doing every 30 mins. or so. Imagine not being able to blink and the sting that causes. These dears so afflicted suffer this every minute. Eventually, if not enough fluid is provided, it will cause constant conjunctivitis as well as ulcerations, and ultimately blindness. I truly don't mean to scare anyone, but this is exactly what we have gone through, and even though it is a bit costly, it is truly worth it to our babies!

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Permalink Reply by Joanna, Rainy and Calvin on February 17, 2009 at 1:22pm

Algy has a dry eye condition due to the steroids her takes. His condition led to ulcers in both his left and right eyes. At first they didn't know what had caused the ulcers, but we took him to a specialist and that made all the difference. His dry eye was/is treatable with tacrolimus drops two times a day. He has to take them for the rest of his life, but he doesn't seem to mind it and things are pretty much back to normal. Your best bet may be to take your kiddo to someone who specializes in eyes and they can run the tests they need to. In Algy's case, it was as simple as checking for his tear response. She took a special litmus type paper and placed it just under his lid on the eye. Other things they will ask you is if the eye produces goop or appear red and irritated.

I hope your kiddo is alright!!!

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