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Permalink Reply by Aj on March 30, 2010 at 11:12pm

Went to the eye vet that my vet referred me to for the 2nd opinion. It's a hospital that solely has the top specialists, so I put complete trust in the ophthalmologist here. He performed a fluorescein eye stain and and tonometry. The pressure was 9 on his left eye and 17 on his right eye. He didn't see any punctures or anything on the eye ball. He believes if it was trauma, he was hit on top of the eye. He also said that enucleation is the best option.

His diagnosis: "Panuveitis possibly due to trauma. Eye has severe inflammation and there has been some bleeding at the top. With such a severe inflammation the chance of recovering vision is very unlikely. There is a strong chance that the eye will remain painful and probably develop glaucoma which is also painful. If so then removal of the eye is the most reasonable treatment for a blind and painful eye."

Well it looks like I know what I need to do now.

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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on March 30, 2010 at 11:51pm

I'm so, so sorry. Do you have any idea about how the trauma might have happened?

I know it's such a hard decision to make, but think about how happy and relieved Brian will be once her recovers from his surgery. He probably won't even realize what has happened, just that his pain is gone. He'll feel sooo much better, and he'll be back to playing and arooo-ing in no time. And you will know you made the right decision for Brian.

Did you know actress Salma Hayak has a corgi mix with one eye. It's so sweet how you can see how she adores him. HIs name is "Winky"

You guys will be ok. My prayers go out to you and your pups.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on March 31, 2010 at 12:16am

Ok, so the first vet did not prescribe steroid to treat the inflammation because she was afraid that it might increase Brian's ocular pressure, and now the second vet (specialist) said the pressure is below the norm and the inflammation is severe. If it is indeed Panuveitis, then what exactly cause such chronic inflammation? The only time that I've dealt with such case was a human patient who had an autoimmune disease, but when treated within the time window, blindness can be prevented by a shot of steroid in the eye or surgery. I hate to give up so easily and want to make sure such thing don't happen to the other eye.

On the other hand, my neighbour two houses down have 2 corgis, her tri color corgi is completely blind and I had no idea when i first met them, blindness does not affect her quality of life.

I am so sorry to hear what you're going through AJ, it is a lot to take in, do know that we are here for you, don't hesitate to ask for help.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on March 31, 2010 at 7:04am

Sam, my thoughts are where yours are.... if the inflammation is indeed the problem, I can't help wonder why no steroid? When I had uveitis it cleared up very quickly with steroid drops. I have ankylosing spondylitis (chronic inflammatory disease) and some people with that disease on a message board I occasion have recurring uveitis; they always have a prescription with them for steroid drops and if it crops up again they start self-medicating before going in to see the doctor.

I guess if it were me I would want a blood test pulled to see if there were systemic inflammation, or just in the eye, just to ease my mind. Then again, with my own condition I suppose I'm hyper-aware of inflammatory diseases.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on April 1, 2010 at 1:39pm

You did everything you could to save the eye. Feel confident in that. I always said if any of my dogs lost an eye, I would get them a little puppy eye patch and have a pirate corgi. He won't be sad about any of this, he'll only be happy to not be in pain. He'll handle it "the corgi way." We could all learn from them.

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Permalink Reply by Gromit, Sparkle, and Doug on March 31, 2010 at 12:00am

I wish the news had been better, AJ, but at least you have an evaluation that you can trust. The good news is that Brian is still Brian and he's still your Corgi pal and for him life will be grand with the pain gone. By the way, not all Corgis arrooo so you have a special treasure in Brian.

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Permalink Reply by LaVerne & Shirley on March 31, 2010 at 12:18am

Thank you for the update. I hope you find some relief in at least knowing what it is that has to be done. Sometimes the not knowing is harder to take than the reality of the situation. Brian will be frapping in no time! When will he have the enucleation?

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Permalink Reply by Beth on March 31, 2010 at 7:06am

AJ, I'm very sorry you are having to deal with this. I think if Brian loses the eye, it will probably be harder on the people in his life than on him. Dogs are very adaptive, and he's already socialized so he should stay good in that regard. It's gut-wrenching, though, to have to consider and with our own emotional attachment to looking into eyes (the window to the soul and all that) the impact on US can be very hard indeed.

So big hugs, whatever happens.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on March 31, 2010 at 7:16am

Here's an informative link:

http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00526.htm

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Permalink Reply by Samantha, Ian, & Toast on March 31, 2010 at 11:39pm

I'm praying for you and your puppy! :( It's so sad this had to happen - hopefully things work out in the end. I understand how money can be a crisis and how you want to shell it all out (even if you really don't have any) to help save a beloved pet.

I'm sure that your dog will still be the same old Brian even without his eye - he'll probably be happier, too, now that there isn't any more pain! Keep your chin up, hun.

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Permalink Reply by Alice on April 1, 2010 at 1:32pm

I just had a chance to get caught up on this discussion and I was shocked by how much the situation has progressed. I really don't have much advice to offer but I'm sorry you are having to go through this and I wish you all the best. I'm glad to you went to get another opinion. It sounds like you are taking all the right steps and I hope Brian is able to recover. As others have said, if they do end up having to remove the eye, Brian will be ok. Of course it's not what you want to have happen but if it becomes he's only option to be pain free then I would do it. I completely understand the financial stress involved. We don't have money to spare either and we've had to deal with emergency and specialist visits as well. If you can, perhaps you could borrow money from family and repay them over time or you could look into CareCredit. See if the vets offer payment plans and as a last resort you can always sell something. I know that sounds odd but twice over the past 7 years we needed extra money and were able to get it by selling books, movies and games to a used bookstore. Hang in there. We'll be thinking of you.

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Permalink Reply by LaVerne & Shirley on April 1, 2010 at 6:50pm

After one of LaVerne's bouts with stomach issues I enrolled her and Shirley into VPI Pet insurance. LaVerne's vet bill for just that issue ran close to $800.00 when it was all said and done. Of course it was like getting fire insurance after the house burns down but I decided there are just too many things that can go wrong. It runs around $250.00 a year per dog for the premium plan that covers cancer as well. I know that sounds like a lot but the plan has paid for itself for both of my dogs. They have less expensive plans too. They do exclude pre-exisiting conditions but most of them are considered cured if there are no reoccurrences in a 6 month period and they will remove those exclusions. I know the last thing you want to hear about is handing out more money but its something to keep in mind when you get back on your feet.

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