Dragan, did the vet suggest surgery? I mean, if he said she couldn't see, then it's not a small one that doesn't obstruct vision.

I admit that am fully confused.

Again, vet said this:
- Drina has cataract (initial stages).
- she tried to remove it and hurt the eye
- that is why she has that white substance covering her eye.
- doctor said that this injury may heal by itself, the good thing is if the diabetes is resolved, as generally everything heals better than.
- for the cataract, he said we should see a specialist.
- I hope that we may not need a surgery, but we will see. I read a little bit about it, some people think that mild cataract can be healed with eye drops.
- It seems that he was right about the injury, as it really looks much better today, but we were very scared for a few days, sorry if I was panicking a little bit, with dramatic news here.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

Dragan, did the vet suggest surgery? I mean, if he said she couldn't see, then it's not a small one that doesn't obstruct vision.

I admit that am fully confused.

As am I, Connie.

An eye wound (i.e., scratch from rubbing it or whatever) will most likely heal with eye drops. It may take slightly longer with the diabetes and other things going on right now.

A CATARACT WON'T!

If it's a small enough cataract that doesn't obstruct her vision then surgery isn't an urgent thing - ok, cataract surgery rarely is an urgent thing IMO, but if it is of sufficient size that it is blocking her vision then the only recourse is surgery.

Is this what it resembles?



This is a corneal ulcer and is a totally different subject than a cataract. Please don't confuse the two.

Cataracts do come from high sugar in the blood. A cataract means that the lens of the eye has become foggy instead of clear. This lens is
way inside her eye, it sits behind her pupil. In the evening when light is dim, her pupil will open up. I bet you can see the blueness in her eyes best in the evening. It is almost always both eyes. Cataracts don't hurt.
It sounds to me from what you are saying that your dog may have a problem with the outside of her eyeball, on the cornea (the outer part of the eye). This causes pain and feels to the dog like "something is in my eye" and the dog will keep the eye half closed, but open if excited. A corneal wound will "matter", form white material, from the extra
tears. The surface of the eye may become cloudy.
A corneal scratch could have happened around the time of surgery, some dogs keep their eyes open under anaesthesia and the eyeball surface can be rubbed by a towel. Vets always put ointment on a sleeping dog, but for some dogs it's not enough.
If it is not getting better call your vet and talk about it. Some corneal wounds can form an ulcer and become a big problem.

 Quote: betty landercasp

It sounds to me from what you are saying that your dog may have a problem with the outside of her eyeball, on the cornea (the outer part of the eye). This causes pain and feels to the dog like "something is in my eye" and the dog will keep the eye half closed, but open if excited. A corneal wound will "matter", form white material, from the extra
tears. The surface of the eye may become cloudy.
A corneal scratch could have happened around the time of surgery, some dogs keep their eyes open under anaesthesia and the eyeball surface can be rubbed by a towel. Vets always put ointment on a sleeping dog, but for some dogs it's not enough.
If it is not getting better call your vet and talk about it. Some corneal wounds can form an ulcer and become a big problem.

I agree. This was what happened to one of my Pugs from a different thing (laceration from bush outside), but can also happen from something like the dog scratching at the eyeball for any reason, including a cataract. That is, this could be two things going on.... one not an emergency and one, IMO, yes, an emergency to start treating with drops and ointments. Regardless, the vet needs to see the change.

My dog was in serious pain with that ulcer that formed. Like almost all dogs, he was stoic about pain (hardwired not to show injuries/"weakness"), but at night he would vocalize when he was half awake and it broke my heart.

Along with the drops every hour for infection and the ointment every two hours, I also gave him a pain med (Tramadol) twice a day, especially at bedtime, once I realized that he was in bad pain.

Eyes are nothing to fool around with, IMO.


eta

This situation with my Pug, with so many daily procedures to fight back the spreading ulcer (a deep abrasion, which involves the loss of the surface layer of the cornea), required that I make a big spreadsheet so as to check off all the steps every day, all day. This convinced me forever that I will never own a dog without doing very concentrated marker work around "procedures." All the bad places (paw, eyes, ears, face in general, etc.) are gradually desensitized to my approach by doing a tiny touch, big reward, slightly longer touch, big reward, etc.

At the third vet visit (he was seeing her every other day when there was fear of rupture), she was astonished at the difference between his panicked behavior at the first visit when she needed to put in the atropine and turn on the light and his behavior at the third visit. The eye wasn't better yet, but he had learned about the shortness of the procedure, the lack of added pain, and the fabulous reward immediately following. (We brought our own little baggy of rewards, warm bacon, because those vet cookies are not even in the league of eye-touching rewards. )

Edited by Connie Sutherland (02/02/2011 02:02 PM)
Edit reason: eta

"Eyes are nothing to fool around with, IMO."

Agreed 110%. Again, HNO (human nurse's opinion), but I've worked for eye surgeons and seen what can happen when an eye is injured and not cared for.

It could possibly be Drina's eyesight in jeopardy here.

Dragan, I agree with what everyone has said.

Cataract can lead to vision loss, but it is reversible. A cataract evaluation is not an emergency.

Corneal ulcers and abrasions, if result in central corneal scarring, will lead to irreversible vision loss.

If it's endophthalmitis, then it needs immediate consultation with an ophthalmologist.

Don't base the severity of the condition on your dog's subjective response to pain, especially if Drina is still on pain meds after the surgery.

Diabetes can cause a lot of problems in the eyes, but it does not cause the cornea to turn opaque for no reason. If the cornea turned opaque, there is infection/inflammation going on. If there's pus on the inside chamber of the eye, that's even worse.

BTW, didn't mean to bring up the photos last night and not follow up. My neighborhood has been without power until just an hour ago (Dallas and winter storm :crazy, and power has been on and off since then.

Well, I am cleaning my driveway, tomorrow I will probably be able to drive. We will take her to our doctor and consult with him first. Then we will decide which specialist to go to. It is definitely some kind of injury or infection. It looks better, but is far from being resolved. We are just happy that the sugar test is negative (second time in a raw), so we will not give her insulin any more. We will still test her daily for sugar, to be on the safe side.

...and the driveway and the passage through the street snow are open! Long, long driveway and just as big peace of the street (we are at a corner, so they just dumped tons of snow and blocked several driveways), with two feet of snow.
So, tomorrow we will take our Drina to the vet and ask for some drops until we get a chance to talk to the specialist. My work schedule is extremely tight these days, and the snow did not help. Now I am soooo tired, and I still have to work tonight. Tomorrow I should be driving to office for some meetings, but I will make sure to somehow squeeze the visit to the vet into the plan.
This is a very good site, thanks for all your advice! I am not taking anything lightly, nor do I think I am smarter than the world...o.k. maybe I do

Drina has corneal ulcer. I was able to see that only after this white substance that was covering the eye disappeared. We called the doctor he said that he knew that and called the pharmacy and ordered and an antibiotic for the eye (ointment, he said). We picked it up and put it already first time in Drina's eye. The question is: why didn't he tell us this before? He also said that the ulcer is big and that it may burst (assuming Drina will lose her eye then). We are calling a specialist in Champagne, IL.