I would see a vet opthamolagist to confirm the Dx. I just went right to the eye vet as I knew what was going on with my dog. Pannus usually starts between 3 & 5 years old. Mostly GSDs but other breeds get it also...but is a bit less common in them.

I have a dog with pannus it didn't ever look like that, although I caught it in the very very early stages,as I knew what to look for. He's on 2 different eye drops for life. 2 6mo out of the year & 1 only the other 6 months.

ETA....Lee & I were typing at the same time.
My dogs eye looked like Lee described, also.

According to my eye vet he will die of something else before he ever goes blind, as I caught it at the very early stages. I guess time will tell. And he still spends tons of time outside. No problems.

We live in Southern California, so she does get a fair amount of sun exposure. But in general she does not just lay in the sun. Most of the time she is one the patio under the roof or inside the house. I don't think she will wear the Doggles (and I think they look ridiculous).

All the articles seem to say the same thing. They Royal Air one has an interesting take on the possible trigger for more/new outbreaks.

She is on the Optimune right now. But I may talk to the vet about changing it to the Cyclosporine based on one of the pages. It seems like a medication that has been around longer and I think the liquid drops (rather than a gel) would be easier to administer.

 Quote:

Cyclosporine has been used by veterinary ophthalmologists in the treatment of pannus for 12 years now. A 1% or 2% solution is most often used, and was prepared in an oil base - usually olive, corn or vegetable oil. About five years ago a 0.2% cyclosporine ophthalmic ointment called Optimmune (Schering Plough) became available to all veterinary practitioners for the treatment of another eye disorder - keratoconjunctivitis sicca or dry eye - where it is quite effective. In pannus cases, however, I find the 0.2% ointment produces less success than the 1% solution.

LEE SAID:
My last GSD had Pannus, but it didn't look anything like that. It was more of a small, cloudy spot in his eyes and occasional irritation around the lids. I don't know if it can manifest itself like in your pictures, however.

One thing I would advise you to do is get a referral from your vet and take Starbuck to an ophthalmologist. You will actually save money in the long run because they will determine what it is the first time.

ANNE SAID:
I would see a vet opthamolagist to confirm the Dx. I just went right to the eye vet as I knew what was going on with my dog. Pannus usually starts between 3 & 5 years old. Mostly GSDs but other breeds get it also...but is a bit less common in them.

I have a dog with pannus it didn't ever look like that, although I caught it in the very very early stages,as I knew what to look for.



I sure do concur about an ophthalmologist.

Mine was on "Sandimmune" which is a form of Cyclosporine suspended in peanut oil, and also Prednisolone. One kind in the morning, one kind at night. Eventually it was no big deal for him at all.

If it is some form of Pannus, the first thing to do is not to panic. When I first heard "auto-immune disorder" I was freaking out. It is 100% manageable with the right dosage and types of drops. Especially if you catch it early. I always spent quite a bit of time staring at my boy's eyes! So it was easy for me to notice a small dot that I thought was a scratch or something.

Regardless of how your ointment treatment goes, I would definitely go see an ophthalmologist to nail down the condition and best treatment 100%.

My dog is on 1 drop am & pm all year around of: Tracolimus.

April thru mid Sept the dog is on 1 drop am & pm of: Neomycin & Polymyxin B Sulfates & Dexamethasone ophthalmic susppension.

I took the names right off the bottles so I would get the names correct.

Dog has been on this treatment for almost 1 3/4 years. His vision is just as sharp as it was previous to this Dx.

Keith,

I had a female GSD diagnosed at 4 or 5 years old with pannus and atypical pannus. She was treated with cyclosporin drops once a day in each eye. The drops were made by her veterinary opthamologist. The drops are much easier to deal with that the ointment. We would see the opthalmologist once a year for follow up or, (rarely) a flare up.

She was mostly indoors during the highest UV hours of the day. While we did not need to use the doggles because I was able to be flexible about when she was outside, I would not hesitate to use them if needed. In fact, I believe that some MWDs use them. If we were in the mountains at elevation (or change of season), I monitored her eyes more closely due to the increase in UV that could result in a flare up. I lost her to hemangiosarcoma at almost 13. And, she was still catching flies and could find her ball or tug far out in the field ... so, I think she was doing fine visually.

I would strongly recommend that you see a veterinary specialist. Ours was very helpful and I was sure about the diagnosis and treatment. Regarding the appearance of the eye, it is my understanding that the cloudiness in the cornea is the most common form of pannus called corneal pannus. However, the disease process can affect other parts of the eye called atypical pannus. My girl had both, her atypical form affected her third eyelid. In her case, both the cornea and third eyelid had to be monitored for flare ups. The specialist was very helpful in showing me what to look for and be concerned about.
In any case, while not it can not be cured, it definitely can be treated.

The closest Veterinary Ophthalmologist does not have any appointments until next week.

It looks like this is one of those problems they diagnose by ruling out other possible issues.

The tube of Gel they gave me is 3.5 grams for $50. I'm guessing it will last 2-3 weeks. I hope the compound is much less expensive

 Quote: Keith Larson

The closest Veterinary Ophthalmologist does not have any appointments until next week. ...

Last year one of my dogs lacerated an eyeball and then suffered an infection (despite extremely careful care) and a rupture.

I love my vet, and here's an example of why: After a scary four days without the improvement expected, she called the local ophthalmologist and asked if she could email photos and then have a short telephone consult.

This not only cost much less than half of what a visit to the specialist would have cost, but was the turning point for Oliver's eye. The specialist recommended different treatment, and within about 72 hours of the switch, the eye started to look better.

 Quote: Keith Larson

The closest Veterinary Ophthalmologist does not have any appointments until next week.

It looks like this is one of those problems they diagnose by ruling out other possible issues.

The tube of Gel they gave me is 3.5 grams for $50. I'm guessing it will last 2-3 weeks. I hope the compound is much less expensive

I would make the appointment and take Starbuck in as soon as they have an opening just so you can find out what the issue is for certain. I love my vet, but they don't have the specialized expertise to know every little thing about everything. You could end up seeing the vet 3 or 4 times and still not getting a concrete answer, whereas the ophthalmologist will give you a definitive diagnosis during the first visit.

The cost of the medication for my GSD wasn't $50 every 3 weeks, but it wasn't exactly cheap either. I got the Sandimmune (Cyclosporine) in the largest bottle size so it would last several months. I think it was around $120 for the larger bottle.

Ditto on the eye vet...As I stated, I didn't even go to my regular vet..I went straight to the eye vet. So the sooner you get to them the better & get the exact Dx & meds.

When my regular vet called & said that the eye vet had notified them of my visit(they ask who the referrel vet is..I told them I just came there, but gave the name of my regular vet)& ask how my dog was doing..said that dog was fine & I was given a protocal for the pannus. I told them I just bypassed them..since they would send me there anyway. She just told that is exactly what she would have done. She has no issue with it. I have a great repore with her...so no problems. She also knows how I am about my dogs. :-)

In fact I introduced her to my chiro vet & she reffers patients to her now. So all is good.