Eye Pressure Unstable & Previous Tick Disease
 

Hey all!

First off, I have been INCREDIBLY MIA from the forum for a long time. I apologize for that! I feel incredibly selfish coming here now for advice, but then again this is for my furbaby and not for me.

Back in June our little Yodi became incredibly sick. It started out as his right eye being incredibly red and swollen. Took him in for what we thought was possibly a shampoo burn or scratch on his eye. Got meds, went on our way. Got worse. We ended up at an after hours vet a few days later when his eyes weren't looking better and our vet was closed. He had started to become lethargic and it scared the living hell out of me. We ran blood work and the vet said he was definitely sick with something. It could be parasite (tick), bacterial, or something else that I can't remember. The latter two he said was highly unlikely. He highly suspected a tick borne disease. He was going to put Yodi on doxycylcline (and some new eye meds) regardless so he said to wait two days and see how he reacts to the antibiotics because he knew an extra $200 just to run the tick panel on his blood was a lot of money for us (I'm just 27 and a newlywed). Luckily he got better! It was like having a brand new dog. Well the eye problems have continued for over two months now. His pressure in both eyes is always too high or too low. It's like every time we get off meds his eyes get cloudy and red again and the pressure is haywire. He's off prednisone now, but he was on it pretty much off and on for two whole months. We recently saw an ophthalmologist our of Nashville, TN. He said overall his eyes look really healthy, but are a little hazy. He's now on a new eye drop twice a day, and two different eye ointments. One ointment for AM and one for PM. We go back next week and I guess depending on how his eyes look after these eye meds for two weeks, he may decide to do blood work.

My question is, do any of you have any experience with a tick borne disease or a similar eye problem? Do tick borne diseases (if that's what it is. Never ran the tick panel since he got better) still show up in the blood panel even after having been on the doxycycline? He feels absolutely fine, but I know he is so over having his eyes looked at just about every other day. He plays dead now too when I pull out his bag of eye meds. Haha

Sorry for the novel, but I've done SO much research my brain is about to explode! Not to mention his immune system is crappy to begin with. He had demodectic mange when he was a puppy (which is caused m=by a poor immune system) so I worry about him being on all of these meds. I have him on immune boosting herbs and fish oil to help out in that area as much as it can. It's be nice if I could find anyone with a similar experience!

Im sorry about Yodis eye problems. I have experience with ulcers of the eye but not tick borne diseases of the eye. I wanted to tell you though I remember you and welcome back!

I am so sorry that Yodi is having eye problems. I don't understand how the ophthalmologist would treat the problems without knowing exactly what the cause is. I wouldn't be comfortable with guesses that it is a tick borne disease -- that is a pretty big guess without tests.

Testing is expensive, but for treatment efficiency -- for the good of your dog and cost in the long run -- it's best to know exactly what you are treating.

Sending best wishes to Yodi and you.

That's what we've been saving up to have done. Our vet referred us to the ophthalmologist after for months we couldn't figure out what was causing it. Believe me, had I had the money in the first place to do the tick-borne disease tests I would have. I had to calla round to borrow money just to get the meds to even treat him in general. Luckily husby has a new job now and we can finally go back to the ophthalmologist (that we were supposed to see again like 4 weeks ago) next week. So now we have just barely enough to cover the appointment and tests. If he gets new meds though I don't know what we'll do. Hopefully those won't cost more than $100 if he needs any since that's barely what I make a week. Hopefully next week he won't want to run tests and we'll be good to go forever, but as it seems is always the broke girl's luck that probably won't be the case and we'll have to save up again to see the ophthalmologist a third time after this upcoming appointment. Always something it seems! I keep praying a job will come up for myself because my furbabies are my first priority and I want so badly to be able to just hand over my debit card and not worry about the cost of their care!

Liz, I fully understand being on a limited budget. Have you looked into Care Credit? They allow you to spread the payments out over 1 -2 years, I believe. I know adding debt is a risk when the budget is already tight.

Regarding the tick disease-related tests -- my knowledge of testing is limited, but I know my vet does an in-house tick serum test of some sort with our annual heart worm test.

What kind of meds does he have? Oral or eye drops, or both? My Max suffered corneal ulcers over a period of 8 months and the most expensive eye drops and antibiotic together were not anywhere near $100. The most expensive part should be the specialist visit -- up to $200, maybe more in the big cities. Blood tests if sent to a lab can be pricey. In-house tests are a lot cheaper, but arguably less accurate -- but better than nothing.

How is Yodi doing? Wishing him the best.

Sorry Yodi is having problems. :(

His eyes have luckily been looking great. He has been on a slew of this or that meds (both oral, eye drops, and eye ointments) since June. The ophthalmologist said his eyes overall looks really healthy (YAY!), but obviously there is something that has to be in his system from when he initially got so sick that is causing his eyes to get cloudy and hazy every time we stop the meds. He did have us quit the steroids (YAY AGAIN!!) which I am so thankful for because Yodi already has a poor immune system. We figured that out when he had demodectic mange as a puppy. His eyes have been doing wonderful since we saw the ophthalmologist and got new drops, and two separate ointments. One for AM and one for PM. We also started him on a holistic immune boosting tincture twice a day to help his little immune system build itself back up since he was on steroids for basically 4 months. I'm actually going to call the ophthalmologist tomorrow and see if he wants us to quit the regimen we're doing 2-3 days before the appointment. It's been the case the past few times with our local vet that we think he's OK, are told to quit meds, and 2-3 days later he has the cloudy & hazy eyes of a 15 year old dog. I'd hate to drive two hours, have them say everything looks A-OK and to quit meds again, and then 2-3 days later him have another setback. I wouldn't worry so much about that except that the specialist is 2 hours away from us and only comes to our town once every two weeks. No matter where he's at though, appointments are always a week or so out. :/ I'm so thankful that he at least feels OK. He's SO over me doing these drops and ointments twice a day. Haha I can't blame the sweet boy, but he tolerates it well. Just gives me a look like I killed his favorite toy. I'll keep y'all updated. We drive up to Nashville Tuesday the 30th for the appointment and I'm being overly anxious until it's over with.

I meant to add we have considered Care Credit. We just worry about tacking that on to our other credit card debt (my fault as a stupid girl who got two cards the second she turned 18) and the loan we just took out to get a used car to replace my awful, busted VW. Never fails, right?! Haha Luckily though the hubby has just started a new job that pays better and hopefully will make such a big difference for us in getting Yodi taken care of much quicker! He's my number one priority right now.

Hugs to you and Yodi. I am hoping they finally figure what is wrong. Good thoughts and blessing go out to you both

Liz, I am happy to hear that Yodi is doing well and that his eyes look good when using the meds. Praying that the doctors can figure out the problem and give you a reasonable long term solution, and ideally a cure. I know how frustrating this is having been through 8 months of eye problems with my Max.

Wishing you, your husband, and Yodi the best. Do keep us updated.

Well today was the big day! The ophthalmologist said his eyes look great! So we are quitting one ointment and using the drops and other ointment only once a day (we were doing twice a day) and he wants to see him again in January provided there are no problems between now and then. YAY! So worth driving to Nashville instead of waiting until an appointment for when Dr. L visits in Chattanooga.