Blindness and Dry Eye
 

I grew up with two Yorkies, a male and female. The male passed away a few years ago and my parents still have the female. I now live with my fiance and we have our first dog, a little female Yorkie we have named Mishka.

She is 10 weeks and 3 days old today. After we got her we learned that she had an ulcer on her right eye, which we treated with antibiotic eye drops 3 times per day for about two weeks. Somewhere in there we had to take her to the emergency clinic for coccidia, which she is now clear of. While in the emergency clinic the veterinarian checked on the progress of her ulcer and noticed that she had no menace reflex in that eye. He told me she might have limited vision or be blind in that eye, and that I should return to my regular vet and ask for a referral to an eye specialist.

We have since seen an eye specialist. She was diagnosed with Keratoconjuctivitus sicca (congenital), Optic Nerve Asplasia, and a Previous Corneal Scar. She can only see dim shadows and shifts in light out of her right eye. The good news is that her left eye is as normal as can be and the ulcer is healed in her right eye. Unfortunately, the vision in her right eye will either stay the same or decrease to total blindness as she develops.

The veterinarian's main concern was her dry eye which may persist in the future. "When an inadequate level of tears are present, the eye produces a thick mucous as a substitute. The lack of tear production not only leads to mucous production but also scarring and pigmentation of the surface of the eye. This eventually leads to loss of vision and is uncomfortable for the pet."

Has anyone else had experience with congenital dry eye? What treatments worked best for you? There are three treatment options if her dry eye persists in life. Continue with multiple prescription eye drops multiple times per day, do a surgery where a salivary gland is transplanted to a tear duct, or remove the eye.

The eye drops are inconvenient and expensive but the pet insurance should cover it for her lifetime. The risk with the surgery is that the salivary gland tends to produce more "tears" than necessary so the dog always has a runny eye. The other risk is that some dogs' eyes are irritated by the saliva, which leads to other complications and potentially having to remove the eye. Removing the eye would be my last resort. Yes, it would remove the problem but I want her to look and feel like a normal dog as much as possible. I know that people would look at her and react to her differently if she was missing an eye. I grew up with a large tumor on my face (hemangioma) for the first 5 years of my life, and it definitely affected my social development for years even after it was gone. So, I can relate and would hate to have to put Mishka through a similar experience.

Also, what can I expect from a dog that is blind in one eye? Is there anything I need to be more careful or aware of? Are there any precautionary measures I should take when introducing her to new situations or just in general?

I apologize for the long post and appreciate any advice you can give.

bumpig so you get a response. I have experience with cornea ulcers but not blindness

Welcome to YT
 

There are some members on here experienced with dogs that went blind.

An obvious suggestion is when introducing her to new people, dogs, try to orient to the good eye side.

I do hope you have made her breeder aware of her condition, and maybe the breeder can be of some emotional as well as financial support through this.

It looks like you have some big decisions to make; with this kind of seriousness I probably would opt for a second opinion.

I'm sure there be some more experienced folks on soon.

The breeder is aware of all that has happened. She is willing to take Mishka back and replace her with a different puppy. I considered this, but I think I made a poor choice in breeder so I'm not sure I trust what the next puppy I would get from her would be like. Even though I signed a contract saying the breeder does not do refunds, she has agreed to give me a partial refund when she has the money. This breeder loves what she does and means well, but I don't think Mishka would receive the special care she needs from this woman if I returned her. For this and several other reasons, my fiance and I are keeping her.

I'm glad that there are members who have some experience with corneal ulcers and blindness and hope they find the time to respond to this thread.

Years ago, I had a little lady that developed dry eye as a secondary symptom to initial issue with her eye....it never resolved and I remember I was also given the options you have been given. I did not give eye removal a second thought, as long as the eye remained "presentable" and did not start to shrink and collapse into itself. Her eye remained intact, her sight deteriorated to just seeing shadows, but that was OK. I opted for the eye care....daily drops and cleaning her little eye 2-3 times a day. It was time consuming and inconvienent, but she knew when I said, "lets do your eye care", she would run to the kitchen for me to clean her eye and put her drops. For years I used drops...I cant remember what they were....but then I was talking to a doctor at the hospital where I worked and he told me about Lacricet (maybe not correct sp.)...maybe Lacriset....he used it with his cancer patients who had lost their ability to produce tears....it is a tiny little thing the size of a grain of white rice...you put it inside the ey, between the lower lid and the eyeball, and it dissolves slowly aver 24 hours....so I got a prescription for that, and we used those the last 7 years of her life....worked great.

Keeping you and Mishka in my prayer's. Hope the drops help her. So glad you are keeping her and not returning her to the breeder's. Congrat's on your new family member, And by the way Welcome to YT you will find a lot of knowledge on here. Have a great day.:p
Anne/Luci:animal-pa

Thank you everyone for your support and advice. Yorkiemom1, thank you for telling me about Lacrisert! When I bring Mishka back to the specialist in a month I will ask him about it and see if that would be a solution for her. I think right now we are still assessing whether or not her dry eye will persist in life. If her dry eye persists and her specialist won't prescribe it, I will see if I can get it from someone else.

My parents have a toy poodle who has a liver shunt and needs medicine three times a day. He gets so excited and comes running when you say "Let's do your medicine!" or "You want your medicine?" So I've started saying the same phrases whenever I need to do Mishka's eye drops and clean her eye. Then I say "All done" and give her a treat paired with the word "Yes." For our dogs "Yes" always means you did good AND you're getting a treat, as opposed to just saying "Good girl/boy."