Lani
Well-known member
Lucky has Horner's Syndrome (with severe dry eye)
I noticed on Friday night that Lucky seemed to be squinting a bit and his left eye had lost it's shine. I knew something wasn't right so took him into the vet first thing Saturday when they opened.
I had to drop him off because the vet was packed with appointments, but the vets will see drop ins in between appointments. They ran all the usual eye tests and Lucky's left eye came back with no tear production at all - 0/25. And his right eye was 13/25 … not as bad, but the vet said 15 is the goal. So now we are doing Optimunne Ointment twice a day and tears whenever I can do them since he can't produce his own.
Lucky is 8.5 … it seems so odd this would happen so suddenly but I just read an article that average onset is 6 - 10 years. He had a corneal ulcer maybe 6 months ago and tear production was absolutely normal when he was tested then. I am sort of in shock.
I know I've been relatively lucky with Lucky (no pun intended). His heart is a grade 3, and he's only had a murmur for 2.5 years, so late onset compared to many Cavaliers but I feel just awful for him about his eye. He does take the drops well though, he seems to like them, I'll bet they feel good.
Really just an update for those of you who have "known" Lucky since he was a little puppy, but I'm curious and interested in any stories you have of your own dogs with severe dry eye and how they are doing.
Lucky's vet is very good - she's also an internal medicine specialist, but I'm curious if you think a specialist is warranted for dry eye or if a regular vet/internal medicine specialist is familiar enough with dry eye that seeing the Ophthalmologist is not required (My sister takes her dog to an ophthalmologist, but her King Charles/English Toy Gemma has a much rarer condition - corneal edema).
Here's a picture of my Lucky
I noticed on Friday night that Lucky seemed to be squinting a bit and his left eye had lost it's shine. I knew something wasn't right so took him into the vet first thing Saturday when they opened.
I had to drop him off because the vet was packed with appointments, but the vets will see drop ins in between appointments. They ran all the usual eye tests and Lucky's left eye came back with no tear production at all - 0/25. And his right eye was 13/25 … not as bad, but the vet said 15 is the goal. So now we are doing Optimunne Ointment twice a day and tears whenever I can do them since he can't produce his own.
Lucky is 8.5 … it seems so odd this would happen so suddenly but I just read an article that average onset is 6 - 10 years. He had a corneal ulcer maybe 6 months ago and tear production was absolutely normal when he was tested then. I am sort of in shock.
I know I've been relatively lucky with Lucky (no pun intended). His heart is a grade 3, and he's only had a murmur for 2.5 years, so late onset compared to many Cavaliers but I feel just awful for him about his eye. He does take the drops well though, he seems to like them, I'll bet they feel good.
Really just an update for those of you who have "known" Lucky since he was a little puppy, but I'm curious and interested in any stories you have of your own dogs with severe dry eye and how they are doing.
Lucky's vet is very good - she's also an internal medicine specialist, but I'm curious if you think a specialist is warranted for dry eye or if a regular vet/internal medicine specialist is familiar enough with dry eye that seeing the Ophthalmologist is not required (My sister takes her dog to an ophthalmologist, but her King Charles/English Toy Gemma has a much rarer condition - corneal edema).
Here's a picture of my Lucky
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