My cavalier went through months of eye problems but my vet insisted he did not have dry eye because his schirmer test was OK. Eventually I insisted he was referred to an ophthalmologist when he developed severe ulcers. The ophthalmologist knew immediately he had dry eye although his worst affected eye was so damaged it was producing excess amounts of tears and the schirmer test in this eye was over 20. He ended up having to have an emergency corneal graft which is extremely expensive. Please bear in mind what Flo has said about her Holly Poppet.
I am very sorry to hear about the suffering your cavalier endured. No doubt this experience has coloured your perspective, however Charlie is not the same dog nor are his symptoms the same. In Charlie's case, one day of a runny eye on Monday does not make it a long standing problem; nor does having mild conjunctivitis 3 times in 2 years and 4 months (2 of which occurred following vaccination), all of which cleared up within a week. Indeed Sandy's last post stated "eyes nice and bright" which is evidenced in his latest photo, had Charlie had months of eye problems like your dog, I would have stated so.
I am not a vet, I have not seen the dog other than the pictures you have also seen on this thread, but I have had the benefit of having read his veterinary report, of talking directly with his foster mum, previous owner and previous vet, as well as personal research of possible links or causes over a 4 week time frame, mostly until the early hours of the morning.
We do expect to encounter highs and lows, we both have very open minds and hope to increase our knowledge and understanding for the benefit of all dogs; to that end I can see no point in hiding facts. However, we are not going off on a wild goose chase looking for problems that aren't obvious, unless or until several symptoms
coming together point us in one direction. As indeed does the link to the immune system, vaccination, commercial foods and hypothyroidism as seen on the following link
http://www.suite101.com/content/canine-hypothyroidism-a8673
"Several causes have been proposed for the rising incidence of canine hypothyroidism.
Vaccines and inadequate or excess dietary iodine are the primary suspected causes.
Studies have shown increased blood levels of thyroid antibodies occurring shortly after the administration of multiple-component vaccines. These antibodies are likely produced in response to contaminants from fetal calf serum commonly used to make canine vaccines. It is thought that these anti-bovine antibodies to thyroglobulin and fibronectin proteins then cross-react with a dog's own proteins, resulting in autoantibody production."
"Several studies have shown that the
increased amounts of iodine salts in commercial dog foods contribute to the development of autoimmune hypothyroidism in canines, similar to the increased incidence of autoimmune thyroid disease in humans caused by iodine subsidization programs. A natural diet of cooked lamb, chicken, rice, and vegetables has been found to reduce the risk of canine hypothyroidism associated with commercial diets. Over time, some dogs may self-regulate and no longer need replacement hormone although most dogs with canine hypothyroidism will require lifelong thyroid replacement hormone."
Charlie is not suffering, and he will not suffer at our hands, if we had thought he was I would have advised his previous owner to go ahead with euthanasia, which she was considering before speaking with us.
Charlie was vaccinated in December and was in a horrendous condition (vets description) the following month despite being on steroids. Hence the reason for Charlie's complete detox, raw diet, followed by a full blood panel and titre test, which should offer our vet a more or less clean slate for testing and would appear to us at the moment to be a sensible way forward.