Q: We have observed that our 11-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel’s imaginative and prescient appears to be getting more and more worse. She has had one thing the vet calls KCS or dry eye for a number of years now and for which she will get each day ointment utilized to the eyes to extend her tear manufacturing. Her eyes have additionally darkened however there was no point out of cataracts or anything which may compromise her imaginative and prescient. Are there any surgical procedures that could be thought-about to enhance her imaginative and prescient? She appears completely content material, however we do discover her bumping into just a few issues at occasions particularly when she is out of acquainted environment. Could the KCS be affecting her sight? Could one thing else be happening? Thanks.
A: Keratoconjunctivitis sicca or KCS is a situation mostly present in brachycephalic or short-faced breeds of canines, amongst which Cavaliers are sometimes represented. Also often known as dry eye, early detection is vital to stopping secondary problems reminiscent of corneal ulcers and even lack of imaginative and prescient. In this situation, the conventional tear glands have diminished or no tear manufacturing, which causes the dry eye to be irritated and contaminated whereby the canine rubs the eyes incessantly or squints, if not closing their eyes. Any canine with continual eye irritation and conjunctivitis ought to be evaluated for tear manufacturing with one thing referred to as a Schirmer Tear Test in addition to presumably testing for glaucoma and on the lookout for eyelid plenty or different doable points.
Dogs with KCS additionally typically develop corneal pigmentation which seems as brown pigment on the cornea additionally affecting imaginative and prescient. This could also be what your canine is experiencing. Sadly, there may be not a lot that may be executed, together with surgical procedure, to reverse this aside from sustaining the established order with correct moisture software to the attention with medicine like you might be utilizing, most probably cyclosporine. This drug helps stimulate some tear manufacturing and provides moisture itself. If your veterinarian had additionally famous modifications within the lens, cataracts may be successfully handled with surgical procedure whereas lenticular sclerosis is just not. Speak together with your veterinarian a few doable referral to a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist to verify nothing else may very well be inflicting points and for a extra specialised evaluation, which provides you with extra definitive solutions.
Dr. John de Jong owns and operates the Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic. He may be reached at 781-899-9994.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”