old dog with red eye

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elegy - 24 May 2007 11:59 GMT

i have a 10(?) year old pit bull i adopted from the shelter a couple
months ago. i have no idea about his history.

i took him to the vet a week ago tuesday because the white of his left
eye was bright red. it had always been reddish, but never bright red
like that. or at least i hadn't noticed it. it also seemed to be
tearing more than normal.

i know he doesn't have a lot of vision in that eye. when i had him in
for his first check up right when i got him, the vet who saw him then
said it looked like he had old traumic retinal changes in that eye but
wasn't concerned about it.

anyway, last week his IOP was mid-range normal (that was my biggest
concern), tear test was normal, and there was no stain uptake. the vet
put him on neopolydex ointment q 4 hours for 3-5 days, which i did the
best i could (4-5 times a day). i saw some improvement, but it didn't
completely go away.

i stopped the ointment on sunday. up until wednesday afternoon it was
looking pretty good. now it's bright red again.

i don't know how concerned i should be. he doesn't seem bothered-
doesn't rub at it or anything. he doesn't squint (if anything, that
eye looks bigger than the other). i don't know if i should push for a
referral to an opthamologist or if i should take the attitude that if
it's not bothering him, just watch it and leave it alone, which is
kind of the vibe i'm getting from the vet.

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buglady - 24 May 2007 12:33 GMT

last week his IOP was mid-range normal (that was my biggest

> concern), tear test was normal, and there was no stain uptake. the vet
> put him on neopolydex ointment q 4 hours for 3-5 days, which i did the
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> i stopped the ointment on sunday. up until wednesday afternoon it was
> looking pretty good. now it's bright red again.

> i don't know how concerned i should be. he doesn't seem bothered-
> doesn't rub at it or anything. he doesn't squint (if anything, that
> eye looks bigger than the other).

I don't know either. This site suggests treatment and that antibiotic
treatment should be for 2 weeks. I'd be worried about dry eye, but if the
tear production was normal, then that's not it. It's weird it doesn't itch
or burn and the dog isn't pawing at his eye.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1606&articleid=251

Here's a handy how to for diagnosing causes of red eye:
http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2003&PID=6556&O=Gene
ric

And another one describing how to do an eye exam:
http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2005&PID=10923&Categ
ory=1561&O=Generic

And I'll just toss this in here for interest - ocular manifestations in
parasitic diseases:
http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2005&PID=10974&O=Gen
eric

buglady
take out the dog before replying

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elegy - 25 May 2007 02:44 GMT

>last week his IOP was mid-range normal (that was my biggest
>> concern), tear test was normal, and there was no stain uptake. the vet
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>tear production was normal, then that's not it. It's weird it doesn't itch
>or burn and the dog isn't pawing at his eye.

thanks for the links.

i don't know what his deal is. it's definitely not dry eye. the eye
runs quite a bit. his eye looks different to me today, but i can't put
my finger on how, exactly. i talked to the vet again and now have a
script for pred acetate drops. i hope that's the right path to follow.
if i don't see an improvement by early next week, i'll take him back
in.

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pfoley - 24 May 2007 16:22 GMT

> i have a 10(?) year old pit bull i adopted from the shelter a couple
> months ago. i have no idea about his history.
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
> it's not bothering him, just watch it and leave it alone, which is
> kind of the vibe i'm getting from the vet.

========
Just wondering if her eyelashes could be rubbing against her eyeball and
irritating the eye.

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Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / May 2007

old dog with red eye