BLOG DISCLAIMER

**DISCLAIMER** Please note: I am not a veterinarian, and the purpose of this blog is solely to educate, provide resources, and share Reo's story. In this blog, I will present research and information on the theories of SARDS to which I subscribe, along with my own narrative. If you think your dog may have SARDS, or adrenal exhaustion/Plechner Syndrome, please seek veterinary care right away!

If you are just beginning your SARDS education, I suggest you start with the blog post from August 22, 2011 entitled "SARDS Resources". If you'd like to know our trials, tribulations, and joys from the beginning, start with "But first...Reo!" and click chronologically on from there.

If you would like to read my suggestions as to how I would approach treatment for a newly-diagnosed dog, check the November 16, 2011 post "If I had another SARDS dog" (and then read my blog more fully for appropriate context).

Though we have decided to suspend Reo's retinal protection supplements in September 2012 (see September 16, 2012 post "Decision for Reo") due to the fact that she had very little remaining vision, I am still strongly supportive of our treatment approach, and know that it changed Reo's health and longevity in a positive way. Feel free to comment and ask me any questions - I am happy to help if I can!

Update: Reo became an angel on October 21, 2014. She had a profound kidney infection, causing acute kidney failure, and she was unable to recover. The contributing factors to her decline are covered in my February 16, 2015 blog post "Farewell to Reo".

Though I do not regularly update this blog any longer, much of the information is still relevant (though some of the links may be out of date). Feel free to join the conversation at "SARDS Dogs United" on Facebook.




Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Ophthalmologist visit

07/24/13 - We went to an ophthalmologist on Monday for Reo. She has been having some issues with her right eye for the past few months, and our regular vet couldn't figure out what was wrong. We tried some eye drops, an antibiotic, and did fluorescein staining - all either didn't help or show anything that could give us a diagnosis.

Her symptoms have been - "swollen" eye appearance, she is not opening her eye fully and the lower eyelid is droopy; very red white of her eye; some clear discharge; occasional itching; white cloudy area appearing in the cornea (not a cataract).

I *loved* this ophtho, as compared to the one in KY that diagnosed Reo's SARDS. He was fascinated by her case, and we are the first ones to have treated endocrine issues in SARDS that he's met. He was surprised by how good her blood chemistries looked, after being on long-term Medrol. I was careful to point out that the Medrol is not a *therapy*, it's only replacing what she can't make
naturally. We talked a lot about our experience and what we did for Reo's treatment.

He did a very thorough exam, and said that Reo's retinas were unlike any he's ever seen before in a SARDS dog, even 2.5 years later. She had a lot of weird stuff going on, apparently! That's my Reo...

After his exam, he pointed out Reo had a slight head tilt to the right, which I could see after he mentioned it. I think she has always walked like that since her diagnosis, and I didn't really think anything of it. He suspected Horner's syndrome, which is another "mystery". But essentially, one of the nerves is damaged and/or not firing properly, which leads dogs to have eye appearance
issues. He thought that because she wasn't using that eye regularly, there was a nerve atrophy of sorts. There is a very simple test used to diagnose this - he put a drop of norepinepherine in her eye. In 15 minutes, she was back to normal eye appearance! That was pretty cool.

He said that because this test is so reliable and a strong positive, there is almost no chance that it could be something more serious (i.e., a brain tumor) that is causing this issue. So, it was a huge relief to me. He mentioned that the redness of her eyeball is also an indication of lack of vascular tone in the
eye due to the Horner's (this might be of interest to some on this list, whose dogs experience very red eyes!). Anyway, there is no "treatment" for Horner's, and he said that most dogs spontaneously correct in a few months - interesting.

Finally, another tidbit he gave me was concerning minerals and lipemia. For the past 1.5 years (since we moved back to Colorado), Reo has had very lipemic blood (lipemic means fat in the blood, which can skew some blood test results). Our regular vet never really said it was a problem, since Reo's cholesterol and triglycerides are normal.

The ophtho said that he could see the lipemia in Reo's eyes, and that she should be on a low-fat diet immediately. I told him there was no chance that I was changing her diet to low fat as she is quite healthy and we do blood chemistries 2x/year to make sure. Also, she has never had pancreas issues - all levels are normal.

He said he wanted to try her on EDTA drops, which will chelate/pull out extra minerals that are in Reo's eye. I asked him if mineral supplementation could cause lipemia - he said most definitely. Reo has been on the Nutramin mineral supplement, suggested by Dr. Plechner, for 2.5 years, so I wondered if it was causing an issue and leading to Reo's lipemia (maybe she just doesn't need the
supplement any more!). Previously, she was getting the Nutramin 2x/day, and I've dropped down to 1x/day for the time being. Will see how she does, and I will consider completely eliminating it in the future.

*Note - I can't find anything online concerning mineral supplementation causing lipemia in dogs, and not much reliable info in humans. I'll keep searching, and also ask my regular vet. Because the ophtho was so emphatic, it seems weird to me that my vet never said anything about the lipemia, or the supplementation maybe causing it.

We came home with EDTA drops, and cyclosporine ointment, and a re-check in 6 weeks to see how she does. Stay tuned! :)

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Post-vacation trip to the ophthalmologist

07/03/13 - We had a glorious time in Europe for nearly 3 weeks!

Reo (and all the pups) did great under my brother's care - everyone was happy and healthy when we got back, and there was much rejoicing as we were reunited.

But, Reo has been having some issues with her right eye for a couple of months.  We've tried a few different things (drops, allergy meds, etc.) but nothing seems to be working.  Right around the time she was diagnosed with SARDS 2 years ago, she walked into a tree and scratched her cornea.  She's has the scratch since then and it never caused any issue.  But now, it seems to have a secondary whitish mark that is coming out from the scratch.  Our regular vet did a fluorescein stain and it didn't uptake anything (good), and it's not anything like a cataract (good), but we can't figure out what is going on.

I decided to make an ophtho appointment to see if there is anything that can be done.  It's clear that the eye is itching her, and the white of her eye is quite red.  It also looks like the lower eyelid is a bit swollen.  So, since our regular vet can't solve the puzzle, and Reo is not getting better on that front, we're going to go and get it checked out.

Fingers crossed we can get an appointment fairly soon and get to the bottom of it!  Stay tuned...