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! :)
In March 2011, our Miniature Pinscher, Reo, suddenly went blind and was diagnosed with SARDS (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome). We were given no hope for vision recovery, but through research, perseverance, love, tears, and a lot of luck, we brought our dog back from a serious illness, and restored some functional vision in about 5 months! This is our story, our journey...and we hope that by sharing our story, we can help other dogs diagnosed with SARDS!
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.
Hi there! So sorry that you and Reo had to go through this, yet so happy to find hope! My dog had to be put down 3/9/2012 from bone cancer at age 12, and her life long friend (my dad's dog Missy) is now facing old age with S.A.R.D.S. I diagnosed her and I know people say you should not but I will tell you why. We spent thousands of dollars that my dad did not have. ( he started working from 5am to 10pm to be able to take her to the vet and still pay the bills)I kept telling the vets her symptoms and they kept shaking their heads saying it wasn't possible for a dog to go from healthy weight to obese in just 3 months. Well that IS what happened, so we took her for a second opinion and to run additional tests. The second vet tested her for Cushings, as well as additional blood work and tests for worms ect. All negative, so they recommended we get an ultrasound. They could not do that so we had to go to yet ANOTHER vet. Had the ultrasound done and everything was good, this vet recommended a thyroid test, which came back SLIGHTLY abnormal. So they put her on thyroid medication and we hoped we had the answer, though I was very sure it was something else. Back ground on Missy, she is 11 years old and just last January (2012) was a happy, healthy, energetic, playful, sassy border collie and chow mix. She would go after a ball for as long as you would throw it no matter how tired she got type of dog. I came to visit my dad in March 2012, and she seemed depressed and was gaining weight drastically. My parent's said she had been eating and drinking excessively, needing to go to the bathroom more often, and whining at night. I did research and saw that Cushings seemed to match so that's when I told my dad we had to do something and went through the whole fiasco I mentioned above. Then after months of her taking the thyroid medication, she started having trouble seeing her treats when we held them. She started sniffing them out, her eyes started to change, and BOOM! In 3 days she was completely blind. I did some more research but added blindness in addition and I was so angered that in all the times I mentioned Cushings to the Vets, that NONE of them mentioned this SARDS that mimics Cushings. I called the last Vet that we had been going to and told the Vet that I was positive this was what was wrong. She agreed ( go figure) and told me not to waste any more money on tests that she was almost positive as well, and that she had forgotten all about SARDS. So we put her on grain free dog food and cut her intake, trying to help her lose weight. It is coming off ever so slowly, but my parents are about to give in and put her down. She is having so much trouble at her old age getting around because of the massive weight gain in such a short time span. She was 46lbs before the gain and is now 73lbs. So not only does she walk into walls, lay around severely depressed, urinates on the floor, has trouble walking, but also started the crying at night again. She has a bad skin problem right now that is causing large patches of fur to fall out and she is just miserable. Do you have any advice? I am on my last leg here trying to save her, because I know that she is the type of dog that would live until at least 15, she was so healthy an active before this took her over, it is heart breaking. :(
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey, I'm so sorry to hear about Missy! I know how hard it is to watch a dog decline in this way, but that weight gain is really excessive. :( It definitely sounds like she has some hormonal imbalances going on. With everything you described, and the skin flare up too, I would suspect high total estrogen levels and low cortisol. Is she still taking her thyroid medication? Of course, your parents can do some blood testing to identify if what I described is the case for Missy, but it's only worth it if you have a veterinarian who will be open to the treatment possibilities and be committed to her care. My suggestions are listed on this blog, but if I can do anything else to help, let me know!
ReplyDeleteBest, Lynn and Reo
Hi, The lack of treatment can lead to serious complications. Therefore you should consult with your doctor to determine the cause and treatment.
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