| 0232dog
dry eye keratoconjunctivitis sicca, sore foot pad pet health and welfare educational for
animal lovers, excerpts from The
Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by AsiaHomes
Internet. The Silkie has dry eyes.  It
was past 5 p.m. on Chinese New Year's Eve. The twelve-year-old
female silkie terrier was in pain on her left hind foot. She would
not permit me to see her foot. She had one small incisor and probably no
other teeth since her tongue was hanging out. But when you had been
bitten by dogs many times, you would have a reflex action to move away
your hand every time the patient's mouth goes for your hand. What was the cause of this sore pad? I suspected it was an obsession owing to boredom and being left alone the whole day. There were tell tale signs of pad licking on the other three feet over a long time. The pad had lost it black pigment in areas where it was licked. Since the bitch was clever and would not take medicine, it was necessary to review in 3 weeks' time after a painkiller and antibiotic injection was given. She would not take medication orally and so it was pointless prescribing such medication as the Owner would not be able comply with the medication schedule.  A
more serious condition was noticed as this could lead to permanent eye
ulcerations and blindness. Her
eyes were covered by the yellowish green sticky discharge. The sclera or
eye white were red. The transparent cornea was dry and translucent
and would be opaque soon if the condition is left untreated. This was a case of dry eye or
Kerato-conjunctivitis sicca (KCS) in which the tear gland in the eyes
stopped producing tears. It happens mainly in old dogs. If left
untreated, The cause of dry eyes is the tear glands failing to produce an adequate amount of tears to lubricate the cornea correctly.
Treatment would include "artificial tear" drops or surgery. The bitch would have used her paws to rub away the sticky discharge from the eye, being a very clean animal. She would then licked away the sticky discharge from the paw which was too irritating for her. She must have licked too vigorously and was in pain now. If the eyes did not have a discharge, she would feel comfortable and wound not lick her paws. This would be better than using an head collar. It was a hypothesis. Would this work? If the owner could follow up, it would be good. This was the first time I saw this bitch and therefore, would not know much about her medical background. A veterinarian had diagnosed cataract and this dog could be blind. Still the KCS had to be treated as dry eyes are an irritating condition. You could see in the picture that the bitch felt very happy after the medicated eye drops cleared her sticky film and her owner wiped out the mucus. I hope she would enjoy her Chinese New Year and see better with some vision. One month later, the Owner came for eye drops and reported that the pad wounds had healed and the dog had felt better. |