Can you help my vet?

Question

5 year old yellow lab was fine until two weeks ago. Had discharge from eyes, and took the dog to the vet. Found that left eye was cloudy. Vet thought probably uvitis. Vet put dog on drops and anti-inflammatory. Discharge stopped. Eye still cloudy, and dog cannot see out of left eye. Put dog on strong antibiotics (Primor, 450mg 2x day). Eye no longer cloudy, but cannot see out of eye. Eye seems to be brown throughout.

Vet now thinks blastomycosis. But the following symptoms were never present: fever, weight loss, edepression, looss of appetite, lesions, resperatory problems, lameness (no testicals, na) seizures, courghing or lymph node issues (per MD).

What next? What are possibilities. Vet says remove the eye and send it out for testing. Says that Blastomycosis is most probable, but that cancer and benign tumor are possible.

Dog goes to forested park with running water every weekend, and loves to swim. Location: Southeast Wisconsin.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

I was thinking ocular Blasto before I even finished your first paragraph, actually. His history of running around in the woods makes it all the more suspicious....but the eye is usually not 'brown' throughout. ??

Blastomycosis can be limited to the eye....it doesn't always have to be systemic. So, the absence of other signs doesn't rule it out.

The treatment for ocular Blasto involves very strong cortisone eye drops...which many DVMs are reluctant to use, because of the fear of making any type of infection worse. It's necessary to do it in order to save the eye and sight in the case of Blasto, however. But at 2 weeks' duration, it's probably too late. :-/
Depending upon which strength of antiinflammatory drogs your DVM used, that might have already been what he/she tried.

I'm in a different part of the country, so there might be other things up there to consider. Your DVM would be the best person to know about that. I practice in an area that has Blasto, so that's why it immediately came to mind with your initial description.

If the eye is indeed nonvisual (something that could be confirmed by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist), I would agree that taking it out would be indicated. And if it's removed, you'd of course want to send it off for pathology. Tumor is certainly a very real possibility, also....and the pathologist would be able to tell you for sure.

Either way, removing the eye just might save his life. If you're not ready to do that, schedule an appt. ASAP (like yesterday) with an ophthalmologist for a second opinion. They might be able to do an ocular aspirate for cytology to look for the Blasto organism and/or tumor cells. Time is crucial if it is either Blasto OR a tumor....and odds are that it's one or the other. I wouldn't wait around on Blasto blood titers if I were you.

Sorry....wish I could be more encouraging. It's hard to say without actually seeing the eye, but it doesn't sound good. I hope I'm wrong and everything works out okay, though. It sounds to me like you're in good hands.


ETA: From the information given, it sounds like this veterinarian handled the case perfectly appropriately.....not like he has 'no idea what's going on.' And NO veterinarian is going to sacrifice any animal's eyesight just to 'make more money.' Sheesh!

Answer 2

I would probably go to see an eye specialist for dogs. They may have more input since they specialize in that area only. Most specialists require referrals from vets though so you might have to ok through your vet first.

Answer 3

Same with people, get a second opinion. Sounds like your vet has no idea what's going on and is just doing procedure after procedure to get more money.

Edit: Oh, and to Ms. Vet, with all do respect, no doctor is going to take a gallbladder out of a human being for no real reason just to make money. Oh wait, yes they do. I have worked for a surgical clinic and they took them out on a regular basis when they probably shouldn't be taken out. Gallbladder surgery is goooood money for a doctor. People think they can live normally without a gallbladder. The doctors give them no indication otherwise that it will effect their life in any way, but most people I know that have had this operation live in fear of going places because they're afraid they'll POOP on themselves because of bile. Sometimes they can simply clean out the bile ducts and it will eliminate the problem, but instead, they take out a vital organ!

Also, I took my parakeet to the vet to have his toenails clipped, and the whole time he had a very large tumor growing on his backside. The vet didn't even say anything about it! He died not long after that.

Then, my mom and sister were at a vet's office and this woman had brought in her cat. She had taken it somewhere else, and they didn't know what they were doing and they took out a kidney. Turns out, it could have been treated without operation with antibiotics or something and would have pulled through, but since they removed the kidney, I think she was having to have it put down.

So yes, you can say all you want to about no vet in this country or whatever is going to remove a dog's eye for money. Also, I think the advice to seek a second opinion is good advice. What if another place could save the eye? He just seems to be using trial and error. This is an animal we're talking about, not a puzzle. You don't just do something to see if it works then try something else. Especially when you're dealing with something like that. You vets should have gone to school enough to know what it is without having to keep trying things.

So yeah, I don't know what a vet's "code of ethics" are compared to a human doctor, but I'm sure there are vets out there who are just in it for the money. Another vet would at least give them more information to work with.

Answer 4

test for lyme, bloodwork needs to be done or dog needs to be seen by an opthalmologist

Answer 5

I AGREE WITH THE FIRST ANSWER GET A SECOND OPINION