Our Molly’s eyes

Late one evening mid-December just before we went to bed we noticed that Molly’s left eye was ‘cloudy’ and appeared to be causing her some discomfort.  The following morning (Sunday) we managed to get an emergency vet appointment and after examination the vet diagnosed mild periorbital oedema and prescribed eye cream for 7 days; we were to return if the eye didn’t improve or if it became worse. It did seem to get a lot better but we kept up with the eye cream.

On Christmas Eve when we arrived at our son’s house for the holiday Molly was obviously in some pain and could not keep her left eye open and it was very ‘milky’ once again.  We managed to obtain a vet appointment locally and this time the diagnosis was an Iritis of the eye which we understood to be pressure between the top and second layer of the eye and from what was said we understood that glaucoma could be a result of this.  She was prescribed with antibiotics, eye drops and pain relief (Metacam).  Since then although we’ve used the drops regularly her eye was sometimes very cloudy and sometimes quite clear but did not really seem to be getting any better.

This morning her eye was painful again but as soon as she’d had drops and Metacam she seemed okay.  Our plan was to catch the bus to Tring to collect post and do a small Tesco shop, but whilst in town I suggested we tried to see if we could get Molly in to see a vet again as this problem was obviously not going to go away.

Springwell Veterinary Surgery was just a short walk away and were able to fit us in right away ringing the previous vets for information of her previous treatment.  Molly’s eyes were very thoroughly examined by Faye (veterinary surgeon) and she showed us the inflammation in Molly's left eye. She also used an instrument to measure the pressure in Molly’s eyes (Tonometry test). Normal pressure is around 20/25, in Molly the pressure in the left eye was 65 and in her right eye it was 45 - not very good. The vet couldn’t see any shadow in Molly’s left eye which would denote a displaced lens (lens luxation) and because she had not come across this before she asked the senior vet Patrick to take a look.  He confirmed that the lens was indeed displaced. He also explained that glaucoma could have been a secondary problem to this, but because the pressure is also high in her right eye he thinks that instead glaucoma is the primary problem which has led to the luxation of the lens in her left eye.

Although this is a diagram of a human eye, a dogs eye is very similar.  You can see the lens attached by tendons behind the cornea and usually when a displacement occurs it’s because the tendons have become weak and the lens moves out of alignment and can be easily put back, but Molly’s lens has become detached completely and has moved in-front of the lens Iris [edited], hence the pressure.

This will be a forever problem and will have to be treated with Trusopt drops in both eyes.  We have another appointment next Monday when they will repeat the tests to see if there’s been any improvement.  Currently there is no anti-inflammatory medication in the drops as she wants to see if they will reduce the pressure without, but if there is no improvement she will also prescribe an anti-inflammatory as well.

Although Molly’s eyes are not so good in herself she is no different at all, she’s still a character, playing with her toys and enjoying a good run-about like a puppy.  We just hope that we’ve caught it in time and can prevent her right eye from further damage.