Eye problem(Ulcer?) in my Boxer (pics)

[Mona]

Yes, I am definately going to be seeing the Vet about this, hopefully tomorrow they can get her in. I just noticed it today. Here's a little history...

"Baylee" is 10 years old. She had a tiny little growth on her lower eye lid for quite some time.(months) The vet said not to worry about it unless it started bothering her. Well, a couple of months ago, she started with squinting a lot, and watering a little. I knew something was irritating her eye, and figured it was that tiny little growth rubbing up against her eye, causing irritation.

I took her back to the vet. He did a tear test, and said her tears were working well. He also did the dye in her eye to look for scratches, ulcerations etc. Nothing showed. He gave me drops("Pentasone", topical corticosteroid)) to put in 3 times a day, and an ointment("BNPH", an ophthalmic ointment containing Bacitracin Zinc, Neomycin Sulfate, Hydrocortisone Acetate) to put in each night at bedtime.

I did this for a couple of weeks as pet vet's instruction. It seemed to help as long as I used the meds, butas soon as I stopped the treatment, it was like I had never medicated her for it.

I went back to the vet and asked him to remove the growth, thinking for sure this was the cause. That was probably a month ago now. I don't remember the date for sure, as I never marked it on my calendar as they got me in the next day after I called. Anyway, today while I was giving her her morning Glucosamine capsule, she moved her eye just the right way(looked upwards and inwards), and I saw this red spot in there at the same area as the growth had been. Do you think this is the result of them nicking her when they removed the growth? They did put a dissolving stitch in there. Or does this look more like something else?

The thing is, it was not there before, as she had seen the vet a couple of times, and he examined it. Now I see it there. I don;t think it is an infection, because it is not goopy or draining puss at all. I think she is in pain from it too possible. I was jusr telling my husband yesterday that I thought Baylee has been in pain for these past few days, as she has been sort of whining at times. Not a whine like she wants something, but a whine like she is hurting. I thought it was due to her rear end, as that has been causing her a lot of grief....something neurological, and she does not have full control and/or function to her back end.

So I am hoping maybe there is someone out there that can offer suggestions? I hope he never poked her and now she'll have to have her eye removed! I don't think it is glaucauma or anything, as it is so low and off to the side...just the same place as that growth was. If it was irritation to that extreme, due to the growth, I am sure the vet would have seen it at the time he removed it.

I was also reading in my Dog Veterinary book about a condition(Corneal Ulcers in Boxers called indolent or refractory) found in Boxers, with 80% being found in spayed females over 5, the THINK due to low levels of estrogen. However, they offer no photos for me to compare with. I am going to try and do an internet search also, to see what I can find, but hoping maybe someone else can shed some light on the matter??

Thanks...here are the pics taken this morning after I forst noticed it....

 

[ponyboi09]

looks to me like a cherry eye...

 

[Nemesis]

looks to me like a cherry eye...

Cherry eye would be in the inner corner of the eye. It looks like a corneal ulcer from something rubbing on it maybe a piece fo grit in the eye or a scratch or maybe an eyelash rubbing. They can all cause an ulcer.

 

[Mona]

ponyboi09, it is DEFINATELY NOT cherry eye. I know what cherry eye is. That on the body,(eyelids etc.) and this is on the eyeball itself.

Nemesis, yes, I was wondering if it might be from the stitch he put in there. When he told me he stitched it, I was a little concerned, because he told me it may work it's way up, and if it did, to snip the end off. I was not thrilled with the idea of having to snip a stitch that close to my dog's eye. I kept an eye on it, and noticed her beginning to squint again, and I did feel something "rough". I don't know what it was, if it was a little scab, or a piece of the stitch, but I pulled it off with my fingers. It never bled or anything. I wonder if that stitch maybe worked it's way up and caused that??

 

[MiniforFaith]

Besides watering, any other symptoms? My dog(about 10 years ago) kept having a problem with her eye. the vet kept saying it was pink eye. After treating her for that for months, he finally sent me to a specialist. We found out that she had uvitis(SP). But Her eye just looked red all the time.

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

Hmm.. Well, my boxer has a little round circle of cloudness in each eye (The vet said it was fatty deposits prone to the breed

: ), but I don't think this looks the same. Good luck..

 

[Denise]

Looks like an ulcer. Could she possibly have a little bit of entropian?

 

[luckymeacres]

I was wondering if your dogs eye looked like mine. I have a Shih Tzu that has developed a growth on the eye for a few months now, she does not seem to be in any pain, and it is small. We recently adopted a sheltie and she came with the same growth, but it is bigger on her. The person we got her from had taken her to the vet for shots, checkup and health certificate right before we got here. She said it was not a problem as long as the dog was not bothered by it. Can you tell me is this is what your dog had before the surgery???? Thanks

 

[Sterling]

Yea, Mona, eye conditions can be so difficult to diagnose. (Sidenote, that to me definitely does not look like Cherry eye. Cherry eye is the prolapse of the inner/second eyelid of the dog...sometimes covering quite a bit of the eye itself.) From looking at Baylee's pic at that angle it seems like the issue itself is on the outer part of the eye...which brings to mind a scratch causing a secondary ulcer. A stitch can definitely cause a scratch in the eye...even the self absorbing ones as they can pop out and irritate. Please let us know what the vet says. I hope it's something that's just irritated her and with meds she will find some relief. Poor baby! Oh...question, did her eye ever swell with this?

 

[Mona]

MiniforFaith, no, the worse symptom she had was the squinting, and a little tearing. but not so her face was stained from tears running all the time. She had no redness in it at all.

Denise, no, she does not have Entropian. It was just something that came on kind of suddenly, and that is why I thought the growth was the problem. It was on the lower eyelid, in the same spot as the spot in her eye is now in these pics, and it was a little on the underside of the eyelid.

luckymeacres, yes, sort of, only the growth on Baylee was way smaller even than that. It was really quite tiny. I would not have bothered with the surgery either, if it had not been irritating her eye.

Sterling, yes, I am starting to think more and more that it was the stitch popping above the surface that caused this. I sure hope they can give her something to make it better and that she does not lose the eye over it! POOR OLD GIRL! And no, she had absolutely no swelling with any of this...not before the surgery, and not after. I had to put that same ointment in her eye for a few days after the surgery, but all looked good then, and if she had not moved her eye just so this morning, catching the light the way it did, I may not have noticed this today either.

:

 

[luckymeacres]

Mona do you know what it was called before it was removed. I have been trying to research it, but I'm not sure what it is called, did you vet happen to have a name for it before surgery??

 

[Mona]

Evelyn, no, my vet never named it. Just said it is a harmless growth that is common in the breed. She(Baylee) alo has other small "wart-like" small growths on other pasts of her body too. They snipped another one off that same day, from just below her elbow on her front leg, same side.

I believe you can do a search for adenomas. According to pics in my Dog Veterinary book, that is what they are I think. This is what my book says...

Tumors
The adenoma is the most common tumor of the eyelid. It has a cauliflower-like appearance and, like most growths of the eyelid, usually is found in the older dog. It should be removed. Otherwise, it will continue to grow, irritate the eye, and interfere with closing the lids. There are other tumors of the eyelid, some of which are malignant.

As for Baylee...here are more pics. This first one was taken on March 18, 2006. If you look closely you can see it starting back then.

And this one I just took about 10 minutes ago. I have pointed the arrow to the spot that the little cyst was removed. Sorry it's so big, but wanted to get as close as possible to see the area in question.

 

[luckymeacres]

Thank you very much Mona :saludando:

 

[Nemesis]

ponyboi09, it is DEFINATELY NOT cherry eye. I know what cherry eye is. That on the body,(eyelids etc.) and this is on the eyeball itself.

Nemesis, yes, I was wondering if it might be from the stitch he put in there. When he told me he stitched it, I was a little concerned, because he told me it may work it's way up, and if it did, to snip the end off. I was not thrilled with the idea of having to snip a stitch that close to my dog's eye. I kept an eye on it, and noticed her beginning to squint again, and I did feel something "rough". I don't know what it was, if it was a little scab, or a piece of the stitch, but I pulled it off with my fingers. It never bled or anything. I wonder if that stitch maybe worked it's way up and caused that??

If the suture was turned in at all even slightly and rubbing the cornea it could have caused the ulcer on the eye. From the photo further on down the thread it looks as if the ulcer is right where the suture was. My vet usually prescribes a triple antibiotic drop for several days to help.

 

[anita]

Good morning Mona

Your Boxer is a very pretty girl.

My Covergirl ( 13 year, Staffordshir Bullterrier )had simular, look a like. She got treated for ulcers

with an eyecreme. A week and it was gone.

Covergirl has tear problems also and gets daily eyetrops.

An alpaca had the same, more worse, that I thought she gets blind. Same treatment and its fine.

You hear from me later

Anita

 

[littledonkeys.com]

Yea thats not cherry eye, cherry eye is the tear duct swelling and having to be surgically removed most times. My bulldog had to have both eyes done, thank god for Doc Jones, the $600+ procedure cost me $75 in all since he just retired and does it to keep busy.

 

[Mona]

Well I left home at 7:30 this morning to have Baylee to the vet by 9:00 when they opened. I never even waited around to see if they had an appointment...just showed up, unannounced. That is the first time I have ever done that!

Anyway, the vet felt very strongly that it was caused by the stitch working it's way up. Why do they call them "dissolvable" stitches anyway, if they don't actually dissolve?? He did a fluorescent dye test, and there was only a VERY SLIGHT reaction, so he was confident it was not deep.

He prescribed a people eye drop by the name of "pms-CIPROFLOXACIN". It is an antibiotic that is supposed to be VERY successful with treating/curing eye ulcers in humans. Hopefully that will do the trick and she'll recover fully without losing her eye!

Thanks everyone!

 

[MiniforFaith]

:saludando: Glad to hear you got to the vets. I hope that the drops help out soon. Take care and give her a big hug

: . Please keep us posted to how she is doing...

 

[kimie28]

Mona, whatever you do, don't put the other ointment that contains Hydrocortisone Acetate in her eye again unless the Vet knows for sure she does not have an ulcer as it will make the eye much worse.

Sounds like your on the right path to healing though. Keep us updated.

 

[Sterling]

Ah...that's good news!!! I know exactly where you're coming from when you say you just showed up at the vet's....I've been there...done that!

: With those disolvable sutchers, unless they stay tacked in, they can work their way out and scratch...not a good thing, and something to watch when they have any kind of procedure done and have used them in the eye

: . Otherwise the ones that stay in and don't "unravel" (for lack of a better term) tend to go bye-bye and just disappear. I'm glad to hear that's what he thinks it was.....and hope she continues to heal well.