Well after spending several hundred dollars on a specialist and another few hundred dollars on medication that may have cured her Canine Dry Eye, we finally have a result. It has taken us six months, starting with our local vet, and ending with a well know Adelaide eye specialist for dogs and cats.
I am not unhappy with the cost, it was money we had to spend, to try to cure poor Missy's eye problem. It was so sad to see Missy, squinting when she was out in the sunshine, and with eyes that were unable to clear the bits and pieces that are usually cleared by the process of normal blinking and washing debris out with natural tears.
Dogs with Canine Dry Eye lack the natural tears to help this process occur, and the debris leads to sore eyes, and can ultimately lead to permanent sight problems. We didn't and still don't want Missy to go blind, so early in her life. Missy is only three years old, and is such a sweet and lovely girl. I love this wonderful pharaoh hound that we bred. She has all of the wonderful characteristics of her father, with none of her mother's bad habits.
Canine Dry Eye is an Autoimmune Response that destroys the dog's ability to produce tears naturally. The vet doesn't know why this may have happened, and all we could do was try out the medicine he provided to us. Putting ointment in Missy's eyes three times a day has been a bit tedious, but it was also a good chance to teach Missy to be a good girl. If it had been her mother Ananka with this issue, I don't think it would have been as easy. Missy is a special sweet girl.
Unfortunately, when Jake and I took Missy to see the specialist last week, she still wasn't producing any tears at all. This meant that the treatment hadn't led to a cure of Missy's CDE. The only other treatment the specialist could offer was an operation, which would take saliva ducts from elsewhere and put them in place of Missy's tear ducts. This, according to the vet may lead to constantly wet eyes and would cost well over $2,000. It wasn't that difficult to decide against that option.
So now we have Missy getting Viscotears in her eyes many times a day to keep her eyes moist and cleared of gunk. She sits to have her eyes cleaned and then has Viscotears put in. Then she gets something yummy to eat and a pat and goes off to do her own thing. Jake and I share the duties and it's going well enough. I tell Missy she's special and that's why she gets the food and pats. The other dogs would like the pats and treats too, but they're all being sensible about it.
The only really bad thing is that the specialist said if Missy was his dog he wouldn't breed from her, even though he said to me earlier that it was unlikely that she would pass this problem on to her offspring. So Graham and I at Holkschter have a big decision to make soon on what we want for Missy in the future.
Missy is still a great girl to have in our family though and whatever happens, I feel she will remain with us as a much loved pet.
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