Return of pannus

After three years of keeping Eli’s pannus under control, it’s returned.  It’s certainly not the end of the world, and it’s fixable, but I feel guilty that I failed to keep on top of the issue.  In all honesty I didn’t do anything wrong—the ophthalmologist has been telling me for years to try giving Eli her eyedrops every other day, instead of every day, so I started that a few months ago.  Earlier this week I noticed the conjunctiva in one of her eyes seemed sort of red, and then I spotted an area of brown pigment which seemed to be misshapen.  Today, it’s progressed to a pink spot, the beginnings of vascularization of the cornea.  It sure didn’t take long for her eyes to go from “perfect” (as they were pronounced last summer) to the shape they were in when the problem first emerged a few years ago.  The one good thing is that right now her right eye seems fine, and it’s just the left eye which is affected.

I’ll call in for a refill of her eye meds today, and I’ll go back to twice a day drops for about a month.  Then I’ll cut back to once a day, and leave it at that permanently.  There was definitely a big financial savings with cutting back on the meds (she has two types, and each cost about $45), but she’s already deaf and cannot afford any damage to her vision.  Last summer I was told that she has some very minor cloudiness (the beginnings of cataracts), but that she was otherwise in fabulous shape for her age.  I want to keep it that way!

Pannus is an auto-immune disorder of the eye, and it predominently affects German shepherds, huskies, and greyhounds.  Eli didn’t develop it until she was nine years old, and many dogs develop it earlier.  If not treated, it can lead to complete blindness, but it’s easily treated with cyclosporine and prednisone eyedrops.  If you have a GSD, it’s something to watch out for.  The most obvious sign of it is a pink spot on the eyeball, usually away from the center of the eye.  If you’re really observant you can catch it sooner—look for a “bloodshot” eye, with a dark pigment growing on the outer edges of the cornea in an obviously odd way.  It might almost look lumpy.  The condition is thought to be triggered by UV rays, and that may be a reason it flared up after we moved in the house, and Eli started to spend so much time in the back yard.  I’ll find her sitting in the yard in the middle of the day, practically staring into the sun.  Yes, she has Doggles, but she’s sort of high-strung and has never kept them on for any length of time.  I’m sure she’d knock them off, Dante would eat them, and then we’d end up at the emergency clinic for a bowel obstruction :p

The fancy new name for pannus is “chronic immune mediated keratoconjunctivitis sicca”, but we’re all friends here, so we can just call it pannus.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 05/25 at 05:27 AM

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

  1. Sorry to hear about the eye problems. Very glad that you know how to take care of it and are willing to put those drops in regularly. Can we clone your attention to animals and give the rest of the population a shot of it?

    Posted by Roxie, Sammy & Andy  on  05/25  at  08:11 AM

  2. Aw, poor Eli.  *gentle hugs*

    Posted by Von Krankipantzen  on  05/25  at  09:20 AM
    3. Page 1 of 1 pages

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

What is the sum of 5 and 6?

Next entry: Nine weeks! Nine!

Previous entry: The job opportunity which wasn't

<< Back to main