Hi all, So, if anyone has read my previous threads then this is a follow up post on those threads. For a quick recap I noticed Lucius started to lose his eyesight around four months ago. We visited our vet who told us he thought it was PRA which starts as night blindness then escalates to day blindness too. We took him to a specialist as recommended and she agreed with our vet, saying it did indeed look very much like PR,however she noted he does not show any eye deterioration. She recommended to see him in four months time to see if there was any change. Well, the four months is up and we went back. We saw the same vet, she asked how he was behaving and we told her we thought it was getting worse. I took him into town the week before we visited and he bumped into a lamp pole and some scaffolding and almost a door (if I hadnt pulled on his leash in time he would have walked straight into it). The day before he went to the vet we had left a foot stool in the middle of the room (usually he follows me out of the room but he decided to go back into the room where the stool was) and walked right into it. The vet proceeded to examine him (it took longer than usual because he was a little stressed) and after examining him she asked if he had any discharge from the eyes. I told her he had started to get a lot of discharge after he eats his food. She proceeded to check his eyelids and said he had excess skin around his eyes, causing them to roll inwards when he eats his food (he has to lower his head to eat and the skin rolls forwards). She gave us some eye drops, told us she didnt see any change (or atleast not a huge amount of change in his eyes) and told us to ring her in a months time, she also told us he may be short sighted however not many vets can test for that. We saw our regular vet and told him what the specialist had said. He asked if she had diagnosed him and we told him all that happened. He told us we should have had an answer now, however Lucius is a vary unusual case and it may not be easy to find an answer for him. We've decided to DNA test him as soon as we can to see if there is anything hereditary he has inherited. We did ring the specialist again after talking to our vet, a receptionist answered and we talked to her about him, she told us the vets notes say he does have PRA, so why did the vet not tell us herself? We are still very confused about it its been over a week since he was at the vet but still we cant really process whats going on. Does he have PRA or not? For now we are assuming so, but after a DNA test we might get some more answers. Anyway here's a picture of the big boy in question, still happy despite all he's been through. Him and his brother enjoying their morning run in the park! If you made it this far congrats! Sorry, i kind of ramble a lot but any advice on what to do would be great! Thanks!
Hi @Lucius Maximus you are paying for the specialist's work. I would ask him for a written report. He is a lovely looking Lab. Did you ask whether elevating his meals off the floor would be better for his eyelid issue?
Sounds as though your specialist is a very highly trained vet, but may be lacking a few people and communication skills if you've come out still without your questions answered. I think I would be asking your regular vet to speak to this specialist on your behalf. Just a thought but doesn't the specialist have to send your vet a detailed report on the dog's condition, treatment and prognosis?
Yes our vet did get a report but all it sad was about his extra skin around his eyes and his allergies, that's why our vet isn't happy that we haven't had answers.
Hi he did have a raised bowl when he was young but this made no difference. At the moment he has eye drops to stop his extra skin from getting stuck when it rolls inwards.
Hi he's already seen one specialist eye vet and they weren't very helpful, with the cost of vet bills going up it's becoming more difficult to take him anywhere else but we will try our best
