Not as far as we know, unless he has eaten sheep poo out on the hill whilst out beating 2 days before, but as he was fairly close all the time he couldn't have eaten much? Presumably he would need to eat quite a lot, and has shown none of the usual results of eating sheep muck.
Sudden blindness in a cocker spaniel
- Thread starter west_meon
- Start date
Ta, fusidic acid is common and is an antibiotic for the scratch
We managed to get a referral to a specialist vet eye clinic, who spent about 3 hours looking at the issues with his eyes. They were tremendously thorough. There is some retinal detachment in the one eye (not the one that was initially swollen), and some retinal spotting in both eyes, but there is also inflammation behind the right eye, but no sign of general infection (although there may be localised infection in the eye socket). The inflammation appears to have spread down the optic nerve and over to the other eye. The problem is that they still have no idea what is causing the inflammation in the first place, with guesses running from foreign bodies, tumours, toxins etc. All four vet specialists were at a loss as to the base cause. So, treat the symptoms. Several high strength steroids, and several broad spectrum antibiotics to reduce the inflammation and get rid of any localised infection, and another antibiotic eye drop in the right eye. Hopefully that will reduce the inflammation and then we hope that some sight may recover, depending on the damage to the optic nerve and retina. If the drugs work, then he may recover some partial sight (even if only able to differentiate between light and dark), but total sight loss may also be the end result. Fingers crossed!
Poor bugger ,, hope its a favourable outcome ,, we had a lurcher, at 12 ish months old she lost her eye sight pretty suddenly, walking Into everything,, very pitiful to see ,,unfortunately the outcome wasn't good for her ,, wish you well with it 
ps Vet said it was due to too much inbreeding in his opinion
ps Vet said it was due to too much inbreeding in his opinionThank you Hatch! Had a follow up visit to the eye specialist yesterday. So the good news is that the detached retina appears to have reattached itself! The inflammation behind the one eye (cause still unknown) has reduced dramatically/gone but they were unsure if this was in response to the steroids or antibiotics. There is some light perception in both eyes, but it varies from eye to eye and is not consistent in either eye, so each will react independently and not all the time! This is also baffling the vets as they don't think it is a retina issue, but are unsure if it is an optic nerve issue or a brain issue! The left eye reacted well in the vets to a bright light, but not the right. A day earlier, the right eye reacted in sunlight but not the left! They think he can perceive the difference between bright light and deep shade but no fine detail or small objects. They are tailing off the steroids gradually and giving him another course of the antibiotics to make sure every base is covered and then we wait to see what happens. It will depend on how much damage has been done to the optic nerve as the retinas should be allowing some sight. Nothing really tallies with all the symptoms or responses to the meds. If it was a tumour in the brain or on the optic nerve, it wouldn't have reacted to the meds as favourably as it has. A tumour would also have other physical symptoms such as loss of co-ordination, head tilt, fits etc, which he doesn't have. If it was a foreign body behind one eye, then the other eye should have been OK. If he had just run into something hard then the delay in sight loss doesn't make sense and the meds wouldn't really have had any effect. If it was a toxin (such as eating sheep poo from sheep recently treated with Ivomectin etc) then he should have had other symptoms as well, which he didn't.....
He still seems slightly puzzled, but he has mastered most of the house including the stairs, and he is still walking off the lead, even in unknown areas but just checking back in when he is unsure, and we have to do some of his 'seeing' for him such as fences etc. He runs, hunts etc almost as fast as he used to but stays closer, and a pair of specialist goggles (courtesy of a police dog handler - they have badly scratched lenses so he was going to throw them away, but that doesn't matter for our dog as he can't see anyway) protect his eyes from scratches from brambles or twigs, and we will see how he copes back in the beating line on Saturday! We are starting to get our heads around it, as it is sad to see his confidence knocked back, but he seems to be quickly regaining that, and as the vet pointed out, it is less of an issue for a dog than a human as sight isn't their primary sense so his other senses are all stepping up and helping to balance out.
Will keep you informed. Thank you everyone for all your support!
Thanks for the update - glad things are moving in the right direction.
It's all part of the journey - I'm sure this won't stop him living his best life!
Well, he still can't see but he has just completed his second day back on the beating line on a partridge shoot on the welsh hills and moors. With only a little guidance he worked as well as he used to, and to see his tail wagging like fury as he hunted through the bracken and heather (complete with go-faster goggles!) was a joy! The keeper checked back in at the end to ask if he was really blind, as to watch him you wouldn't have known. He did cause a few heart stopping moments running at obstacles or drops that he couldn't see, but he came out of it all in one piece and is now fast asleep in front of the woodburner! A happy and knackered little dog!
Yes, Rex Specs! I must say they are brilliant, and when you see the crud that covers them after he has gone through a drive, you wonder how a dog's eyes survive without them! I can't say he is massively keen on them and will try and remove them unless very carefully fitted, but we only put them on him just before either a walk or work, so he has quickly associated then with something fun. It has been almost 2 weeks of wearing them and he seems pretty relaxed about them now. His confidence when out working is also growing noticeably.
You never know what is round the corner! I would say that we were devastated to begin with, but to see how he has adapted and learnt to cope, and the fact that he clearly is still loving life is a great reassurance. It seems so rare that dogs seriously damage their eyes, but it isn't the huge issue that it is for a human, as their other senses are so much more acute and clearly step up to the mark. Good luck and I hope you and she manage well with the changes.
Be careful though (and this is where goggles may be worth while) but if she only has sight in one eye she may tend to turn her head so that the working eye can see more, so she is leading with the side of her face rather than her nose. This could increase the risk to her remaining eye?
Hi.
Fwiw. We had a cocker that went blind because of diabetes. He managed perfectly well without his sight and lived a happy life. Vet told us that because scent is a dog's primary sense, they adapt to blindness better.
Told her eye sight is still in the eye and will recover pretty much intact
But I’ll have to watch her closely see if she favours one side ….
To be honest I’ll be paranoid either way now
