QUESTION

My Cocker Spaniel does not produce tears and therefore I have to bathe with salt water three times a day and use visctear but her eyes look so read and sore also her third lid is always half way up on each eye. My vet now saying there is not much else can be done. Is there nothing else I can be doing for the redness of her eyes? She has also started bumping into things.

Jess

ANSWER

Dear Jess,
There are several things that can be done with dry eye but the problem is a progressive condition and therefore can eventually reach a point where treatment is no longer beneficial.

The cornerstone to treating dry eye is now a drug call Optimmune which contains cyclosporin which stimulates the tear production by blocking inflammatory cells which are trying to block tear production. The viscotears also help but need to be put in every 2-3 hours. By measuring the tear production using a schirmer tear strip you can see the measurable difference if there is to be one. If there is no response then you can still have an operation called a parotid duct transposition done where the salivary duct is transferred into the eye.

One of the main problems with this is that saliva is not tears even though they are similar and the dogs eyes will run when fed. If the dog is going bind it may also need a corneal graft or keratectomy done to improve the clearness of the remaining corneal tissue. This would be done by an eye specialist.

If you have already been down the medical route with optimmune then I would advise asking for a referral to a specialist who could evaluate the dog and tell you what is able to be done. If otimmune works then it may improve your dogs quality of life dramatically. If you are using optimmune a handy tip is keep it in the fridge as it will last around twice as long thus saving 50 per cent cost wise. Expect optimmune to cost over £30.00 a tube. . .

Paul Wilson