Eye ulcer

Not long ago our girl suddenly had a closed eye one morning that turned out to be a corneal ulcer. I wasn't very impressed by the vet, who I felt was slow to suggest treatments that actually worked and there were several trips back & forth. Eventually it was resolved with a non-prescription corneal repair gel applied twice a day for about a month.

Just yesterday her other eye was partially closed, but there was no sign of discharge and it didn't seem to be bothering her unduly. I gave her some artificial tears to keep it lubricated and that seems to help, but only for a few hours. This morning I looked closely and it looks like that familiar grazed, foggy look that we had with the other eye, though not as bad at present.

I intend to try another vet, but from what I've been reading corneal ulcers are quite common among older staffies, so I wondered if anybody has experience of this?

hows bailey now?

I just gave her some artificial tear drops, which clearly helps and she looks fine, but I think I can see a very slight fogginess on the cornea, which looks like the beginning of an ulcer.

It was more obvious the last time and there was clear discharge at the time, but it's something that gets worse without the right treatment, so I want to jump on this early. Without the artificial tears her eye was about 30% closed an hour or so ago.

Most of the local vets have merged into a single group and lately they've been acting like a monopoly with poor service and high prices. I've managed to find one that is not part of the group, so I'll try to make an appointment, hoping they are more helpful.

hope so

I knew that corneal ulcers are common with Boxers but it looks like Staffies are prone to this as well.

Not something I've experienced Ashley. Do let us know how you get on

I had the same problem with one of my previous staff bitches a few years ago,the eyes would keep ulcering and the reason being she was suffering this was because she was not making enough tears to lubricate the eye.
The only treatment that worked for her was an ointment called Optimune,put into the eyes daily would fool the tear ducts to produce tears in the normal way,and that cured the problem for the rest of her life.
It is a prescription ointment that can only be given by a vet.Saying that it is not very cheap,but is the only certain treatment that will cure your dogs problem.When you visit your vet he should put a dye into your dogs eye and look at them with a light in a dark room,and then put little bits of blotter in the eye to measure the tear production.
I would go to your vet and ask them about OPTIMUNE it is brilliant stuff and a certain cure.

Thanks Graham, I'll look into this. We've already ordered some of the corneal repair gel called Remend because I know that was the only thing that worked last time and it's cheaper than the prescription drugs we tried that didn't work.

I have suffered myself from an eye condition for many years called blepharitis that makes the eyes very dry and I know it can lead to other problems. Knowing this is likely caused by dry eyes is useful information.

The vet never once suggested any kind of preventative treatment or likely cause for this. The last few times we have gone to the vet it has felt like they are giving us the run around to prolong treatments. It's not good for my wallet and it's not fair on the dog.

aww bless hope u get sorted soon.xxxx

Hope she gets better soon and you have more luck with your new vets. Do let us know how you get on.

I am very surprised your vet has not done the tear production test because the dry eyes will forever keep giving your dog eye ulcers which are very painful for the poor animal.I would go to your vet and demand this be done,if he refuses go to a vet that cares for your dogs well being.Artificial tear drops do give temporary relief,but it doesn't last long before it needs doing again.Trust me,if your dog is suffering from dry eye,OPTIMUNE is the only certain cure for it.

A very belated follow up on this, but we became rather disillusioned with the vet and found ourselves in a seemingly endless round of appointments that were costing a lot of money, but achieving very little.

When the ulcers came that corneal repair gel does fix it, however we have found a preventative measure that is cheap and easy. You can find it on Amazon and it's just eye drops for dogs, but they have never looked better. I reckon it will cost about £10 a year as opposed to £40 a week with the vet... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conjunctivitis-Stinging-Squinting-Irritation-Allergies/dp/B01N0BX1LT/

We've used this now for the last two months, applying just a couple drops every morning and the problem has completely disappeared. I just wanted to mention this in case it helps others.

Thanks for the update Ashley and pleased that read that Bailey is now doing so well. Just goes to show that a little research can make a huge difference in both money and discomfort

The curious thing is that we used artificial tears for humans previously and they helped to an extent, but much like Graham said, it felt very temporary and I was having to give her drops several times a day just to stop them getting really bad.  

The basic ingredients of these dog drops are the same, but for whatever reason, they're much more effective and significantly cheaper. The bottle it comes with is too big, so we bought some small glass bottles with the eye dropper pipette and use that instead. When the glass bottle is empty just fill it from the big bottle again.

As a quick afterthought, I think we were lucky here, but after reading the description on Amazon it seemed to tick all the right boxes, so we took a punt and it worked out well.