Inflamed Nicatanes

[Kathy]

I'm sure I'm not spelling this correctly - sorry.  Casey, my not quite 2 year old double doodle, has had some sort of a funky thing going on with her eyes for about a month.  Started with her right eye, now it's in both.  The nicitane (3rd eyelid) is inflamed and isn't completely receding the way it ought to.  Her near vision seems to be impaired - she is tentative on the steps but can still see a sleeping groundhog 100 yds away.  Took her to my vet, she put Casey on drops, tried benadryl, also some sort of a homeopathic eye relief thing.  No success.  Took her to a canine opthamologist who put her on doxycycline thinking it might be some sort of a tick-borne thing - we are right here in Lyme central (southeastern PA, tick capital).  Still waiting for the blood tests but very little improvement from the doxy.

 

I was looking at this group and wondered if it could be a food allergy?  I used to feed my dogs Taste of the Wild but they didn't actually like the taste and I switched to Merrick.  Now I see that they are not on the recommended list (just the kibble or the cans, too?) so I will switch them back to TOTW.

 

Anyone have any thoughts?  Help needed!

 

Thanks,

Kathy

 

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Hi Kathy have you done any searching on Google?  Here is one article I found, it may not be related to an eye issue

Have you searched in our Health & Medical Group?  I doubt it is food related.  When will you receive the Lyme results?

Haws (Prominent Third Eyelid):
The third eyelid can become more prominent due to many causes - some involving the eye - but sometimes due to conditions affecting the whole body such as intestinal worms in pups.  The third eyelid appears as a "skin" covering the inner part of the eye, usually about a quarter to half of the eye being covered.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

oh and it's called Nictitating Membrane:)  If it were me I would be calling several vets in the area especially since it has been going on for awhile now.  Does she seem to be in pain??

[Monica & Quincy & Charmin too]

There is also something called Horner's Syndrome which makes the third eyelid protrude.  We had it occur with our cat. It can be caused by truama or even an ear infection.  Sometimes it can be brought on by groomers pulling ear hair out.

It's just a thought.....I hope you can get it resolved quickly.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Horner's Syndrome in humans is related to nerve damage and would not be bilateral.

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

Exactly....Horner's is usually due to damage of the vagus nerve. It would cause one eyelid to be droopy.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I very muc doubt this is a food allergy if this is the only manifestation. I would think a canin ophthalmologist would have had sem thoughts. At any rate, I wuld suggest maybe a steroid eye drop might help. Here is a general article on these nicitating membranes.

http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/nictitating-membrane-third-eyelid-dogs

It sounds very peculiar. Good luck with Casey. Maybe a call to a specialty vet at a veterinary college would help.

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

I am guessing since you saw the opthamologist that it is not cherry eye.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with F, I would not be thinking along the lines of a food allergy. And even it were, it would be related to a specific protein, not to a brand itself.

I also think a specialist in eye and/or tick-borne diseases would be the best source for an answer. I hope you can find some help for Casey.

[Kathy]

Zowie - thank you all for your quick and thoughtful replies.

 

I should have the results for Lyme back in about a week.  Definitely not cherry eye.  Casey doesn't seem to be in pain.  It's definitely not contagious as my other dog, also a doodle, hasn't been affected.  

 

I'm very interested in Monica's thought that it could be Horners and the idea that it could be caused by pulling hair from the ears.  I was appalled at the amount I spent on grooming last year so am having less done professionally and am doing more myself - I comb, cut facial hair and do sanitary trims but that's about it and I never pull hair out of the ears, which means that when they do go for a professional grooming there's a LOT of hair to pull.  Hmmm....

 

The canine ophthalmologist has zero bedside manner and was insufficiently forthcoming other than to say that he thought it was caused by a parasite, go on the doxy for a month and then have her tested for Lyme.  Fortunately, we are just outside of Philadelphia and I can take her to U of P Veterinary Hospital (world class vet school and teaching hospital) and spend there all the $$ I saved on grooming ;-) which I will do as soon as I get the Lyme results back.

 

Thanks again for your insights!

 

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

This does not sound at all like Horner's syndrome , which has nothing to do with pulling hair from ears anyway.

[Monica & Quincy & Charmin too]

I didn't know Horner's Syndrome could happen to dogs too (as I only saw it in my elderly cat) so I googled it and that is where I got the info about grooming/ear infections being a possible cause.  Maybe all the info we get on the interent these days isn't always such a good thing. (we never knew what caused it in my cat but it resolved itself in about 6 weeks.)

I hope you find a diagnosis and can get it under control quickly.  Good luck!

[Sharon & Monty]

sorry to hear about the eye situation. i have no advice, paws crossed that everything willl be just fine.