Our other baby

Before there was Adele, there was Skeeter. He's our shelter-rescue beagle-mix and the cutest darn thing you ever did see. He's a great dog and friendly to all (except squirrels!). At around 8 years old, his biggest health concern has never been anything more than his preference for pudginess.

Until today.

A few days ago, Steve and I noticed he was having difficulty keeping his right eye open. It was as if he was constantly winking at us. Cute, yes, but not normal. Tuesday we thought it looked better so we cancelled the vet appointment we'd made. Wednesday he began the winking/blinking and the eye had taken on a cloudy, foggy appearance. Thinking it was nothing more than a scratch or minor infection, we made an appt for this morning figuring we'd spend $100 on an office exam and come home with a tube of ointment.

Well, the news today wasn't as simple. It turns out he has glaucoma. After a few tests, it was determined that pressures in his right eye (the affected eye) were in the 40-50 range. Normal is anything below 25. His left eye was at 11. Luckily he still has vision in his right eye, and the vet told me that we caught it just in time. There's still a chance we can save vision in that eye. Normal treatment is eye drops to relieve the pressure, hopefully saving the retina. However, the vet said that the drops aren't cheap, and if they don't work (or don't work well enough) we may have to consider other alternatives. Worst-case scenario, he has to have that eye removed.

The main question right now is whether the glaucoma is caused by genetics or injury. If it's the result of injury, we hope that a treatment of steroids and the pressure-reducing drops will solve the problem. If it's genetics...well, then we run the risk of the other eye being affected at some point or another. I learned that beagles are predisposed to glaucoma, and the kind that generally affects that breed usually affects both eyes with in 6-12 months of the initial diagnosis.

Unfortunately, everything I've read is telling me that treatment is usually just a "time-buyer" and or pain reliever (since the pressure can cause severe headaches), and that eventually the animal would need surgery to fix the glaucoma, or at worst, remove the eye.

I'll pick up the prescription drops after work tonight (and I'm bracing myself for a huge tab), and we'll take Skeeter back to the vet on Wednesday for a recheck of his eyes. We'll also be heading to KC at some point to visit a Veterinary Opthamologist, as s/he is the only one who can diagnose what the cause of the glaucoma is.

Of course, the decision we will eventually have to face is how much we are willing to spend to save his eye(s). I hope that decision is many, many years away.