Dry Eye Second Opinion - Any Vets Online?

[TwistingMyMelon]

Any advice most appreciated, I started a thread a few weeks back about my 3 year old cross terrier had "gunky" eyes, this was diagnosed as conjunctivitis, they also noticed his tear production was low. They gave me some drops to sort the infection and said come back in two weeks so we can re-assess.

Just had the follow up and they performed a Schirmer tear test and found one eye produced 15ml and one 12ml, the 12ml eye had some discharge hidden under the lid and was slightly inflamed under the lid.

The vet advised that it looks like he has low tear production , known as dry eye & could lead to Cornea damage, if left untreated. She also advised that he will probably have it for life. She has advised the best solution is using eye drops on a daily basis, the ones she recommended though cost circa £50/a month

She prescribed:

Opthalmic - LACRI-LUBE EYE OINT 3.5G (Qty: 1.0): Apply to both eyes before bed time
Opthalmic - VISCOTEARS LIQUID GEL 10G (Qty: 1.0): Apply to both eyes four times daily
Opthalmic - OPTIMMUNE EYE OINT 3.5G (Qty: 1.0): Apply 0.5cm to both eyes twice daily



I'm guessing Optimmune is the pricey one, I have no issue paying, as I love my dog to bits, but on the other hand I want to ensure I'm not being ripped off and £50 a month for the rest of the dogs life is quite a lot!

Several on-line Vet Pharmacies sell it @ £30 for a monthly treatment, is this legal and an option?

Jimmy (the dog) is insured, so my best option is to go down that route.

Any other advice on dry-eye in dogs most appreciated

Thanks in advance

[gd49]

Optimmune will be the expensive one, you can get it cheaper online but the site should ask for a written prescription which the vet will charge for.

Its sometimes possible to reduce the dose of the Optimmune so it lasts longer but you need to keep checking the tear production before doing that.

[gd49]

Optimmune will be the expensive one, you can get it cheaper online but the site should ask for a written prescription which the vet will charge for.

Its sometimes possible to reduce the dose of the Optimmune so it lasts longer but you need to keep checking the tear production before doing that.

[DKL]

TwistingMyMelon said:

Any advice most appreciated, I started a thread a few weeks back about my 3 year old cross terrier had "gunky" eyes, this was diagnosed as conjunctivitis, they also noticed his tear production was low. They gave me some drops to sort the infection and said come back in two weeks so we can re-assess.

Just had the follow up and they performed a Schirmer tear test and found one eye produced 15ml and one 12ml, the 12ml eye had some discharge hidden under the lid and was slightly inflamed under the lid.

The vet advised that it looks like he has low tear production , known as dry eye & could lead to Cornea damage, if left untreated. She also advised that he will probably have it for life. She has advised the best solution is using eye drops on a daily basis, the ones she recommended though cost circa £50/a month

She prescribed:

Opthalmic - LACRI-LUBE EYE OINT 3.5G (Qty: 1.0): Apply to both eyes before bed time
Opthalmic - VISCOTEARS LIQUID GEL 10G (Qty: 1.0): Apply to both eyes four times daily
Opthalmic - OPTIMMUNE EYE OINT 3.5G (Qty: 1.0): Apply 0.5cm to both eyes twice daily



I'm guessing Optimmune is the pricey one, I have no issue paying, as I love my dog to bits, but on the other hand I want to ensure I'm not being ripped off and £50 a month for the rest of the dogs life is quite a lot!

Several on-line Vet Pharmacies sell it @ £30 for a monthly treatment, is this legal and an option?

Jimmy (the dog) is insured, so my best option is to go down that route.

Any other advice on dry-eye in dogs most appreciated

Thanks in advance

I'm no vet but eyes I can do.
They will have to be very dry to actually cause corneal abrasion but the poor thing will be very uncomfortable in the mean time. Doesn't mean it won't scratch at it and cause more damage.

Viscotears and lacrilube are available without prescription from any pharmacy so don't bother with a prescription here. Both are ointment so will have to be smeared in which is fine in people but may be slightly more tricky in a dog.
Viscotears is a liquid gel so melts at body temp. This means it sticks around for longer as eyes are designed to drain liquid quickly.
You might try just hypromellose drops qds instead as its cheaper and might be easier to administer as its liquid. You can't overdose as its just a sticky solution so if you miss or the dogs moves just use more.
Lacrilube is an ointment and I only prescribe this for nighttime use as it smears your vision. Fido might be a little disturbed if he can't see afterwards!

Optimmune is the more complex one here and yes the most expensive. It looks like maybe more than simple dry eye is being treated so I'm not going to suggest anything to counter your vets advice.

In people severe dry eye can cause conjunctivitis, keratitis and blepharitis due to tear composition issues but it just might be worth trying copious dry eye formulations before the Optimmue as if you could stop the dry eye problem it might stop the conjunctivitis. Also good lid hygiene is important.
Now again in people cotton buds and baby shampoo is the usual course and I can't see why that wouldn't help but it needs to be done daily so it depends how placid your dog is!

[bexVN]

We use clinitas soothe or clinitas ultra. Rarely use Hypromellose it's not good enogh. usually.

Lacrilube and viscotears are fine.
.
Just don't be wasteful with the Optimmune, people are often too heavy handed with it

[DKL]

Hypromellose is the most basic preparation out there but its cheap, easy to administer and might allow you to see what improvements can be made before moving on to more complex stuff.

[bexVN]

DKL said:

Hypromellose is the most basic preparation out there but its cheap, easy to administer and might allow you to see what improvements can be made before moving on to more complex stuff.

I'm only going on what our vet who deals with all our eye patients says. They just never px it/ advise it anymore. Used to use it all the time years ago but then I suppose they felt better products came along?

[TwistingMyMelon]

Cheers for all the advice,helpful reading. Will see how he gets on over the next month
:~)