 In July of 2011, I noticed that my dog, Porter, had watery eyes and that his bottom eyelid was turning a pale color instead of black. I took him to Dr. Don Aupperlee in Ferndale WA. He suggested that I see Dr. Terri McCalla at her ophthalmology practice in Bellingham WA. Porter was diagnosed with retinal degeneration in both eyes and spastic intermittent entropion (which means that his eyelids were turning in, but not all of the time). The hairs on the lids were irritating his eyes and causing his eyes to water.
Porter was put on Ocu-GLO to help the health of his retinas, and an artificial tear ointment to lubricate his eyes. We first saw Dr. McCalla on July 21, 2011 and Porter's eyes have changed dramatically for the better since then. The color in his lid has returned and he's no longer squinting like he used to. (Squinting seems to irritatate his eyes and makes them squint even more). Dr. McCalla said that his retinas look much healthier now. Porter also now sees better at night than he used to!
Of course, Porter is not liking the idea that he can't hang his head out the window when in the car but as Dr. McCalla said It's not a dog's privilege to hang their head out the window -- it's a choice that the owner has given to them. Of course we as good owners don't want some bug or debris putting his eye out, causing an infection, or triggering him to squint and roll in his eyelids again.
Porter suffered so much from not being able to hang his head out the window and we did too because he looked so darn happy, but we know that it's really doing him some good. However, we found a good fix to this problem--- we bought him some Doggles ! We are now training him to wear the Doggles when he's in the car. It's a little tricky and with his short brow I'm having to adjust the Doggles so they won't slide down but he looks so Cool and so very loving.
Thank you Dr. McCalla for helping him out, creating Ocu-GLO and being very caring. Porter is our family and we enjoy him so much. |
