Sadie's eye ulcer just won't heal!

Sadie has had an ulcer in her left eye since March of this year.

She has had treatment after treatment and sometimes it improves, but it never goes away entirely.

Poor little girl, she could do without this. She's 13 now, has a front leg missing, and a few weeks ago had a terrible tooth abscess cleaned out and a canine tooth removed.

She was back at the vets again today, as once again the ulcer has flared up. He has scored the ulcer again to try and force it into healing, changed her antibiotics and eye drops (again!), and for the first time has said that if there is no improvement within the next 7 days, he wants her to see an eye specialist.

This is a bit scary, but at least we might get to the bottom of it.

Hopefully it might clear up this time.

Anyone else had a problem with an eye ulcer that won't heal?

hiya
poor fur babe,sounds a trooper.
has your vet tried making eye drops from the serum of your girlies blood and or contact lenses? or sewing her eylid flap over?(sounds worse than it is)
imo,tho i feel a trip to a specialist may be the way to go

We have discussed sewing eyelid flap over, but I think he wants her to see the specialist before he does that - which makes me think that he is seeing something in her eye which needs a bit more opthalmic expertise than he has.

I have no experience of this but just to send good vibes to your lovely Sadie. Poor girl, hope she is better soon.

Me too - just wanted to say I hope she feels better soon xx

Oh! I am sorry for Sadie...It would really work best if you consult with a specialist for her eyes..Don't fret too much, Sadie might feel more down if she notices you feeling very much worried. She will be fine....

Firstly with eye ulcers that won't heal...

Get your dog checked out for hypothyroidism.
Dogs that have this have problems with eye ulcers being notoriously slow to heal.

Cod Liver oil capsules given internally can help.
It's the Vit D part that can help heal.

If the eye ulcer is on the surface Phenol (nasty stuff)
can help heal ulcers where drops/debriding of the eye surface can't. The vet's eye specialist should be able to help with this treatment option. This method can heal ulcers quite quickly in comparision to just drops on their own.

The trouble with third eyelid stitching is that you can't see if the eye itself is healing or if infection is clearing.

Serum can work for some but not all cases plus you keep having to go back every few days for more bloods to be drawn down to make more serum.

Having Boxers it's something that the oldies can suffer with.
The quicker you can catch the ulcer the quicker it is normally to heal....and I'm quite good at spotting the tell-tale squint now.

Thanks everyone for comments and good wishes;

Boxacrazy, what you said about third eyelid stitching is quite true, and the vet and I discussed this. He said this was the main drawback with this treatment.

Anyway, Sadie's eye is slightly (and I mean very, very slightly) more open today, but still looks very sore and watery. At the moment I am putting drops (not antibiotic) into her eye on an hourly basis, to keep clearing the eye of any debris, and then she has antibiotic drops three times a day.

At this rate I am not hopeful that there will be enough significant healing by Tuesday of next week to negate the necessity to see the eye specialist, but am keeping my fingers crossed!

Definitely test for Hypothyroidism if she has recurring eye ulcers.

Good luck with this Wanda. I hope all goes well for you. I am sure all will be well eventually. xx