Uveitus - information on the condition

Has anyones dog ever had this before? Chewie has it now. It doesn't look really great at the moment and we just took him to the verts and he gave us some drops.
Can anyone tell me a bit more about it?

Hi Moore, sorry don`t know anythink about it, only heard of it. You could ask to be refered to a veterinary opthalmologist tho.

Did a quick search & found a couple of things

http://b-naturals.com/Fal1998.php
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/in...m/bc/30107.htm

Thanks for the help!

Your welcome & hope evrything works out for your dog

Hers a bit more from this link
http://www.vetinfo.com/dogeye.html#U...or%20condition

*Uveitis and generally poor condition

Q: First, I would like to commend your work on a tremendously informative website.Wish I could have found it sooner. I have a problem with my buddy Stosh. He is an 11 yr old short hair terrier mix. A little lap dog. He was having problems holding food down, and eating in early february, while developing a white pusy discharge from one eye, that had a droopy eyelid. Also noticed hair on hind quarter getting 'thin', which after reading through other Q&A's might be called bleaching.Took him to the vet. Left blood, stool, exam. No diagnoses. Blood, stool sample, come back 'negative'. Back to vet, getting worse. Perhaps infected tooth below eye. Tooth gets pulled. Surgical center that pulled tooth diagnosed uveitus. Post surgery trip to vet, got meds for uveitus. Drops and pills. No real change. Coat is now totally thinned, he has lost alot of weight, has no appetite. Eyes are glassy, has problems walking (seems achy in rear ), coordination is off. His hair is falling out like crazy. He is in real sorry shape in such a short time. Are these the symptoms for MG, hypothyroidism, or should I have him tested for erlichia?

A: Uveitis is often associated with a systemic illness leading to immune system problems in older dogs. Unfortunately this can be almost any systemic illness, although infectious diseases like ehrlichiosis, fungal infections, leptospirosis and others have most commonly been associated with uveitis. It can occur secondarily to cancer in some cases. There is a condition "uveodermatologic syndrome" in which uveitis and skin disease occur together (usually affecting mostly the face) but this usually occurs in young dogs of the northern breeds (Akitas, Siberian huskies, etc.). Hormonal diseases may be able to induce uveitis, too. Uveitis also occurs for no discernible reason in dogs.

It is a good idea to make sure a good ophthalmic exam, general bloodwork and chest X-rays are done on any dog with uveitis. It is a lot harder to figure out which infectious diseases to test for but eliminating the fungal, parasitic, viral and bacterial possibilities that are common in your area may be worthwhile.

Most of the time, vets like one disease that explains all the symptoms but that might not happen in your dog's case. Hypothyroidism and Cushing's diseases might cause both the eye and skin signs and dogs with cancer can have almost any set of clinical signs but it is more likely that there is a second disease causing the skin symptoms. There are a lot of possible causes of skin disease. Allergy is the most common cause of hairloss in my practice area, followed by parasitic skin disease -- but then there are a lot of other possible causes.

Keep working with your vet to find a diagnosis -- it may be hard to do but it is worth the effort. *

Hi,

I too would advise you to see a veterinary opthalmologist if the drops don't soon clear this up. I know nothing about uveitis in dogs but do suffer with it myself. You really need to know what part/s of the eye are inflamed, anterior/intermediate/posterior, for the correct treatment to be administered. ie. drops will only treat anterior uveitis as they can't penetrate into the back of the eye. For other sorts it has to be treated systemically normally with oral steroids. It can be a one off thing if you're lucky, or a recurrent condition that will need you to be vigilant and to start treatment again at the first signs of redness or discomfort .( From personal experience I know it can be very painful!) As long as it is treated there should be little vision loss, untreated it can lead to complete blindness.

HTH

Mandy

I had an attack of this 5 years ago NOT nice varied from a nuisance to blooming sore. I had to go back and forward to the eye clinic at the hospital for weeks as well as having drops to put in at home. My GP took one look and sent me straight to the eye clinic at the hospital so I would say a specialist opthalmologist would be a good idea

Anne

Me and my mum and my sister were walking chewie to the vets on wednsday to check and see how his eye was doing, and by this time it had cleared up completely.
We were walking along a road with houses on the side and Chewie walked in to the side of the house and it was made of crumbly sand and a bit went in to his bad eye, which made it worse and also he cut the bottom of it! Good job we were just going to the vets, but not good for him as now he has more eye drops and now tablets as well!!!

Hows he doing now M, did you get to see an opthalmologist?