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Well I had a slight scare over this weekend and into Tuesday night with Beni. If you remember from the last update the doctors at Cornell talked me into going longer between visits. Things were rolling along for 6 weeks and there were another two to go before Beni's next visit. I ended up calling there Wednesday and taking him in today.

Over the weekend Beni seemed to struggle a little more getting around even more than usual after his meds. It also looked to me that the keratitis was a little more extensive making it difficult for me to see his pupil. Among a couple of other issues... on Tuesday night he began pawing at his eye and squinting... something I hadn't seen in a long time.

Thinking the worst was about to happen I called Cornell and they said to bring him in. As it turns out his checkup went fine though he did test low in his left eye on the tear test. The tube to the valve was clear and his pressure tested at 7. What Dr. Kern did tell me was that he thought Beni's recent problems were more related to that cataract deep in Beni's eye rather than the glaucoma. With all of the worry and work having to do with the glaucoma it's easy to forget about the cataract. Unlike my observation Dr Kern thought the cornea had cleared some and he was able to get a good look into the back of Beni's eye unlike all of his previous visits. This cataract sits right at the back of Beni's eye where they can't get at it and it's one more thing that Beni has to look around when his pupil shrinks due to the drops.

So all in all Beni did have another good visit... I got a few more gray hairs and with the glaucoma aspect doing as well as it is I canceled that next scheduled visit and made another appointment for the end of August.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Bob, I'm so happy to read this good news! They sure can scare us sometimes, but how sweet is that feeling of relief! Bet you were singing happy songs all the way home!

Beni, were you singing along with your dad?
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

I'm glad to hear the visit went okay. You've been so attentive to Beni and his health. Thanks for keeping us updated, Bob. Extra scratches to Beni.

Hi Bob...sorry to hear about the scare, but happy it ended well!
Sorry to hear about the cataract.

We're pretty much at a standstill here. Asher lost a little and gained a little. We can't seem to get ahead but he feels great. The other two caught chipmunks. Not to be out done, Asher dug a huge hole to find one.

I suppose we will both be going to the vet on a routine basis for years with our "miracle dogs".

I hope your other two are getting along okay.

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Winona

Home of Asher, Bari, and Ginger (waiting at the bridge: Caspar, Karma, Greedy, and sweet Tifla)

Hey Winona! That's still encouraging news about Asher... at least he isn't totally losing without getting anything back. Sounds like he still has a lot of energy!

As for Beni... the cataract is something we have been dealing with since day but like I said it's easy to overlook. With it being so deep in the eye there is no chance of it ever getting taken care of. Once again through it all... Beni took it all in stride. Actually he took it a little better this time. He walked right into the building without much fuss... something he hasn't wanted to do the several visits. Maybe going longer between visits does have it merits!
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Same here Bob! Asher went longer between visits and didn't run when he saw the collar...he never did that until he started going to the vet every two weeks. We are now trying an every three week schedule.

When we get to the clinic it's a different story. Goes right in like he owns the place...at the rate we're going we're going, I sometimes think we're buying it. After we get inside,he wants to go around to all the office help...wagging his tail. He thinks everyone should speak to him. If the cats are around,he wants to see all of them. Sometimes one of the office cats will go into the examining room with him.

P.S. I just had my cataracts removed...wish they could do the same for our dogs.

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Winona

Home of Asher, Bari, and Ginger (waiting at the bridge: Caspar, Karma, Greedy, and sweet Tifla)

It's always great to hear how well Beni is doing. Tell that rascale to stop giving you scares...
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David owned by Kona, Kiko & Kaia

Trust me Dave! I was doing that the whole long way back home! lol
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Glad all is still well. Silly boy to make dad worry so much. It's so cool all the hard work on that has paid off. Great job team!!!!
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

Hi Bob and Beni, I stopped by to look for update's on Beni. Glad to see all is well.

We went to see an opthamologist last Saturday about chevy's remaining eye, we were at his regular vet the day before and he was admitted because the pressure was 40. The vet put him on an IV of Mannitol and Xalatan drop's and it came down to 6.

Have another appt this coming Saturday with the Opthamologist's partner, who is the one that does the actual surgery. There are 2 type's they are considering. One with the tube's (sound's like Beni's) and another Laser surgery.

This coming appt will be to see if the surgeon feel's chevy's eye is a good candidate.. They are saying the laser surgery has an 80% success rate. Have you heard of this surgery and do you have any thought's on it if yu have...

Thank you,,,,, chevy & karen

Hi Karen! I'm glad to see that the doctor was able to get Chevy's pressure under control by using the drops. I'm not all that familiar with the Mannitol IV and am curious as to why the doctor used it? Since it's a diuretic I can only guess it too is a pressure reducer. The Xalatan of course I am very familiar with. It is an immediate pressure reducer. I'm sure Chevy had to be in some discomfort with a high reading of 40. After the meds the reading of 6 is very good!

As for the procedures you mentioned I hope I can be of some help. With the choices they are giving you it will be very helpful to you to ask as many questions as possible to understand what they want to do. Now regarding the laser surgery what they will do will be to go in with a laser and kill off some of the ciliary body that is located behibd the iris. This is where the fluid or aqueous humor is produced. I wouldn't think they would kill off all of the ciliary body but it wouldn't hurt to ask. What this procedure would do would be to limit the amount of fluid being produced and thus reducing the pressure. It would be a good idea to ask about the long term effects in case the procedure should fail and you face something else down the road.

When Beni had the second glaucoma valve inserted they did so along with the laser surgery which was a first for them while also installing a second valve. It's hard to say and the doctors do not know whether the laser alone has helped with the success that Beni has had or if it's just a combination of the laser... the valve or my diligence in seeing that Beni gets his drops. He hasn't missed one drop in the almost three years I have been treating him for glaucoma.

Now as for the valve... this can be a crap shoot. The valve is the top of technology for glaucoma treatment. When the docotrs first approached me about it.... they told me I could get several months... a year or a week out of it. It all depends on the dog. With the first valve I got a good 7 months. With the second valve along with the laser surgery I have gotten almost 19 months. It's not the valve itself that fails it's the scarring that occurs afterwards that causes the valve to not work properly. This scarring can be cleared away but once done returns even quicker. The doctors are at a loss to explain why this scarring happens the way it does in dogs rather than in humans where a valve can last for years.

Mo matter which way you go... Chevy will most likely be put under using anesthesia as the work around the eye is so delicate.

I'm sure your Opthalmologist will explain everything in great detail for you. It will be hard to decide what is the right way to go. Let us know what you decide. Good thoughts for you Chevy and will be coming your way.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Thank you for your reply and all the information... We had our appt. yesterday with the Opthamologist and she examined chevy's eye. The pressure was still at 6 and she said his optic nerve look's good.

She is advising to keep him on one drop of Xalatin and one drop of Dorzolamide twice a day along with one tablet of methozolamide once a day with more frequent vet check's to keep tab's on the eye.

I was prepared when I went there to schedule a trip to Baltimore and pay the 4,500 for the laser surgery but was relieved to hear what she had to say. Dr also said that we should wait because the surgery itself could result in blindness so I will remain vigilant and precise with his drop's and pill's and hope and Pray for the best.

I'm looking at a copy of the letter that my regular vet sent along with me to the Opthamologist about the mannitol and what she write's is this.

"1 drop's of Xalatan 30 min apart and 0.5 grams mannitol slow IV have brought him back down to 27"

Best wishes to you and sweet Beni and thank you for answering all my question's and being there for chevy & I. I appreciate it more than you know.. I will continue to stop in from time to time to read any update's I can find on Beni and hope and Pray that he will remain sighted..

Thank you...
chevy & karen

Karen that is terrific news that the meds alone have kept the pressure down. It's even better news that there hasn't been much damage to the optic nerve... that is what we are trying to avoid.

I would side with the doctor and as long as the meds work at keeping the pressure under control that is by far the best option. By giving the Xalatan and Dorzolamide twice a day also keeps Chevy under the maximum dosage for both meds. BTW... before being filled generically the Dorzolomide was called Cosopt. I'm not thrilled with the opaque bottle of the generic as it makes it harder to see what is left but the price is about $60 less. I know the Methazolamide is also used to limit of amount of fluid produced in the eye but I'm still not familiar with the mannitol.

Did the doctor set a schedule for rechecks... like every 4-6 weeks or even longer? The things that you can look for yourself would be if Chevy were to suddenly start bumping into the furniture, pawing at the eye and squinting. These could be signs of pressure spikes and each spike could do some damage to the opric nerve should it persist for a long period of time.

The doctor is correct and I'm sorry for not remembering that information about the laser surgery triggering blindness. It doesn't happen in all cases but it's still something to keep in mind. The price quoted for the surgery seems a little steep to me. While things are relatively calm with Chevy right now it might be worth checking to see if there are any teaching colleges near you like I have with Cornell. The estimate for Beni's second glaucoma valve and laser surgery was only 1800-2000 and ended up being just slightly less.

Thanks for all of the kind words regarding Beni and I will be thinking and hoping the same for Chevy. Stop by when you can with the updates as you get them. Good Luck!
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.