# detached retina



## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

A detached retina leaves that eye blind. I have never heard of it reattaching itself without surgery(if possible even then). My son had RLF and was in danger of retinal detachment at times of peak growth, so I'm remembering what we were told with him.

Here is a basic (human) outline of retinal detachment. I would bet the physiology is pretty similar with dogs... and most important that it requires surgery for any hope of vision restoration and is a medical emergency! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinal_detachment


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I was thinking along the same lines as Penny & Maggie's Mom. My dad had several incidents of partially detached retinas in his younger days and they required emergency surgery to repair, with a long recovery period. That was several decades ago so the technology may have changed since then.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Is it possible the diagnosis is retinal dysplasia?


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

She was pretty upset so maybe she didn't totally understand everything the vet said. The summary is that the vet thought whatever it is was caused by some sort of raging underlying infection. He suspected that it was fungal and caused by some spore inhaled from the soil and was a respiratory infection that went undiagnosed. He said that if they treat the infection that will stop whatever is happening with the eye. It's a hodge podge of information, I know. It didn't totally make sense to me either but I'm not very well versed in eye issues. I don't know if the treatment would include a surgical repair of the retina or not. She said the vet does not think it was a genetic eye issue but caused by this weird fungal infection.


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## Claire's Friend (Feb 26, 2007)

I have had cats with detached retinas due to hypertension. Once they were on heart meds and with eye drops, in both cases the retinas reattached and they were able to see again. There is something dogs get called SARDS where the dog can go blind in a matter of minutes and it will never heal, but this does not sound like that. I hope that the dog will get better.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I hope the pup recovers...


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

Claire's Friend said:


> I have had cats with detached retinas due to hypertension. Once they were on heart meds and with eye drops, in both cases the retinas reattached and they were able to see again.


This sounds like what the vet told her. Not from underlying hypertension, but that once they treat the underlying infection issue the retina will re-attach. I guess that dog hasn't shown any signs of having anything wrong with him and was only examined because he was getting his CERF clearance. He just took winners dog at his first show ever and earned his first point ... he's a beautiful dog. Hopefully the vet's diagnosis is accurate and it will fix itself once he's treated for the infection. 

It's so weird how goldens can be in pain and their owners have no idea. He's never even missed a meal but had a horrible infection for some unknown amount of time. He must feel awful! luckily the vet said that the infection is not communicable so her other dogs should be ok. At least there's some good news in that regard. It would be awful if every dog he's been around was at risk for this.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

For anyone wondering what happened with this situation, after another unusual situation getting the dog home from being shown, they ran complete bloodwork, did a bunch of other labs, took the dog to a canine opthamologist and low and behold....no retinal detachment. No sign of any abnormality in his blood work and no respiratory fungal infection, as the first vet suggested may be the case. The opthalomogist reviewed the report from the first (dog show CERF) vet, examined and re-examined the dog and found nothing indicating a retinal detachment or a healing retinal detachment. He spent a considerable amount of time LOOKING for it because of what was in the report - but didn't find anything. The dog was diagnosed with an eye infection. That's it. And he's now on antibiotics.

Can you guys believe this? I am so frustrated for them. This makes me wonder if the vets who travel to dog shows doing certifications are really worth the convenience?


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Sheesh. What a way to totally alarm and stress out a pet owner. I'm so happy this was not a retinal detachment, dysplasia or anything more serious than an infection which will hopefully clear up well. Thanks for updating us!


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

This is HIGHLY unusual. I would have the folks contact the club that sponsored the clinic AND that vet and inform them of what the other ophthalmologist diagnosed.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

AmbikaGR said:


> This is HIGHLY unusual. I would have the folks contact the club that sponsored the clinic AND that vet and inform them of what the other ophthalmologist diagnosed.


I think they have already done that. Do you have experience with the on-site show vets? They seem like a great idea but this makes me very leery of ever using one for Jack or any other future dog we may have.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> I think they have already done that. Do you have experience with the on-site show vets? They seem like a great idea but this makes me very leery of ever using one for Jack or any other future dog we may have.



The "on-site show vets" are vets from regular practices. They agree to do a "clinic" where they see a good number of dogs in a minimum amount of time and give a "basic" exam. It enables the vet to drastically reduce his cost which gets passed on to the clients. I have chaired my Golden club's health clinic for about 7 years now and we check hearts, eyes, hips, elbows and a number of other services at a substantial savings to folks making individual appointments with these same specialists. I would for sure make a note of the ophthalmologist's name and not use him again. Otherwise I would have no issue with using one of these "clinics". 
I would really love to know how the first ophthalmologist's diagnosis was so wrong. It really is VERY scary. Did you fill out a CERF form at the show clinic? If so I would check with CERF to see if the vet forwarded his copy and explain to them what transpired.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

That is just a bizarre story. It's possible for blastomycosis to cause choroiditis and sensory retinal detachment, but I have no idea how one vet could diagnose that and then another would see no evidence of it a few days later.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

It's not my dog, so I'm not sure what they did. To add to the game of "telephone", the handler is the one who took him to the on-site vet for his clearances so I'm not sure the owners totally know what transpired. 

tippykayak, it was diagnosed on the 15th and about a week went by before they got him home and could get an appt with the current canine ophthalmologist. But bloodwork was done by another vet on the 16th, with nothing of note in the results. Then additional labs were run again when the dog got home and went to their regular vet. Again, nothing of note in the results. He has been eating, playing and behaving normally, which you would think wouldn't be happening if he had a vision loss or a massive respiratory infection (as the first doctor tentatively diagnosed). I have no concept of how quickly an eye can heal, but their current dr. said it takes a minimum of 2 weeks for a partially detached retina to heal. It's just so weird and something doesn't add up. I'm really wondering if the diagnosis was for another dog and somehow the wires got crossed in the reporting. Which is really scary.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

goldenjackpuppy said:


> It's not my dog, so I'm not sure what they did. To add to the game of "telephone", the handler is the one who took him to the on-site vet for his clearances so I'm not sure the owners totally know what transpired.
> 
> tippykayak, it was diagnosed on the 15th and about a week went by before they got him home and could get an appt with the current canine ophthalmologist. But bloodwork was done by another vet on the 16th, with nothing of note in the results. Then additional labs were run again when the dog got home and went to their regular vet. Again, nothing of note in the results. He has been eating, playing and behaving normally, which you would think wouldn't be happening if he had a vision loss or a massive respiratory infection (as the first doctor tentatively diagnosed). I have no concept of how quickly an eye can heal, but their current dr. said it takes a minimum of 2 weeks for a partially detached retina to heal. It's just so weird and something doesn't add up. I'm really wondering if the diagnosis was for another dog and somehow the wires got crossed in the reporting. Which is really scary.


It does sound like a paperwork issue. I can't think of a more likely explanation.


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## HiTideGoldens (Dec 29, 2009)

tippykayak said:


> It does sound like a paperwork issue. I can't think of a more likely explanation.


I agree. How awful if another dog is out there with a fungal respiratory infection and detached retina and the owners have no idea.


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