Mission Rabies
Mission Rabies: Our locum nurse, Kerry, is heading to Sri Lanka in September and is raising money for the Mission Rabies scheme. Mission Rabies aims to eliminate Rabies by 2030 by vaccinating dogs against this fatal virus. Over 100 children die every day from Rabies, along with both infected and non infected dogs.
Visit Kerrys fundraising page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kayak-mania and Mission Rabies website www.missionrabies.com/
The answer to erradicating rabies is not to indiscriminately and inhumanely kill large numbers of dogs, but the vaccinate and educate.
Rabies is 100% preventable!
Congratulations Heather
Congratulations to our nurse Heather who has gained the Nursing Certificate in Anaesthesia. This certificiate is awarded and accredited by the European School of Veterinary Postgraduate Studies and earns Heather the post-nominal initials NCert(Anaesth). This qualification has taken a year to complete and involved studying modules including analgesia and anaestheisa for companion animals but also exotics and equine patients.
Eye Vet and Iris's cats in need
Forest and Nightmare's day at Eye Vet
Meet Forest (right) and Nightmare (left). They are 2 cute little kittens from Iris's Cats in Need charity based in Stoke on Trent. Forest and his litter mates were found in the boot of a car and thankfully rescued by the charity. One of our nurses is close to this charity and after hearing that the volunteers were concerned about his vision, Eye Vet were more than happy to take a look at him. He came for a funfilled day at out with his sister Nightmare and they both had full ophthalmic examinations (and lots of cuddles).
Forest was diagnosed with a condition called congential bilateral microphthalmos (pronounced my-crop-thal-moss .'Micro' meaning small, 'Ophthalmos' meaning eye). This is an eye condtion which arises from birth and means that one or both eyes are abnormally small. In Forest's case, both eyes are affected. You can see from the photo with Nightmare the difference in their eye sizes at the same stage of their development.
There is concen with microphthalmos that vision can be affected, but Forest managed to navigate an obstacle course incredibly well and could definitely see his food. Not problems there!!
Forest navigated the obstacle well - no cones knocked over!
His vision may not be as good as his sisters, but he is already learning to compensate for that. It is often the case that the internal structures within the eye are also abnormally formed, and we will be checking on Forest as he grows up to monitor his progression.
Forest was very brave for his examination
Thankfully, this lucky kitten has a home lined up and is going to grow into a cheeky young boy with lots of character. We cant wait to watch him grow and learn.
Its great news that Forest has a home waiting for him, but there are many more cats who dont. Please visit the Iris's Cats in Need facebook page and check out what amazing work they do.
Iris's Cats in Need facebook page. Click here.
Knowing your eye conditions: Corneal ulcers
Everything you need to know to corneal ulcers
from the team at Eye Vet
What is the cornea?
The cornea is the transparent tissue at the front of the eye which allows light to pass through it. It is made up of different layers (epithelium, stroma and endothelium) which together act as a barrier against disease, infection, debris or injury. Overall, the cornea itself is half a millimeter thick and therefore incredibly delicate. The cornea (along with the anterior chamber and the lens) refracts light and aids with vision. The outermost layer, the epithelium, is in direct contact with the outside world and is kept lubircated and nutritioned by the tears.
What causes ulcers and how are they diagnosed?
If the epithelium becomes damaged, an ulcer occurs. This can be caused by a simple scratch or abrasion, a puncture or a foreign body. Some hereditry conditions such as entropion (the rolling inwards of the eyelids), distichia (extra eyelashes) or keratoconjunctivitis sicca ('dry eye') can predispose certain breeds to corneal ulcers.
Ulcers can affect just 1 of the corneal layers, or all of them. Superficial ulcers involve just the epithelium, however erosion of further layers are termed 'deep ulcers' and can involve significant portions of the middle stromal layer.
The inside layer of the cornea is a very thin layer and is known as the Descemet's membrane. If the ulcer has eroded all the way down ot this membrane then the eye is at serious risk of perforating. This is an emergency, and this Descemet's layer is very thin and even walking the animal on a lead may increase the pressure within the eye and cause this final membrane to break, resulting in the eye rupturing. These ulcers are known as Descmetocoeles.
Ulcers are diagnosed by using an orange dye called fluorescein, which when put into the eye will stick to any areas wehre the epithelium is missing and where any areas of the underlying laters are exposed, highlighting corneal erosion. The opthalmologist will also use a Slit Lamp with a blue light in order to highligh such areas, and a white light to determine the depth of the erosion.
How are ulcers treated?
Superficial ulcers may initially be treated with aggressive topical medications and systemic antibiotics/anti-inflammatories. Sometimes, debridement of the corneal epithelium is required to remove the non adherant tissue and stimulate healing complexes.
Deep stromal ulcers may require surgery in order to repair the deficeit in the corneal tissue. This can be done by using such techniques as a conjunctival graft, a corneo-conjunctival transposition or a corneal transplant. In cases of descemetocoeles, undergoing surgery as soon as possible is the key to preventing these eyes from perforating.
What is the post operative care?
The period post surgery is an important time to ensure that the cornea has time to heal. There will be topical and oral medications to administer and your pet will have a buster collar on until the corneal structure is stable.
SuperDog!
This is Gizmo Crumble, aka SuperDog! He is a regular at Eye Vet and despite the retinal degeneration in his right eye, he still gets very excited by moving or flashing lights. In fact, the reason for his fetching bandanas is to obliterate the reflections from his collar and tags so he doesn't go too crazy. We love you Gizmo Crumble and think you should use your doggy super powers to fight against crime!
The blind dog who is full of life
The blind dog who is full of life.
This is Max. He is a 5 year old Labrador cross who has had progressive vision loss since 2013. By the time he came to see us, his vision was very much reduced and he did not pass through an obstacle course successfully. After further investigations Max was diagnosed with progressive retinal degeneration which unfortunately means that vision loss is permanent and progressive. This is most likely genetically inherited. Max has no current signs of vision and is unfortunately blind but his owners have sent us a video of him playing.
You can see it on our facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/eyevetreferrals
If you didn't know he was blind, you would never know. He is loving life and coping well with this unfortunate disease.
Technical difficulties
Tuesday 4th August 2015 2:20pm
Polite notice - Please be aware we are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our incoming telephone lines. If you are having trouble contacting us, please email admin@eye-vet.co.uk and we will respond to your request promptly and will call you back if required. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Update Thursday 6th August 2015
Engineers have now fixed the problems with our telephone lines and everything is back up and running. We apologise for any inconvenience caused whilst we were experiencing this problem.
An update on Louie
Remember Louie, the adorable blind puppy who was abandoned in Sandbach motorway services?
It is with great delight that we have an update on the little guy.
(c) I. Schofield
Louie is continuing to grow into a young adult dog and is coping incredibly well with his blindness. His owner reports he is just like any other dog. He enjoys paddling in the river and running free in the park near where he lives. He is accompanied by his 'guide dog' Belle wherever he goes and they have a unique and unspoken bond.
Louie and Belle after a tiring walk (c) I.Schofield
Louie's owner has aquired a fantastic device which he wears whilst out in new places. The plastic 'halo' encompassing Louie's head protects his face in new environments. If he were to walk into something the round plastic takes the impact and not Louie's face. We are so pleased that Louie is continuing to do well in life dispite his poor start. We look forward to seeing him again soon.
(c) I. Schofield
Ozzy's distichiasis dilema!
This is Ozzy, a lively young Shih Tzu who was referred to Eye Vet when he was just 10 months old. Ozzy was suffering with mucoid discharge from both eyes which was causing him constant irritation. Ozzy was seen by our ophthalmologist Iona, who was more than happy to help. After examination it was revealed that Ozzy had distichiasis and ectopic cillia in both eyes.
Distichiasis is the term used when abnormal rows of eyelashes arise from abnormal locations on the eyelid. These hairs usually exit from the duct of the meibomian gland at the eyelid margin. Ectopic cilia are one or several hairs which grow abnormally through the conjunctiva and come in direct contact with the eye. Both distichia and ectopic cilia can rub on the cornea and cause immense pain and cornal ulceration.
Ozzy was admitted for general anaesthesia to remove the disticia by electolysis and the ectopic cilia were removed by surgical resection. He recovered well and on re-examination his owners were very pleased him. We understand that he has had no further issues and are happy to report he has been discharged from Eye Vet's care.
As hair will continually grow throughout life, it is not uncommon for dogs to have to undergo a second electrolysis treatment, however once the offending hairs have been removed from the folicle it is unusual for the same hairs to cause the same problems. It is often new offending hairs which have to be treated.
Student selfies!
Here at Eye Vet we have students from Liverpool University joining us as part of their RCVS veterinary training. Over the last 2 weeks our enthusiastic students have left us with a parting gift - a selfie! Its a great way to remember them, and it seems they really enjoyed their time here. Thanks guys - you know where we are if you need us!
