Just wanted to put an FYI out there. Took my dog to the vet for an eye infection. A week later turns out she has glaucoma. <\/p>\n
Today, just came back from the ophthalmologist, good news her pressure went from 55 to 32. Still need to bring that down but we will. Turns out my 5 year old Bella is now blind in her right eye. I was told by the ophthalmologist that this common in Shiba Inu\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Once they get it in the one eye, Bella is predisposed to getting it in they other eye. We are doing preventative measures now. But GET YOUR SHIBA\u2019S EYE PRESSURE TESTED. I haven’t stopped crying since I got home. My biggest fear, what do I do if she goes blind in the other eye? <\/p>\n
Get your doggies tested!!!!!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
** NOTE – I am not a vet so all the information in this article is based on my readings on the internet and chats with other dog owners.<\/strong><\/p>\n As I understand it, Glaucoma is a condition of the eye where the optic nerve suffers damage as a result to increased fluid pressure inside the eye. <\/p>\n In particular, there is a fluid called aqueous humour<\/a> between the cornea and the lens of the eye. This fluid is constantly produced and is normally drained out into the bloodstream through the drainage angle (Iridocorneal angle<\/em>).<\/p>\n Problems occur when the drainage is obstructed, thereby cause a buildup of fluid and therefore pressure in the eye.<\/p>\n If left untreated, this could lead to permanent damage of the optic nerve and may even lead to blindness.<\/p>\n In general, there are two types of dog glaucoma –<\/p>\n Primary glaucoma occurs in many breeds of dogs, including the American Cocker Spaniel, Basset Hound, Chow Chow, Shar Pei, Jack Russell Terrier, Shih Tzu, and Arctic Circle breeds (including the Siberian Husky and Elkhound). Primary glaucoma is rare in cats. This is likely not a complete list. Dakota mentioned in her comment that Shiba Inus may also be susceptible. Since I have a Shiba and two Sibes, I am definitely concerned.<\/p>\n The key problem with primary glaucoma is that the symptoms are usually mild and may not be easily observable, even by a regular vet. By the time that it is detected, it could already be too late, and there could already be permanent damage to the optic nerve.\n<\/li>\n The first thing that I did after looking up dog glaucoma is to contact my Siberian Husky breeder. I asked her if she has experienced glaucoma before with her Sibes.<\/p>\n Since the less detectable type of glaucoma, (Primary Glaucoma) is hereditary, I wanted to check the family tree of my two Sibes. If their family tree is free of glaucoma, then they are probably less at risk of inheriting it. <\/p>\n My Sibe breeder tells me that none of her Huskies have gotten glaucoma before. Her mom’s Basenji had glaucoma, but that was a secondary effect from having cataracts when she was 14 years of age. My breeder also tells me that the Basenji had a lot of tearing (tears) before being diagnosed with glaucoma.<\/p>\n According to this very useful article on glaucoma in Samoyeds<\/a>,<\/p>\n The early signs of glaucoma, which may not be recognized as such, may consist of mild conjunctival inflammation, which can mimic conjunctivitis; increased tearing and pain; and photophobia (sensitivity to light which results in some “squinting” of the eye).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n My Shiba Inu’s breeder is not all that great and was uninterested in keeping contact with Sephy. I may get my vet to do an eye pressure test on him during his yearly exam.<\/p>\n For the testing and treatment of dog glaucoma, it is best to consult with your vet or with a veterinary ophthalmologist.<\/strong><\/p>\n Based on what I have read, there are two different glaucoma tests for dogs –<\/p>\n According to Animal Eyecare LLC<\/a>, there are three classes of treatment for dog glaucoma –<\/p>\n Dogs with glaucoma or at risk of developing glaucoma should have leashes attached to harnesses and not neck collars, to prevent pressure on the jugular veins (which can in turn increase IOP and trigger a glaucoma attack). If you have experienced glaucoma with your dogs, please share your stories with us. If you have more information on glaucoma, please let us know as well.<\/p>\n Many thanks to Dakota for bringing this important issue to our attention. Big hugs and best wishes to Bella. <\/p>\n ** NOTE – I am not a vet so all the information in this article is based on my readings on the internet and chats with other dog owners.<\/strong><\/p>\n Dogs can sometimes become blind as a result of glaucoma. We consider the two types of dog glaucoma, and what we can do to detect glaucoma in our dogs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1144,1145,1146,1147,1148,1149,1150,1151],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7115"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is Glaucoma?<\/h2>\n
![\"Siberian](\"https:\/\/shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/IMG_1239-520x390.jpg\" "\\"Siberian")
Dogs and Glaucoma – Should We Be Concerned?<\/h2>\n
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\n~~[Animal Eye Care LLC<\/a><\/em>]\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n![\"Siberian](\"https:\/\/shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/siberian-close-up-520x390.jpg\" "\\"Siberian")
Detecting Glaucoma in Our Dogs<\/h2>\n
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Testing and Treatment for Glaucoma in Dogs<\/h2>\n
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\n~~[Animal Eye Care LLC<\/a>]\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n![\"Please](\"https:\/\/shibashake.com\/dog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/IMG_5285-520x390.jpg\" "\\"Lazy")
Some Useful Sites and Resources<\/h2>\n
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