Atypical Pannus

My poor little beagle boy’s eye disease has reared its ugly head – AGAIN. This time it’s manifesting in his left eye. He’s got what looks like a little clot of blood right on his pupil, but if you look more closely, you can see that it actually starts in the outside corner and stretches all the way to the center. He also has a corneal abrasion (stemming from the Pannus) that we need to treat with antibiotics, and until that clears up, we can’t actually treat the Pannus.

So, I give him an antibiotic drop in his left eye, a steroid drop in his right eye (to keep the Pannus at bay in his uninfected eye), and also feed him an oral antibiotic. The only thing Chance likes about this whole regime is that his oral medicine gets stuffed in a little hunk of hot dog. I understand this, because I also love hot dogs.

Luckily, Chance doesn’t seem to be all that bothered by his eye problems. It isn’t painful for him, but it does affect his vision. I guess that I am somewhat comforted by the fact that dogs do not rely on their vision nearly as much as we do. I’m pretty sure that his acute hound dog sense of smell makes up for any deficiencies in his eyesight.

Not to digress, but this does remind of A Wrinkle in Time. This fantasy children’s classic (written way before Harry Potter) describes a whole world of beings that don’t understand what it means to “see.” They only understand what “is.” I think Chance understands what “is,” which is a cozy world, where food, love and companionship are plentiful. So, I guess I won’t worry too much about his Pannus.

If you’re interested in reading more about Pannus, please check out the following link…

http://www.animaleyecare.net/diseases/pannus.htm

If you’re interested in donating to the Chancer Boy Veterinary Fund, just send me a check.