Hi all,
As some of you may know, I have 2 rescue dogs so I thought it is about time I made them there own thread.
27 September 2018 - We saw an ad online for 2 crossbreeds that were approx 2 hrs away. We went letter that night and when we arrived we saw 2 very skinny dogs which had clearly only ever known life in a pantry. I didn't have the money nor resources to take both so I only took Pebbles. She settled very well with RB Beau, and they quickly became the best of friends. Within a week of arriving, we popped her to the vets and had her checked over. She was scored a 1 out of 10. I'll attach a chart below to explain what that means.
We started by feeding her 3-4 times a day; little and often to help her gain the weight without making her poorly. Once she was strong enough we had her spayed and found out she was pregnant. They wouldn't have been viable as she was already on the operating table and was so early on in the pregnancy. So we continued on with the spay. Some people may think this was cruel, but I wanted what was best for her aned all the other animals waiting for their forever homes. Many of them had a chance of deformities and we really didn't know the genetics. Pebs wasn't in the best condition and that would take a massive toll on her body. It just wouldn't have been fair.
She healed very well and continued to gain weight.
We noticed not long after that there may be something wrong with her eyesight. She seemed very clumsy. Always jumping too early for the sofa or to get onto the garden. We took her to the vets several times for eye injuries from where she had walked into something. It became a regular occurrence so the vet brought up the possibility of her having progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) although she couldn't say for certain as it was in the early stages. In order to get a proper diagnosis at that stage she would need to be referred to a specialist and for them to carry out an electroretinogram under anaesthetic. Alternatively we could monitor it. PRA is a painless condition which will lead to complete blindness. There is no cure nor is there anything to slow down its progression. We opted to monitor it for the time being.
In the beginning of 2019 we had pebbles at the vets again as we noticed a deterioration in her sight. Again the vet couldn't comment on the PRA but she found that Pebbles has keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) or often referred to as 'dry eye'. Upon further examination the vet suggested that this is likely to be due to an autoimmune disease. Pebbles was to have eye drops up to 6 times a day, initially just with eye lubricant while we waited for the tear stimulants to arrive. The vet was happy with how the lubricant was going and we were given the stimulant. We were to apply the stimulant x2 daily and the lubricant x4 daily, leaving a few hours between the dose of stimulant and lubricant. We were to do this for 6 weeks, After 6 weeks e went back and she had the tear test done and there were good results. Over the next few weeks we were to decrease the lubricant to see if the stimulant alone would be sufficient.
It didn't work. Tear production went down dramatically. I remember feeling so gutted for Pebs. She had put up with so much only to be told it didn't work. Thankfully there was another lubricant we could try. So we did the same thing again x2 stimulant and x4 lubricant for 6 weeks then decreased the lubricant to see if the stimulant would work. Success! I was so pleased to hear that it had increased her tear production which would be making her eyes more comfortable. In the coming weeks we noticed an improvement in Pebbles' sight, she didn't seem as clumsy. The eye injuries became less and less as the months went on. It just seemed to be going so well.
2023 started off with Pebbie's eyesight getting worse and declining rapidly. We managed to get her into the vets last month where the vet looked into her eyes...for 30+minutes. Pebbles didn't flinch, squint or move. The vet concluded that she didn't have much sight left and that it was now an obvious case of PRA. I wasn't surprised at all by the diagnosis but I was shocked to hear how advanced it was. We now need to keep an eye out for eye injuries and glaucoma. In the worst case scenario, Pebbles' eye's will need to be removed.
Pebbles is still a very happy, healthy and active girl and is adapting well to her darkening world. In the home you wouldn't really notice as she zooms around and jumps all over the sofa. She may walk into the cupboard door if its left open but other than that she's ok. Walks, on the other hand, are another story. She is very nervous, especially of cars/motorbikes/lorries driving past and if anyone lets a bouncy dog off the lead and gets all up in her face. So we're working on that. We try to stick to the same routes which definitely does seem to help her.
What is Progressive Retinal Atrophy?
Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) is a group of genetic disorders, similar to retinitis pigmentosa in people. It is categorised by degeneration of the retina, causing sight loss and leading to blindness.
As some of you may know, I have 2 rescue dogs so I thought it is about time I made them there own thread.
27 September 2018 - We saw an ad online for 2 crossbreeds that were approx 2 hrs away. We went letter that night and when we arrived we saw 2 very skinny dogs which had clearly only ever known life in a pantry. I didn't have the money nor resources to take both so I only took Pebbles. She settled very well with RB Beau, and they quickly became the best of friends. Within a week of arriving, we popped her to the vets and had her checked over. She was scored a 1 out of 10. I'll attach a chart below to explain what that means.
We started by feeding her 3-4 times a day; little and often to help her gain the weight without making her poorly. Once she was strong enough we had her spayed and found out she was pregnant. They wouldn't have been viable as she was already on the operating table and was so early on in the pregnancy. So we continued on with the spay. Some people may think this was cruel, but I wanted what was best for her aned all the other animals waiting for their forever homes. Many of them had a chance of deformities and we really didn't know the genetics. Pebs wasn't in the best condition and that would take a massive toll on her body. It just wouldn't have been fair.
She healed very well and continued to gain weight.
We noticed not long after that there may be something wrong with her eyesight. She seemed very clumsy. Always jumping too early for the sofa or to get onto the garden. We took her to the vets several times for eye injuries from where she had walked into something. It became a regular occurrence so the vet brought up the possibility of her having progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) although she couldn't say for certain as it was in the early stages. In order to get a proper diagnosis at that stage she would need to be referred to a specialist and for them to carry out an electroretinogram under anaesthetic. Alternatively we could monitor it. PRA is a painless condition which will lead to complete blindness. There is no cure nor is there anything to slow down its progression. We opted to monitor it for the time being.
In the beginning of 2019 we had pebbles at the vets again as we noticed a deterioration in her sight. Again the vet couldn't comment on the PRA but she found that Pebbles has keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) or often referred to as 'dry eye'. Upon further examination the vet suggested that this is likely to be due to an autoimmune disease. Pebbles was to have eye drops up to 6 times a day, initially just with eye lubricant while we waited for the tear stimulants to arrive. The vet was happy with how the lubricant was going and we were given the stimulant. We were to apply the stimulant x2 daily and the lubricant x4 daily, leaving a few hours between the dose of stimulant and lubricant. We were to do this for 6 weeks, After 6 weeks e went back and she had the tear test done and there were good results. Over the next few weeks we were to decrease the lubricant to see if the stimulant alone would be sufficient.
It didn't work. Tear production went down dramatically. I remember feeling so gutted for Pebs. She had put up with so much only to be told it didn't work. Thankfully there was another lubricant we could try. So we did the same thing again x2 stimulant and x4 lubricant for 6 weeks then decreased the lubricant to see if the stimulant would work. Success! I was so pleased to hear that it had increased her tear production which would be making her eyes more comfortable. In the coming weeks we noticed an improvement in Pebbles' sight, she didn't seem as clumsy. The eye injuries became less and less as the months went on. It just seemed to be going so well.
2023 started off with Pebbie's eyesight getting worse and declining rapidly. We managed to get her into the vets last month where the vet looked into her eyes...for 30+minutes. Pebbles didn't flinch, squint or move. The vet concluded that she didn't have much sight left and that it was now an obvious case of PRA. I wasn't surprised at all by the diagnosis but I was shocked to hear how advanced it was. We now need to keep an eye out for eye injuries and glaucoma. In the worst case scenario, Pebbles' eye's will need to be removed.
Pebbles is still a very happy, healthy and active girl and is adapting well to her darkening world. In the home you wouldn't really notice as she zooms around and jumps all over the sofa. She may walk into the cupboard door if its left open but other than that she's ok. Walks, on the other hand, are another story. She is very nervous, especially of cars/motorbikes/lorries driving past and if anyone lets a bouncy dog off the lead and gets all up in her face. So we're working on that. We try to stick to the same routes which definitely does seem to help her.
What is Progressive Retinal Atrophy?
Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) is a group of genetic disorders, similar to retinitis pigmentosa in people. It is categorised by degeneration of the retina, causing sight loss and leading to blindness.
