# Bloody red eyes Juvenile Cataracts - on & off - *Worried, Please Help!*



## missobviously (Sep 2, 2013)

Hi, I have a 7yo (about to be 8) white toy poodle named Pookie. I believe he was diagnosed with Juvenile Cataracts when he was 2 or 3, and it was only a slight blue film in one eye..nothing to be too worried about. Over the years it has grown and now both of his eyes are almost filled with blue cloudy substance and I don't even think he can see anything anymore. Surgery is expensive, it was once my goal to raise enough ($6,000+) since I'm only in high school right now, but I honestly don't see that happening anymore.

The point of this post is that last month his eyes started getting noticeably red. Like bloody red. Went to the doctor about 3 weeks after we saw it in his eyes, he said that Pookie could possibly have an eye infection. Gave him 2 shots, ointment to be used daily at home (box says Neomycin) for a week, and a cone to help him to avoid bumping his eyes into things (which was thought to have also been another explanation for the bloody eyes). Started out in his left eye, now its way more noticeable in his right eye 2 weeks later. I'm very worried, he's my baby and I would do anything for him!! Please help me or at least take a stab at what this might be. Could this be involved with his J.C.?

p.s. he has also been showing signs of cross-eyedness (I don't think that's a word haha) as seen in the pic

Pic attached.

Thanks so much for your time, I really appreciate it.


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

I have no experience with this, Hope the infection clears up soon. 


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## missobviously (Sep 2, 2013)

Thank you... I hope all it really is is an infection and not something deeper/permanent.


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## Carrie-e (Oct 23, 2012)

Poor little poppet. Luckily dogs are amazingly resilient and seem to cope with being blind very well. Our toy poodle went blind at about 12 and lived for another 4 years,it didn't seem to bother him at all. Hope it clears up soon,what does your vet say?


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## Sweetp (Mar 23, 2013)

My son looked at the picture and here's his response:

If the redness went away with antibiotics it may be a periodic infection. A concern is that a maturing cataract could be causing glaucoma - a slow progressing angle-closure high-eye pressure glaucoma. Pressure builds up in the eye and the eye becomes red and weeps. Cataract surgery would cure this type of glaucoma, but often vision damage to the optic nerve is done fairly quickly (if not years earlier) and no visual recovery following an expensive surgery would be a possibility. If the dog is sedated, the eye pressure could be taken in office with a Tonopen device. The average vet may not know this or have the equipment, so a visit to a vet ophthalmologist (or vet school) would be the best way to go.

If glaucoma, daily eye drops (a little pricey) to decrease eye fluid production may lower the pressure some and reduce redness. However, often drops don't work well if the growing cataract is closing off the drain angle.


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## missobviously (Sep 2, 2013)

Vet says he thinks its just an eye infection, not too serious... I think it's something more.

Sweetp, thank you for your & your son's advice. I hope Pookie's cataracts haven't matured enough to the point of being incurable... I will try my best to get him to an ophthalmologist.

If anyone else has any input it is *greatly* appreciated.
Thanks!


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

My new little toy poodle Killa has an Ocular Dermoid (basically she has hair growing out of her eyeball). My general vet looked at it and said she had a corneal ulcer and prescribed the same thing you have, Neomycin in ointment form. The neomycin helped a lot with the infection she had. She always had green gooey eye discharge all the time and after two days of the neomycin the discharge was gone and her eye was a lot less red and irritated looking. I definitely recommend saving your time and money to take her to an ophthalmologist. I waisted $100 at my general vet, that could have paid for half of the appointment with the ophthalmologist or gone towards the surgery she needs. I hope the neomycin works for your little boy like it worked for Killa. 

Oh and with most of the ophthalmologist offices I called the initial exam included three tests, one to test for tear production, a pressure test for glaucoma, and stain test for ulcers or scratches,etc. If you are looking for an ophthalmologist I highly recommend an Eye Care for Animals office. They have quite a few all over the US and they were extremely nice and super professional. 


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

If you're on the East coast, I can recommend the vet school at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg. We took our Lab there last winter for an eye problem. The opthomologist was competent, kind, and not terribly expensive.


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## missobviously (Sep 2, 2013)

Hi everyone, quick update a week and a half later...
Have not scheduled an appointment for the ophthalmologist yet, but am planning to soon... 

Pookie's eyes have gotten noticeably worse and the red is darker in color. I feel like his tongue is a bit redder than the usual pink as well, but I'm not sure if that's related to the eyes. Have been trying to give him as much water as possible since it's hot out here in California. Odd thing is that the redness fades and reappears within minutes. Could it be related to stress or heat or something? 

Some pics I took about 15 minutes ago:

















Now however, after 15 minutes, the redness has cooled down just a tiny bit, but not by much. So should I skip out on the general vet appt and skip to the ophthalmologist directly?
Thank you.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Skip the regular vet. There are a number of eye care for animals around in california. They will be honest with you, but your guy can't see much. The redness is probably related to his eye problems. He has tear stains which are misleading, but the redness might be glaucoma. He is young to go blind. If you bought him from a breeder, you should tell them. Good luck! If you can keep him safe in the house and yard, a blind dog does pretty well because they have great smell.


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## Carrie-e (Oct 23, 2012)

Bless his little heart,I hope he isn't in pain. Can you tell? As outwest says blind dogs usually do very well as their other senses take over and as long as you don't move furniture about or leave things lying about that they might trip over they settle well in their homes. My little toy poodle who was blind for the last 4 years of his life ran round at home as if he could see,but he didn't like going for walks,so we used to carry him round the park,he liked that!


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