My dog has distichiasis. What are affordable treatment options?

It looks like your pup is experiencing quite a bit of irritation from this problem. Unfortunately, if it is bothering his eye this much that it is watering and squinting, treatment is recommended, which involves using a special tool to kill the hair follicles so the hairs will not regrow. Other possible causes can be the eyelid rolling slightly inward (called entropion) resulting in lashes rubbing on the eye and this requires surgery to correct the eyelid conformation. Every vet doesn't have access to this equipment so you may need a specialist. This condition can predispose your dog to getting eye ulcers, which is another reason to have it treated if it is bothering him. Here is more info on this condition FYI http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2684

It is recommended after procedures (cryosurgery or electrolysis) to recheck the area to ensure regrowth isn't occurring or hairs were not missed as sometimes there can be more than one lash growing abnormally and perhaps it was just growing in when treatment was first performed. In most cases the distichia doesn't recurr if cryosurgery or electrolysis is done. You can read more about this problem at https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951528

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I am sorry to hear that you are unable to get the necessary treatment for Lolly. I would consider looking into CareCredit and apply for a line of credit you can use for veterinary care. You can go to their website and apply online. If that is not an option, I would consider using an eye medication called Optixcare, which you can find online quite easily. I would at least give this a try and see if it helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I think a full ocular exam would give you more information on whether one or both eyes need to come out. The small eye may be congenital or may have already ruptured and may not be painful any longer. The larger eye could be large just because it looks bigger as compared to the small eye or could have glaucoma. KCS can easily be diagnosed with a vet, but will likely need life-long medications to manage, and these can be expensive depending on the medication and formulation used. Many dogs with severe KCS have their eyes enucleated and become much more comfortable. My impression from reading her file is that she has very painful eyes, and that this is a chronic pain. Bilateral enucleation would easily resolve this pain and may improve her quality of life drastically. The cost for this surgery can vary depending on the vet clinic chosen, you may call around and ask for rough quotes for bilateral enucleation. It could range from $700 to $1500 or more. I would recommend that she have both eyes done at the same time (if the vet performing the ocular exam thinks they are both defective eyes) as this will decrease total time under anesthesia and make Lia only have to recover from a painful procedure once. If both eyes are removed, then she may not need significant medical care or follow-ups (cost-wise) after she is fully recovered. Her file tells me that she may be a great one to rescue if your group can cover the costs of surgery. I admire the work you do and appreciate your compassion more than you will ever know!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concerns. The eyes look to be cataracts, which there is not much you can do for cataracts (medically). Surgically, you can have these removed but this procedure typically costs $3000 per eye in my experience. It is possible that the cataracts could be due to diabetes but without blood work, it is difficult to say. Even if this was due to diabetes, there is no reversing the condition once developed. The skin could be a skin infection or allergy. I would recommend using the following products, which can all be found online to see if this helps the skin. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. 1. Welactin omega 3 fish oil capsules 2. Douxo PS Chlorhexidine combination shampoo and bathe twice weekly until resolved 3. Malacetic conditioning spray and apply twice daily to the affected area until resolved

Unfortunately you cannot do much back home as the easiest way to treat them would be to try some antibiotics+antiinflammatory drops which are on prescription anyway. This treatment may help in case of inflammatory ''bumps'' and can reduce their size. In the case the bumps have a completely different nature (skin cyst or benign or malignant tumors) a completely different approach is required. Usually there are two ways your vet can do that a part from examining it directly during physical examination. A biopsy can be taken under local or general anesthetic, otherwise a smaller sample through a fine needle can be aspirated (this technique is called FNA= fine needle aspiration).

I sympathize with you. Painful eyes are very difficult to deal with. The answer to your question depends on if the reason for the problem is that the antibiotics aren't working because of the type of bacteria or the underlying disease. Unfortunately, it is difficult to know that information. I think your best option would be to see a specialist. Veterinary ophthalmologists have 4 years of specialized training in treating only eyes, so they have a much greater knowledge of eyes than normal vets. I actually took my 15 year old dog to a veterinary ophthalmologist last month because I want to avoid removing one of his eyes. She used medication that I have never used in my practice in 15 years and my dog is doing great now. I have included a link below for you to search for a veterinary ophthalmologist near you. http://member.acvo.org/search_results Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.