5 year old dog just diagnosed with cataracts and emphysema, looking for advice.

seosamh1980

Hi there,

Our dog is just gone 5 and we had her at the vet today for a check up, he said she has very mild cataracts and a touch of emphysema. We've never noticed anything with her eyes, for the last year or so we sometimes thought her breathing was heavy when she was asleep or lying awkwardly (with her head propped up funny against the couch), but as we were prone to newborn baby style worry when she was small we told ourselves it was just her breathing now that she's that little bit older, it was barely noticeable. She's very healthy, energetic, well able to run around.

I have of course been googling and searching on here, but all cataracts things I find relate to older dogs, 10, 11, 12. She's only 5 Can somebody tell me what we can expect for the future? So scared of the thoughts of her going blind I just read how much it costs to have the surgery to correct it on another thread and my OH has already said the car will be sold if she needs it in the future (I did also read that it's not always necessary and they can come back), but I'd just like an idea of what to expect as she gets older.

With the emphysema the vet gave us some pills to give her daily until they run out, and said to leave her outside as much as possible, especially while it's humid. Turns out we were doing the wrong thing keeping her inside during the warm weather, tough to now judge what is a hot day (not let her out) and what is a humid day (let her out). He didn't seem overly concerned, is this not too bad a thing? She isn't in any pain and doesn't even seem to be having any discomfort, as I said she can run around all day long and has loads of energy, so it's not affecting her at all it would seem.

Any help or advice appreciated, neither of these things seem to be anything we could've avoided (although I don't really understand how emphysema is caused?), but it's obviously upsetting to hear our beautiful baby dog who we do our best to look after is getting older and developing these issues

Thanks in advance for any advice, it helps just to write this post down even if nobody has any advice for me.

Mo60

I had a dog who gradually went blind, although he was a lot older. He was about 12 years old when his sight started to deteriorate but lived for another 5 years. He adapted to the change in his eyesight very well and managed to potter about quite happily and found his own way about, although I always kept an eye on him.

Hope this helps to put your mind at ease with regard to your dog's possible loss of eyesight.

DBB

Is your dog a particular breed, op?
And are you sure it's emphysema? Or did your vet describe it as an emphysema-like condition? Did he give a prognosis for it?
I've a bit of experience with lung conditions... I don't think the advice to put her outside in hot weather is good advice. The wisdom is to keep the dog warm, but the air cool. I don't feel you can achieve this outside. It's easier to supply cool air in a shady room, with a fan on.

seosamh1980

DBB wrote: »

Is your dog a particular breed, op?
And are you sure it's emphysema? Or did your vet describe it as an emphysema-like condition? Did he give a prognosis for it?
I've a bit of experience with lung conditions... I don't think the advice to put her outside in hot weather is good advice. The wisdom is to keep the dog warm, but the air cool. I don't feel you can achieve this outside. It's easier to supply cool air in a shady room, with a fan on.

No she's not a breed, her dad was Alsatian, her mum was Collie/Lab with a few other crosses thrown in there too I'd say. He said she had a touch of emphysema, that was all. We were a little shell shocked so didn't think to ask all the questions that occurred to us after. He didn't give a prognosis, just that it can't be cured but can be managed, give her these pills for a while and make her stay outside most of the time.

She spends quite a bit of time inside for a few reasons, probably spends on average 1-3 hours outside, more if we're going off for a long walk or a day out once every week or two. But we're both home a lot during the day (work from home/live close enough to come back for lunch). During this hot weather I've had her and the cat in very shaded rooms that barely heated up at all during the day, had a fan on a few times in the sitting room with her there. Maybe he's assuming all houses are roasting inside during humid weather? I don't know.

Thanks for your replies. Mo60 unfortunately it doesn't put my mind at ease just because our dog is so young to be developing cataracts, I appreciate your reply it's just still too new for me to be even able to think of her going blind in just a few years.

Have a friend who is a vet nurse so might ask their opinion too. I just feel like I don't want to tell anyone we know because we're a big animal family and I know they will then constantly ask how she is, is she getting worse, giving her pitying looks, etc etc when we don't really want to have to think about it all the time.

DBB

Whilst I might not be so bothered with an old dog, the fact that your fella is so young would have me looking at options.
Has your vet given you the option of referral to an eye specialist? I think it's really important to even chat with a specialist and find out what sort of prognosis surgery would have for your dog. You could perhaps get one eye done now, perhaps the other in a couple of years? You can get a costing, and you may also be able to arrange to pay in instalments... Just don't give up hope yet!
I think that's so sweet that you'd both consider selling the car to get your dog right! But hopefully it need not come to that!

As for the lungs, can I urge you to get your vet to give you a definitive diagnosis and prognosis? Or get a 2nd opinion. The reason I say this is because conditions such as pulmonary fibrosis (often described generically as "emphysema") can be treated much more effectively using inhalers, not oral meds. My suspicion is that your vet has given you steroids (prednisolone, perhaps?), which never really hits the places it's needed, and you have the nasty systemic side effects of steroids on other organs over time. He may also have given you bronchodilators. Again, these are proven less effective when delivered orally.
However, both drugs can be administered via inhaler (you must use a "spacer" and face mask with animals), in which case the drugs get straight where they need to be, and you don't get anywhere near the same level of systemic effects with such localised delivery.
The problem may be that this form of treatment is a bit new in Ireland, not all vets are well read on it. Indeed, my own vet is really progressive and up to date, but when my own dog needed a more imaginitive approach to his respiratory problems, she had to go digging for more info, and indeed I trawled through the research papers and articles myself to find out more about this more modern and effective approach.
One thing's for sure op, chronic lung problems need to be dealt with ASAP, the sooner treatment starts, the longer you should be able to stave off or slow down progression of the condition. But you will need some sort of concrete diagnosis, not just that he has "a touch of emphysema"! Lung conditions cannot be accurately diagnosed without various tests being carried out, including x-rays at the very least. I wonder did your vet do this?

Edited to add: sorry, I referred to your dog as male throughout my post... But he's a she! My apologies!

seosamh1980

Thanks so much for that reply. Ok might get a second opinion, the vet we went to is considered to be a good reliable vet around here but I find small town vets who also deal with large animals don't always understand the difference between treating a pet and treating an "animal". Said nothing about a specialist, just said to keep an eye on her eyes and if we think they're getting worse come back, but tbh there isn't anything we can see in her eyes right now to judge it.

I checked again with my OH just to be sure what the vet said and his exact words were "she might have a touch of emphysema". That was it. Will look into seeing another vet soon, there was a very nice one in the next town that we had to go to on a Sunday morning at 8am when our cat was sick once.

Thanks for your advice. Yeah the selling the car statement was about a hobby car that my OH has If I asked him to sell it for no reason he would freak out, but he basically said if we needed money for her it'd be gone tomorrow. We're a very typical "she is our baby" couple, we think she's brighter than every other dog, cuter, more human than dog, etc, so we were gutted to think we had done her a disservice by not knowing these things. But she really does seem fine, we would never have guessed, thank God we took her for her birthday check up.

Thanks again.

Edit: There was no Xray done or offered.

seosamh1980

Just made an appointment with the other vet we were at before with the cat, for tomorrow morning, so hopefully we'll get a bit more info.

Study Dad

<snip>

Mo60

seosamh1980 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. Mo60 unfortunately it doesn't put my mind at ease just because our dog is so young to be developing cataracts, I appreciate your reply it's just still too new for me to be even able to think of her going blind in just a few years.
.

Sorry,
I only meant to show that just because a dog goes blind it does not mean that they cannot lead a full and happy life.

A dog can get cataracts at any age affecting sight to different degrees, not necessarily resulting in blindness.

seosamh1980

Mo60 wrote: »

Sorry,
I only meant to show that just because a dog goes blind it does not mean that they cannot lead a full and happy life.

A dog can get cataracts at any age affecting sight to different degrees, not necessarily resulting in blindness.

Yeah I know what you mean, your post will help me when I'm over the initial shock Thanks.

Edit: Sorry

seosamh1980

Well, now I'm just mad.

We took her to the other vet, told her what we were told by the other vet. She properly examined her eyes, not just quickly looked at them, and said they seem perfectly fine, no hint of cataracts at all. Then she checked her chest thoroughly, asked questions about any coughing, wheezing, etc, and said she heard nothing abnormal there, no emphysema. I brought the pills with me that the other vet had given us, she said they're steroids and she wouldn't give them to her because she doesn't need them.

She did say she's 3kg overweight! So her new nickname is Fatty and she's joining us on our healthy kick. For years people commented on how thin she was (but clearly that's how she's meant to be) so we were wary of over exercising her because she doesn't eat much, but now she'll be doing more exercise, especially seeing as she has no respiratory problems :rolleyes:

Really mad at the original vet now, he didn't weigh her, didn't look at her eyes properly, just glanced, no idea where he got emphysema from, and gave her steroids she didn't need. How could you "diagnose" two degenerative conditions in a young dog with no basis???

Anyway, she's fine, just needs to lose the extra kilos. I can't believe it, we spent two days devastated for no reason.

Thanks for your help and advice, I really appreciate it.

DBB

Phew!
I'm so glad to hear she's okay! Two big diagnoses like that in a young dog was a bit of a stretch, I'm delighted the other vet was able to put your mind at ease.
And you get to keep the car :-D

seosamh1980

DBB wrote: »

Phew!
I'm so glad to hear she's okay! Two big diagnoses like that in a young dog was a bit of a stretch, I'm delighted the other vet was able to put your mind at ease.
And you get to keep the car :-D

I just don't understand it though, how could he say both of those things? Is he that bad at his job? Why would any good vet put a dog on steroids they don't need? How was this vet able to so easily see that our dog is fine and he had it so wrong? And how could he show no concern for a dog who apparently had developed cataracts at 4 years old, how could he not offer any advice?

I just really don't get it. Delighted that she's ok, but uneasy about a vet giving such a wildly inaccurate and lazy diagnosis.

DBB

It is a disgrace alright. I know large animal vets can be a bit rusty on small animal stuff, but really... This kinda takes the biscuit. I'm glad for you that you came along here and were encouraged to get that 2nd opinion, but just think of those that don't? Who just accept what the vet says? It's no joke, giving a dog steroids, and they need to be carefully managed, but some vets throw them around like Smarties.

seosamh1980

Yeah so imagine we had just accepted what he said, how long until we were being told to come in for check ups of both conditions, take this medication for her lungs, do this for her eyes...we'd be broke and our dog would be pumped with needless drugs. How anyone who chose that career could be so careless with an animal's health is beyond me.

Thanks so much for your advice, really.