Kim - Nova has uveitis and glaucoma and cataracts. Her left eye is entirely blind, but her right is still ok. Yes, I see a specialist (opthamologist) and just got back. It just doesn't make sense to put Nova through a big surgery to remove the eyeball and insert a prosthetic. They gave me a quote and it cost more than the amputation surgery!  So we opted for a different plan. They are going to inject the eye with a drug, I think it's called Propofol, that will kill the affected fluid producing cells within the eye. The procedure will leave the eyeball cloudy with a significant decrease in size.  But it is a fraction of the cost of the surgery.  So she will be having that done on Thursday morning.  She will be sedated, but it is outpatient, so she should be home in a few hours. I am having it done by the opthamologist, which is kind of a long drive. But I don't think my regular vet does this procedure, and I want her in the best care.

This has about an 80% chance on decreasing the pressure. Then I will continue to treat the other eye (which is fine except for a cataract) with much less medication. That will be helpful, as the medications are very expensive (Trusopt, Timolol, Pred Acetate, and Xalatan). The cost of the injection is about 1 1/2 month the cost of eyedrops, plus if it works I will save $100s on emergency clinic visits (it always seems to flare up on weekends and midnights).

I am worried about future trouble in the other eye. I've had a blind dog before, but not a Great Dane, and not a blind Tripawd! If she were blind I would be worried about slips and falls, running into things, etc. Oh well, we will cross that bridge when and if we get there.

I had a great chance to talk about Tripawds with a pawrent I met in the waiting room there. Her dog had injured his leg and they had put him through a half dozen surgeries, and it wasn't helping. He was in constant pain. Amputation was their next option. But her son (about 9-10) was scared to death about amputation.  It was a long wait, so I had a long time to show them Nova, and they were amazed to see such a giant dog do so great. (Their dog was only about 50-60 lbs, and would be a rear amp) I told them all about Tripawds and answered the boy's questions. His key thing was that he wanted his dog to run and play with him again. I told him about all the awesome Tripawds out there who can run, play, and even bragged about Nova's stair and mountain climbing!  It was a great experience and felt wonderful to help someone deal with the fear and confusion when facing amputation.

Sue and Nova

Thanks, Pam.  I spoke with the oncologist yesterday and she said she wanted me to stop the Cytoxan until we could get another urinalysis done. Nova had her eye surgery this morning at the opthamologist, everything went well and she is happy as ever. But I didn't have the 2nd urinalysis done until about 3 this afternoon because my regular vet is 1/3 the price of the specialist!  So they will fax the results over to the onco and take it from there. She hasn't had "typical" symptoms of a UTI so I am afraid that the Cytoxan does not agree with her. But I will let the onco make that call. Is there an alternative to Cytoxan? Is there an advantage to continuing the Piroxicam without the Cytoxan?