Although they say we should learn something new everyday, some days you don't want to.. some days, that "something new" can result from bad things.. Last weekend, I noticed one of my males, Jessie, had "red eyes" - I called the vet and he said that a drop of visine might be ok. His eyes weren't bothering him, he remains happy, healthy, energetic. I didn't use the visine, but the next day I was sure he was completely blind! I sued the visine and the red cleared and the days after that he was fine.. too weird... This past Saturday, he was positively blind.. he couldn't see me, the other dogs and kept running into things. both of his eyes were red again - Otherwise "normal" but he definitely looked like the devil dog.. I called the vet again and made an appointment to see him this morning.. Jessie was completely blind on Sat and seeing again the next day, but the eyes have remained red. Today we have a diagnosis: Anterior Uveitis-- I have never had eye problems in my dogs in the 20 + years of breeding, so I was truly clueless about eyes, I'm embarrassed to say. Anyway, for those that may not know, here's what I learned today about the eye.. simply put, we are talking about the space between the cornea and the iris of the eye. the usual fluid in that space is filtrates of serum from the supply of blood vessels. His eyes are red because the fluid has blood in it. dogs get this in a variety of ways : injury (bang on the head - both eyes would not likely be affected), infection somewhere in the body and contracted through the blood supply, or a neoplasia (cancer) somewhere in the body are the typical causes. there re others. He does not have a fever, appetite and activity has been normal - he is the picture of good health (but then, who knows what lies beneath). treatment is aggressive - systemic antibiotics (Baytril) in high doses, atropine eye drops, antibiotic eyes drops and prednisolone eye drops 3 time a day to start. Blood has been collected. We return on Sat to see how the treatment is doing..No idea on prognosis I.e. cancer, blindness, long term disability or death. Like I said, some days, it's better to not have to learn anything.. ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2007. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - www.showgsd.org ============================================================================