Ocular Melanosis

[Scruffys Mom]

Hi guys, has anyone had any experience with this genetic disease. Scruffy has always had clogged tear ducts. The vet and I mutally decided not to do surgery when Scruff was a pup. I think we were wrong on this diagnosis and scruffy has had Ocular Melanosis since birth. Scruffy has had dark spots in the whites of her eyes since a puppy. About a week ago, I noticed there were no eye boogars. I thought this was strange and starting reading more and more about what I now think Scruffy has. If anyone can lead me in the right direction or vet, I live in Longwood FL (outside of Orlando) Many thanks.

AS a footnote, she is not demonstrating any pain and has excellent vision. She has been moody for the last year (since Sparky died) and I have always thought it was that loss. Now I am starting to think it may be connected to her eye discomfort.

[pkcrossley]

i have no direct experience with this other than reading to try to understand it, since in dogs it is almost exclusive to cairn terriers and cairn crosses. i don't think surgery would have made a difference. what you describe sounds consistent with OM, but you need to see a vet ophthalmologist. your vet can make a referral, and in your area you should be able to visit a specialist without a great deal of travel; as far as i can understand, diagnostics could not get more expensive than an ultrasound, and even that might not be necessary. as you say, the concern would be pain and accelerated vision loss from glaucoma. glaucoma can be treated with eye drops, but first you need a good examination by a specialist. hoping good thoughts for you. whatever it is, it can probably be managed and scruffy can return to a great quality of life.

OM is now thought to be autosomal dominant, so if scruffy has the gene there is nothing you could have done to prevent the disease from developing. the key is confirm the diagnosis and start managing it. good luck!

[Scruffys Mom]

Thanks PK. Everything I have read has been disouraging as eye removal is the final course of action. But, I have been around a few blind dogs and we all seem to find our way. I live a few hours away from Gainesville and UF has a vet school there. I am going to see if I can get up there.

[bradl]

The national club (our hosts here) maintain a Health Related Concerns Committee which includes a coordinator for Eye Diseases. Pam is super knowledgeable on the subject of OM and can point you towards appropriate resources. For instance there is a wealth of information (including the published research reports by Dr. Petersen-Jones) in the OM section of the HRCC page. Dr P-J and his office are also very approachable and I have no doubt he would happily consult with your veterinary opthamologist to provide tips and guidance if your VO is not especially familiar with OM. (Some know OF it, but have little or no experience actually seeing it in the wild, so to speak.)

[Scruffys Mom]

Brad, thank you very much. Iwill research asap.

[Kathryn]

Our first cairn, Annie, had OM. She was probably a mill dog, though we don't know. Still, she lived well and happily with OM to 14, and managed quite well with regular eye doc visits and daily eye drops. I think you should start with a good dog ophthalmologist.

[Scruffys Mom]

Thanks Kathryn, I just emailed Pam and my vet is great. She is looking forward to communicating with Pam and I will do whatever I have to. Are there any signs of pain or distress I should be watching for. When did you 1st notice signs in your dog? Did she have clogged tear ducts? I know Scruffy has great vision and I am not seeing any signs of cataracts yet. The dark spots are certainly thickening though and now I am worried she is not secreting any fluid with the abscense of the crusty eyes.

[shergry]

After having a dog with "dry eye" (drops every day for 10 years) and still have one with Melanoma Glaucoma (drops in morning and night - he lost one eye to the disease). I hope you can get Sruffy into optomologist ASAP. If you cannot ask to see if your doctor has a eye pressure test piece of equipment. The name for the object is gone out of my senior brain, sorry. The number needs to be under 15....when we saw our, Ashes, his eye was quite large...last sign you want to see. His number was 60...the human can only with stand 25-30 (was told it was worse than a migrane). These Cairns are TOUGH!!! The one with dry eye never had any other symptoms....she was from the same Grandfather as Ashes.

The dark spots you are describing to me....could mean that the disease is starting to cut off the vessels to the eye...that starts creating pressure on the eye. Please just take my writing as a suggestion. We go and have Ashes eye pressure tested every 6 months....we also did not have his eye removed...we had the eye eviserated (inner part of eye removed and filled with silicone). Have many a laugh watching new doctors try to figure out what is wrong with that false eye....sorry just had another chuckle....2 doctors ago had a reading of 99 on the false eye. Assitant comes in room, VERY flushed, says that the medicine on the "false" eye was NOT WORKING!! We held it together and said; "We told you he had a F.A.L.S.E eye".

Good luck, I hope you and Scruffy the best! Prayers for a good outcome! :-)

[Scruffys Mom]

I have an appt for Scruffy next Thursday (1st available) He is familiar with this disease and has the eye pressure test. Still waiting to hear from Pam. I am sick to my heart. The vivid memories of losing Sparky last year still linger. My big fear is that I think Scruffy has had this since birth. She is a puppy mill dog and the reason she went unadopted for so long is because she has huge eyes that make her look a little wierd. I always thought it was cute. That makes me think this has gone untreated for 6 years and she may have been in pain this entire time and that the disease has progressed. I tortured Sparky last year trying desparately and selfishly trying to keep him alive. I also depleted a huge part of my savings at that time. I am scared to say the very least.

[cairnsby3]

Everything I have read about OM is it doesn't show up until later years. My first Cairn had it. Dr. Peterson-Jones tested dogs at the specialty one year and found that Spike had the beginning of it. At that time he wasn't even testing young dogs as part of his research. I went to an ophthalmologist, he said it was many times slow progressing and that it most likely wouldn't bother Spike in his lifetime. It didn't. The accompanying glaucoma is what causes the pain, but he never developed that. Don't panic yet.

[Scruffys Mom]

Thanks, I am trying to stay positive here. The one hope I have is that maybe it is something different since this was obviously birth related and she does not appear to be in pain and I know she has excellent vision as she is a very verbal dog everytime an animal/reptile of ANY size is on the TV, even when I have it muted. I have a tendancy to overreact with my Cairns. They are the most beloved in my family. Please pray for my Scruff.

[Scruffys Mom]

Update, just got a very encouraging email from Pam. Just asked her permission to post her response here so you can read.

[Scruffys Mom]

Pam has allowed me to post her response. Thanks for everyones help and I will update next week after the appt. This gave me a lot of relief.

Dear Madeline,

I don't think the crusty eyes mean she has ocular melanosis. The

pigmentation doesn't mean that she has it either. You need to see a canine

ophthalmologist to get a diagnosis. The exam isn't going to cost $2K--nor should

it. Cairns are very stoic about pain so even though she may not be

exhibiting pain, you need to get her checked out. I would contact Gainesville to

see if they have exam hours as that may be a more reasonable fee alternative.

You need have a pressure test done to see if there is glaucoma which is

the painful part of the disease. There are dogs that have ocular melanosis

but do not go on to have glaucoma.

Please keep me posted.

Pam

In a message dated 4/27/2012 10:01:06 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

mcjordan@earthlink.net writes:

Hi Pam

Brad from the Cairn forum directed me your way. I have a 6 y/o female

Cairn, Scruffy. Let me start by saying I am on the board for a shelter and

yet, Scruffy came from a puppy mill. Hard to explain...but may explain why I

think my dog has Ocular Melanosis.

From the day I got Scruffy at 12 weeks, her tear ducts were clogged and

she had dark spots in the whites of her eyes. I have had to clean crusty eye

bugars out daily.

About a week ago, I noticed very few eye bugars. I googled the dark spots

and came upon Ocular Melanosis . Obviously a little freaked out right

now. She is not demonstrating pain, that I know of and seems to have

excellent visions. The dark spots are becoming more abundant, or joining. I live

near Orlando FL.

I have asked my vet, Carolyn Schlick, 407897-3434, about the dark spots

and she did not know what they were. I have a good clinic here with an

ophthalmology dept., (AVS) but they are extremely expensive. My last vet bill

there was $8K, and everyone says it is $2 to $4k just to walk in the door.

I also live near UF in Gainesville and they have a vet school there. Any

recommendations are deeply appreciated.

Madeline du Mee

[pkcrossley]

i hope you continue to get good news. i didn't realize that scruffy had had some of these symptoms since 12 weeks of age. i can see why the vet is being open minded about what this is. i think the average age for dogs showing symptoms of OM is about 8 years, so something that has been affecting her since puppyhood is unlikely to be it. as you already know, eyes are nothing to mess around with. i had a shih-tzu who had glaucoma from a very young age. we eventually had to remove one eye, and at a very advanced age he went blind in the other. blindness is not a real big deal to a little dog, it is the pain you have to worry about, just as you have been saying. i hope that with eye pressure tests and perhaps with an ultrasound, they can give some good news. whatever it is, it can be managed.

[Hillscreek]

Hey Scruffys Mom. Hold tight.

We are thinking of you and wishing the best for you and Scruffy both.

Let us know how the exam goes.You'll feel better when you know a bit more.

[sanford]

Hoping for good news for you and Scruffy!

[BetsyNoodle]

We are keeping your sweet Scruffy in our prayers. We have a board certified veterinary ophthalmologist in our area named Dr. Rainbow (love the name) that treated my dearly departed little Min Pin. He was able to accurately diagnose what our regular vet had missed. Hope you can find one soon to check Scruffy's eyes. Wishing your precious girl the best!

[shergry]

Sorry to jump in.....am jumping with joy!!! Dr. Rainbow did our Ashes eye....still on the medication prescribed. Met a new Dr. in his office last year, before moving here. Nice guy also!! If we EVER have any problems with eyes again...will definately make the trip to Austin!!

[Scruffys Mom]

Update on Scruff. She has Ocular Melanosis but I am able to take a breath. Her eye pressure was 15 in one eye (normal is 12-20) and 20 in the other. The plan is to re-check in 2 months and every 6 months thereafter. Doc states we can medicate if pressure builds and she may go the rest of her life with little to no problems. I am trying to stay very positive here. Thanks to all for your support.

[pkcrossley]

you have every reason to be positive, whatever comes along you can handle. did scruffy come from a breeder? if so, the breeder should be notified. keep on keeping on.

[bradl]

Thank you for the update. I know I always feel better when I have a plan - hope you do too. +1 to pk's comments.

[Scruffys Mom]

Hey PK, SCruff is a puppy mill dog. That is why I was so concerned.

[Hillscreek]

So glad you did what you had to. Now things will be better.

Good luck

[Gaila]

We just got our Cairn Jack's formal evaluation today.  He is ten years old and is diagnosed with Ocular Melanosis.  Apparently we have caught it in the early stages, so for now, regular testing and eye drops.  I too can breathe for the first time in a week.    He is our special boy and though his cairntude can be overwhelming.    If he had needed to have his eye removed, I could accept it, but we are no where near that point yet. 

 

[hheldorfer]

That's good news.  Testing and eye drops are do-able and Jack will have the use of both eyes to find and chase critters.  Please keep us in the loop!  Hugs to you and Jack.