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[speeddeamon]

My dog was diagnosed with blasto about a month ago. He has since really bounced back well and the disease was caught fairly early. He is on Itroca or wutever its called. He stayed at the vet 2 wks and when i picked him up the first few days his symptoms worsened. He started carrying his right back leg. Well I started giving him Rimidyl for pain. Within a few days his leg was back to normal. He started gaining weight again and lookin and feelin 100 times better. Well the other day I went to his pen and his right eye was cloudy. NO SIGHT IN IT. After a few days his left eye got a little cloudy and he lost all sight. Was running into things in yard and everything. Its now been 2 wks since and been putting eye drops and ointment in his eyes daily. Left eye is back to perfectly normal color but absolutely no vision. IS THERE ANY HOPE HE COULD POSSIBLY GET ANY VISION BACK OR IS HE DONE?

[Kash-]

I doubt your dog is "done".  I have a blind dog and she gets on quite well.  However, I'm betting that if your dog has lost his sight to Blasto, then it's probably gone for good.  However, you should really be asking your vet.  Have you updated your vet with these new symptoms?  I'm thinking that would be a good thing to do.  First off, the dosage might not be right if the blasto is spreading, secondly, your vet might want to change medications, depending on where the blasto was to begin with, and now where it seems to be spreading.

You mention that you're putting drops in his eyes, that makes me think the vet knows about this.  Some dogs have had their meds changed from Itraconozole to flucanazole if the blasto is in the eyes and such.  But this might not be right for your case.  In any event it might be a good thing to mention to your vet.

We could probably discuss what has been working for us, if we knew a little more about your particular case.  What kind of dog?  How much does he weigh? what dose of itra is your dog on?  Things like this might make it easier for us to compare what we know to have worked or otherwise.

[speeddeamon]

Vet says medicine is workin bc hes gaining weight and feeling better. Said if it wasn't he'd already be dead. He had a rare form of it. Only sypmtom was dry cough. He always ate good, felt good, hunted good, all his bloodwork was perfect, but fluid was showing on lungs in xrays.. I noticed him running into things wk ago Mon. Vet looked at eyes Tues. and said he definitly still had vision that he could look through whatever he was using and see it wasn't blasto in the eyes... Said there was an ulcer on one eye due to changin his doghouse bedding to cedar shavings. So i changed to shredded paper like he asked. Later in the week the other eye clouded over and he was still running into things. Kept treating him tlkng to vet daily via phone. Took him back and he said there wasn't any vision but didnt explain??? Kept treating him and one eye got back to normal brown coloring.. Noticed tonight back cloudy blue again???

[speeddeamon]

and i didn't mean literally done. He'll make a good house dog I guess.. But im assuming his hunting is over with. No way he could hunt even though he has a good nose he steadily runs into things constantly..

[carolh]

Hello SPeedeamon,

My Mika has blasto in one eye.  The vet showed me that the pupil was misshapen.  It was blasto that took the eye.  Once the retina is gone, sight will not come back.  (You know how you can shine a flashlight just right and the light reflects back?  In Mika, it only comes back from one eye.) I am using a salve with itraconazol in it, both in the infected eye and in the yet good eye. 

I think there might be a problem here re your vet.  It doesn't sound to me as if your vet is giving you enough information.  How big is your dog?  What dose of itraconazol? Are you still using it?  (Dogs don't bounce back in a couple of weeks from blasto, though once they begin eating again, they begin to look as if they're approaching normal.)  Pain killers are good.  Most of us used something other than Rimadyl because the itra is hard on the liver and the Rimadyl can be, too (we used prevacox).  How did the vet diagnose blasto?  Did you get a MiraVista test?  What was the result?  How did your vet rule out blasto in the eyes?  It is not unusual for the fungus to migrate to the eyes.  Why did the vet keep your dog for two weeks?  Was it because s/he wasn't eating or he was treating with iv's?  Your vet was right about one thing, blasto untreated will take your dog.  And if your vet caught blasto early, congratulations to your vet.

Wilson has an excellent piece on this forum re living with a blind (or near blind) dog.  Please check it out.  Please keep treating the blasto.  Best of luck to you, Carol

[speeddeamon]

Yes he used the MiraVista test for hysto/blasto. Yes he's still on the med. Hes 55 pounds. Hes getting 3 packets of powder formula once a day. Have also been givin him clindamycin and remedyl. I started out giving him 1 115mg packet and 1 50mg packet a day. Now has been switched to 3 packets a day not sure Mg. Will check in a little while and let ya know. Is there anything else i can try for his eyes. Maybe its possible he will get some vision back when the treatment is done.. I hope and pray anyways.

[paintubturner]

My dog had blasto and his first symptom was only a dry cough which i was given antibiotics for! Then a month later other symptoms came about like lameness-etc.  Well, about another month later my dog went completely blind in both eyes-I took him to the eye specialist at a vet teaching hospital and he had fully detached retinas.  My dog was a super smart and obedient dog and he adjusted fully to his surroundings-his other senses stepped up and he is fully functioning.  If I were you I would definately get to an eye specialist and get those eyes checked out.  My dog needed Trusopt drops for along time because of the glaucoma he then developed.  He is still on pred drops as needed and will probably need those forever.  Best of luck with your dog.  There is info on this site about caring for a blind dog and alot of helpful info on the net.

[carolh]

Hi--
My dog had the drops for glaucoma (it reduces the pressure).  We also got her to a canine eye specialist.  I think it was easier to accept that that eye was useless from the specialist.  He also got us on the itra/DMSO  salve.  It's from Wedgewood Pharmacy out of NJ.  You can google Wedgewood to find their address.  Needs a prescription.  I feel safer with the salve because blasto is so darned hard to get out of the eyes.
Best to you and your dog.  I'm so glad to hear the dog is still on medicaiton.  I'm no "hand" at this so I don't quite understand the powder packets.  Hope they work wonderfully well!
Carol

[evayola]

If at all possible please try to see an eye specialist. My Marge is blind in one eye and yes it did happen overnight. We woke one morning to see her eye not normal and very cloudy. Went to the vet right away in the am and she confirmed that the blasto had spread to the eye and most likely will not regain vision. We had Marge on 3 different rx for her eye to keep pressure down, help with glaucoma, and antiobiotic. We even used lubricating drops (over the counter for humans for sensitive eyes) when she was looking dry. It was most definitely worth seeing the specialist because even though Marge is blind in one eye we got to keep the eye in place since we were able to manage it so well. Even though you dog may be blind remember that dogs have an amazing sense of smell and they rely heavily on that so your dog should manage well. It does take some adjusting with a blind dog even a half blind dog. We grow so accustom of doing things one way and you really have to think more and more about the dog and what they are "seeing" to help them out. Keep your head up high, you are very lucky that your vet found the blasto and didnt go undiagnosed for a long time like many of us here.

Eva

[speeddeamon]

with him being 100% completely blind is there any way it'd be worth tryin to get my local vet to perform the eye treatment. is there anyway possible to get it back?

[paintubturner]

When I took Gunner to Purdue Vet Hospital and then went to a different vet for a second opinion both told me his retinas were fully detached and there was nothing that could be done to regain sight.  Believe me I know how horrible it sounds to have a blind dog but he has been blind two years this month and is going amazing.  Only the eye specialist will be able to tell you your options after seeing your dog.  Best of luck.

[mhitesman]

If your dog's retina in an eye are 100% detached, it is unlikely your dog will regain sight in that eye.  However, most of the folks on this board, myself included, love our animals as family members and would be grateful that their loss is limited to an eye or two and not the whole dog.

My Comet was a young, enthusiastic, and accomplished field trial retriever.  Blasto ended his field trial career when it took his right eye, but he still hunts birds, swims, hikes, and even trains for hunt tests somewhat.  We are still a team; we just play a different game now.

I'm voting for the house-dog idea