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Kate
Birmingham, Alabama
Female
Age: 9 (DOB 11/19/2014)
20#
Being treated for eye issues
Hospice Placement
Kate joined us in 2021 as a 6 year old girl who was just retired and released from breeding. She is suffering with many medical needs which have been grossly neglected. She has obvious eye issues, ear infections, dental disease, and skin issues. She came through intake here in Birmingham, Alabama and will remain here for foster care due to their ophthalmology needs. We will share her full intake vetting / medical reports tomorrow. Her days of suffering are numbered as treatment and good health is on its way! đ
UPDATE MARCH 15, 2021: đ Curbside vetting got Kate like...
Precious Kate 𧞠has been with us 2 weeks now and had a recheck vetting appointment as well as a consultation with our ophthalmologist.
Her spay and mouth have healed well following her surgery and big dental. While her ears are far better than they were 2 weeks ago when they were nearly swollen shut, there is till some yeast and bacteria and needed to be retreated. She is also down 3 pounds from 32 to 29 and is already moving and breathing better with some extra pounds off.
Her eyes are a different story- we did not like how her eyes looked on intake and still donât like how they look after 2 weeks of medication. She has severe dry eye (producing no tears) and as a result has developed a lot of pigment which is negatively affecting her vision. She also has secondary infection and inflammation which is not responding well to medication. Today we have added two more antibiotic drops to her regimen in hopes of something being effective to clear the infection. She also received subconjunctival injections (into the tissue when you pull down on bottom eyelid) to help reduce the inflammation. These injections bypass several layers and thus increase penetration. If things are not looking better by the end of the week we will need to move forward with a culture to identify exactly that is growing, which will be the first time weâve had to do that with an eye. As for the tear production, we feel that the tear gland is too damaged to be stimulated and that surgery on both eyes will be inevitable. Before surgery though, we need to have the infections cleared and inflammation managed which is our current goal.
Kate comes from a breeding kennel notoriously known for severe eye issues. In fact, you may remember Sable and Goldie who came through our rescue last Summer. They were also from the same breeding kennel with a song similar to Kateâs - no tear production, battling secondary issues, too damaged of a tear gland to stimulate, not responding to medication, and required Parotid Duct Transposition (PDT) eye surgeries. While âdry eyeâ is definitely a common congenital issue in the breed, the eye issues the Cavaliers from this kennel are experiencing is something more than that. We arenât sure if something is being put into their eyes, or if there is a chemical theyâre being exposed to, or đ€·đŒââïž, but something is turning off their tear production and making their eyes extremely resistant to medications. This is causing these poor babies a great deal of discomfort, pain, and suffering, and a long road of medical care.
Itâs going to be a process, but like all the others before her, we will get this straightened out and well managed so she can go on living a comfortable and quality life with better vision
Precious Kate 𧞠has been with us 2 weeks now and had a recheck vetting appointment as well as a consultation with our ophthalmologist.
Her spay and mouth have healed well following her surgery and big dental. While her ears are far better than they were 2 weeks ago when they were nearly swollen shut, there is till some yeast and bacteria and needed to be retreated. She is also down 3 pounds from 32 to 29 and is already moving and breathing better with some extra pounds off.
Her eyes are a different story- we did not like how her eyes looked on intake and still donât like how they look after 2 weeks of medication. She has severe dry eye (producing no tears) and as a result has developed a lot of pigment which is negatively affecting her vision. She also has secondary infection and inflammation which is not responding well to medication. Today we have added two more antibiotic drops to her regimen in hopes of something being effective to clear the infection. She also received subconjunctival injections (into the tissue when you pull down on bottom eyelid) to help reduce the inflammation. These injections bypass several layers and thus increase penetration. If things are not looking better by the end of the week we will need to move forward with a culture to identify exactly that is growing, which will be the first time weâve had to do that with an eye. As for the tear production, we feel that the tear gland is too damaged to be stimulated and that surgery on both eyes will be inevitable. Before surgery though, we need to have the infections cleared and inflammation managed which is our current goal.
Kate comes from a breeding kennel notoriously known for severe eye issues. In fact, you may remember Sable and Goldie who came through our rescue last Summer. They were also from the same breeding kennel with a song similar to Kateâs - no tear production, battling secondary issues, too damaged of a tear gland to stimulate, not responding to medication, and required Parotid Duct Transposition (PDT) eye surgeries. While âdry eyeâ is definitely a common congenital issue in the breed, the eye issues the Cavaliers from this kennel are experiencing is something more than that. We arenât sure if something is being put into their eyes, or if there is a chemical theyâre being exposed to, or đ€·đŒââïž, but something is turning off their tear production and making their eyes extremely resistant to medications. This is causing these poor babies a great deal of discomfort, pain, and suffering, and a long road of medical care.
Itâs going to be a process, but like all the others before her, we will get this straightened out and well managed so she can go on living a comfortable and quality life with better vision
UPDATE MARCH 23, 2021: Sweet 6 year old Kate has several eye issues we are tackling - one of those issues being Distichia. Distichia are âextra eyelashesâ along the eyelid margin that grow in towards the eye. Kate has quite a lot of these which are no doubt causing much discomfort, corneal irritation, and inflammation. The very inflammation that we need to reduce in order to even think about making improvement with her severe âdry eyeâ. The best therapy for removal of distichia is cryoepilation which is a freezing of the hair follicles preventing regrowth after removal. So today we did just that and had those suckers removed for both her comfort, corneal health, and to be able to hopefully now better address her dry eye disease.
If youâve ever had something in your eye for even a day you can really empathize with Kate who tolerated YEARS of this discomfort and irritation. We are very, very happy to be able to give her this relief today! She will return to our wonderful ophthalmologist in 2 weeks to ensure her lids have healed and discuss next steps to her eye care. Kate is now back in her foster home in Birmingham, Alabama resting and recovering.
If youâve ever had something in your eye for even a day you can really empathize with Kate who tolerated YEARS of this discomfort and irritation. We are very, very happy to be able to give her this relief today! She will return to our wonderful ophthalmologist in 2 weeks to ensure her lids have healed and discuss next steps to her eye care. Kate is now back in her foster home in Birmingham, Alabama resting and recovering.
3 weeks ago darling Kate underwent Parotid Duct Transposition (PDT) surgery where her salivary gland was re-routed to her eye so her eye, which isnât producing any tears, could be adequately lubricated by her saliva.
Her post-op recheck revealed that her eyes were still dry and despite our best efforts to try to stimulate her salvary gland with tasty food and treats đ đ„©đ„ , there was no saliva making it to her eye. We were hopeful that post-operative inflammation was to blame and that swelling was closing off the flow of saliva. We started her on anti-inflammatories but unfortunately we saw no improvement. So yesterday she underwent another procedure to try determine where and what the blockage is that is preventing the flow to the eye and open it back up.
The procedure did indeed give us answers but not what we were hoping for. There was no blockage rather it was discovered that her salivary gland was not secreting well enough for the saliva to make it upstream to the eye, which is extremely rare. Therefore, her eye is not able to be lubricated in this way. While under, she did get a âtear stimulant implantâ put in her eyes which will slowly release the tear stimulant medication with the hope that between that slow release implant and her tear stimulant drops that we can get her tear gland activated and see some improvement.
Worst case is that despite the slow release implant and tear stimulant drops that her tear gland is just too atrophied and too far gone to stimulate, and that her eyes will need to be manually lubricated through ointments and gels. There will likely be secondary issues, mostly infection, that will arise and would need to addressed along the way. While she was under yesterday we did collect and send off for a culture and sensitivity test so we could learn what medications she is most sensitive to so that any infections down the road can be best handled.
Her post-op recheck revealed that her eyes were still dry and despite our best efforts to try to stimulate her salvary gland with tasty food and treats đ đ„©đ„ , there was no saliva making it to her eye. We were hopeful that post-operative inflammation was to blame and that swelling was closing off the flow of saliva. We started her on anti-inflammatories but unfortunately we saw no improvement. So yesterday she underwent another procedure to try determine where and what the blockage is that is preventing the flow to the eye and open it back up.
The procedure did indeed give us answers but not what we were hoping for. There was no blockage rather it was discovered that her salivary gland was not secreting well enough for the saliva to make it upstream to the eye, which is extremely rare. Therefore, her eye is not able to be lubricated in this way. While under, she did get a âtear stimulant implantâ put in her eyes which will slowly release the tear stimulant medication with the hope that between that slow release implant and her tear stimulant drops that we can get her tear gland activated and see some improvement.
Worst case is that despite the slow release implant and tear stimulant drops that her tear gland is just too atrophied and too far gone to stimulate, and that her eyes will need to be manually lubricated through ointments and gels. There will likely be secondary issues, mostly infection, that will arise and would need to addressed along the way. While she was under yesterday we did collect and send off for a culture and sensitivity test so we could learn what medications she is most sensitive to so that any infections down the road can be best handled.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2021: Weâve been working hard to clear Kateâs eye infections. Per her ophthalmologist, âsheâs a petri dish!â đŠ She had a lot of different organisms growing including some that were very âexoticâ and rare (compliments of the puppy mill đ) and that were very difficult to treat. Per her last cultures, we have finally treated those organisms đđŒ are are now left with your much more common bacterial organisms that are found in everyday contact.
This is the same bacteria that all other dogs are coming into contact with but the difference is that their eyes act like a âflushing mechanismâ đŠ to continuously flush out this bacteria. Kateâs eyes donât produce any tears though and because this bacteria isnât being flushed out, itâs harboring in her eyes. So her foster mom has been her âflushing mechanismâ and is flushing out her eyes around the clock so that hopefully this bacteria doesnât get a chance to grow. Tomorrow she returns to the ophthalmology where we will re-culture and see if all these efforts are paying off đ€đ» Visibly her eyes are looking so much better and more comfortable. We are still holding out hope though that the new implants can bring some improvement. We will give it some time for post-op inflammation to go down and then will be rechecking her tear production over the next couple weeks. We will have a better idea from there what her long term care plan will look like and then will be looking for the perfect furever family for the job. No matter what the outcome is, Kate has the most amazing attitude and spirit and will not let anything stop her from fully enjoying her new and amazing life đ
This is the same bacteria that all other dogs are coming into contact with but the difference is that their eyes act like a âflushing mechanismâ đŠ to continuously flush out this bacteria. Kateâs eyes donât produce any tears though and because this bacteria isnât being flushed out, itâs harboring in her eyes. So her foster mom has been her âflushing mechanismâ and is flushing out her eyes around the clock so that hopefully this bacteria doesnât get a chance to grow. Tomorrow she returns to the ophthalmology where we will re-culture and see if all these efforts are paying off đ€đ» Visibly her eyes are looking so much better and more comfortable. We are still holding out hope though that the new implants can bring some improvement. We will give it some time for post-op inflammation to go down and then will be rechecking her tear production over the next couple weeks. We will have a better idea from there what her long term care plan will look like and then will be looking for the perfect furever family for the job. No matter what the outcome is, Kate has the most amazing attitude and spirit and will not let anything stop her from fully enjoying her new and amazing life đ
UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2022 Itâs officially sweater weather in Birmingham, Alabama đ„¶
Last year, Kate underwent parotid duct transposition surgery (PDT) to reroute her salivary gland to her eyes in effort to provide lubrication to her severely dry eyes. While saliva isnât the same as tears, it does the same good work to keep the eyes lubricated and prevent detrimental secondary issues from dryness from occurring like infection, ulcerations, and vision loss. While this surgery is widely successful, unfortunately it was not for Kate. While she was flowing immediately post-operative, the flow stopped soon after. While we donât know for sure why this occurred, efforts at that time turned back to drop therapy to try to keep her eyes free from infection, to manage inflammation, and maintain her vision and comfort. Her eyes are flushed, medicated, and lubricated literally around the clock but even with those efforts we have continued to fight infection, inflammation and dryness.
She met with her ophthalmologist last week and we have decided we would like to now go back in surgically to explore her salivary gland more and see if it is still viable and if so, if we canât open back up that channel to her eye. We arenât quite sure what we are going to find but we feel itâs now worth exploring and giving it a second shot đđ» Kate will undergo this explorative PDT repair surgery in late February and we will be sure to keep you posted đ
Last year, Kate underwent parotid duct transposition surgery (PDT) to reroute her salivary gland to her eyes in effort to provide lubrication to her severely dry eyes. While saliva isnât the same as tears, it does the same good work to keep the eyes lubricated and prevent detrimental secondary issues from dryness from occurring like infection, ulcerations, and vision loss. While this surgery is widely successful, unfortunately it was not for Kate. While she was flowing immediately post-operative, the flow stopped soon after. While we donât know for sure why this occurred, efforts at that time turned back to drop therapy to try to keep her eyes free from infection, to manage inflammation, and maintain her vision and comfort. Her eyes are flushed, medicated, and lubricated literally around the clock but even with those efforts we have continued to fight infection, inflammation and dryness.
She met with her ophthalmologist last week and we have decided we would like to now go back in surgically to explore her salivary gland more and see if it is still viable and if so, if we canât open back up that channel to her eye. We arenât quite sure what we are going to find but we feel itâs now worth exploring and giving it a second shot đđ» Kate will undergo this explorative PDT repair surgery in late February and we will be sure to keep you posted đ
UPDATE NOVEMBER 27, 2023: When, now 9 year old, Kate came into our care from a puppy mill, she had painful dry eyes that had been completed neglected. Most of our dry eye dogs respond to eye drop therapy where we are able to âwake upâ their tear gland and stimulate tear production using a tear stimulant drop while simultaneously also treating the secondary infection, inflammation, and pigment that comes with the severe and chronic dryness. Kate, though, was unfortunately not responsive to eye drop therapy and it was determined that her tear gland was sadly âtoo far goneâ and too atrophied to be stimulated. Additionally, she had very rare bacterial organisms found through cultures of her eyes that were resistant to antibiotics and difficult to treat. She also underwent surgical procedures to remove/freeze her distichia (abnormal eyelashes) and had cyclosporine implants put in to time release medication in effort to improve her corneas.Since there was no longer any hope at generating and stimulating her own tears, we decided to move forward with PDT (parotid duct transposition) surgery where her salivary gland is rerouted to her eyes and her eyes would then be effectively lubricated by her saliva. While saliva isnât the same as tears, it does the same good work to keep her eyes lubricated, comfortable, and warding off all the secondary problems that come with dryness including vision loss. This is a widely successful surgery and has been truly lifechanging for so many of our dry eye dogs, including most recently Shelly. Sadly though, it wasnât for Kate. In addition to her tear gland being insufficient, we found that so was her salivary gland and she was not able to produce a good enough flow of saliva for it to travel up to her eyes. With no hope for tears or saliva, there are no other options and so Kate solely depends on her eyes being manually lubricated by a human. Not only is lubrication needed around the clock, but so are the many other prescription drops to help fight off all the secondary issues of not producing any tears or saliva. Between all the prescription eye medication, she receives 13 eye drops everyday and that doesnât include the eye cleaning and lubricating ointment she receives literally around the clock. While we unfortunately have no further options at improving her eyes, our priority is keeping them and her as comfortable as possible which means keeping infection away, inflammation reduced, preventing corneal ulcerations, and keeping her as lubricated and moisturized as possible. Sadly, even with successfully managing all that, we cannot prevent the vision loss that comes with her condition. Over time, Kate has continued to experience more and more vision loss and her vision is now limited to only seeing things very close up. Thankfully, she knows her foster home very well and feels very comfortable and safe navigating in it and following the lead of her Cavalier siblings whom she loves and trusts. Given all these things as well as the hefty ongoing expenses of her eye medications and eye care for life, it is in Kateâs best interest to remain in her foster home furever where we will continue to provide for her, meet and manage her needs, and ensure she remains as comfortable as possible. Here are some photos from her furever foster family in Birmingham, Alabama đgiving it a second shot đđ» Kate will undergo this explorative PDT repair surgery in late February and we will be sure to keep you posted đ
