Margy,
My small mixed breed dog was given Heartguard and was on antibiotics (Baytril) and went blind overnight (dilated pupils freaked me out!) & couldn’t smell. She was walking uncoordinated, developed dementia symptoms over that week. It traumatized me and broke my heart.
This happened too fast.
She eats real meals (chicken breasts, rice, vegs) everyday, but was also eating a new dog food to cover any missed nutrients, “Purina One Smart Blend” (2 flavors – the salmon and chicken & rice blend) and Purina Beyond small dog (chicken).
She was drinking a lot of water and had UTI and protein in urine (and and also high WBC, RBC- this has all cleared up though after a few months – antibiotics did not help it).
She peed every 30 minutes.
Could NOT hold it for an hour. It was insane. How can a dog pee that much? All they kept checking for was diabetes which was negative.
At first I thought it was from a manufacturing defect of the heart guard (did too much active ingredient get in her chew?? :(. )
or the antibiotics themselves??
Maybe some dogs can’t metabolize certain antibiotics or have a liver issue, that potentially could slow things down and it therefore effects/travels to their brain? (So much water drinking!).
My vet said nothing. We just kept doing bloodwork and urinalysis.
My dog then suddenly developed every Cushings Symptoms (eating), and was finally diagnosed a few months later and put on med.
(I also wondered if perhaps an infection like a virus occurs and if it triggers the bone marrow, and then things go haywire… leading to other issues involving the eyes, pituitary/brain inflammation. (Hence all the drinking and peeing?)
Or maybe if she were beginning to get Cushings, and the antibiotics and/or Heartguard somehow caused an extreme imbalance or could then cross the brain brain barrier leading to the blindness?
The sudden onset of blindness and dementia symptoms was the worst part. For 3 months she didn’t know who I was.
It was rapid.
With a lot of love and care and supplements and her new med she is coming around. (Still blind, but she had a moment where she could see and her eyes are no longer dilated).
If anyone is reading this, I read a lady used bilberry for her dog and it reversed.
It’s too late for us, but it you spend $4 at Walmart on a bottle and it it somehow helps, please try it and report it. (Of course, take dog to a opthamologist. We did to see if it was glaucoma or anything. I wish I could have afforded an MRI and neurologist, for peace of mind to see what was happening. 🙁
(P.s. Ocuglo didn’t help her in any way, we started it that day… and it was expensive for a supplement).
