Animal Eye Clinic, Wilton CT

Time 2020-11-03 01:05:09

Web Name: Animal Eye Clinic, Wilton CT

WebSite: http://www.aecwilton.com

ID:102977

Keywords:

Eye,Animal,Clinic,

Description:

First and foremost, we hope you and yours are doing well. Normal life has certainly changed for all of us and the staff at the AEC wish you, your family and pets well. Hunker down, be smart and this, too, shall pass.In the meantime, we are open. Veterinary medicine is considered an essential business which allows us some latitude to work and care for your friends. If your pet has an eye problem that we are following or are a new patient referred to our practice, we will be here during normal business hours to attend to the problem. Using common sense and the advice of your veterinarian who referred your pet, you can determine whether you need to come in now or at a later date. We will still see you for non-emergent elective issues if you so choose. Please make educated choices as to whether it is in your pet s and your best interest to travel to our facility. Clearly, stay home if you or others in your house are sick to minimize the chance of viral spread.Business as usual is rather unusual now and that is true for the AEC. My philosophy is to educate you so that you can make smart decisions for your pet. This usually involves a bit of discussion and I love to draw on a diagram in the exam room to help you with visual images. This practice will be put on hold, or at least the visual part, as social distancing will temporarily change our procedures. As of now, we will only allow your pet into the hospital for examination. Following, we will dispense our clear, type-written discharge instructions with any pertinent information about the problem along with medication needs and/or surgical options. This will be delivered to you outside where you wait in your car. Depending on how busy we are, I may come outside to talk from a safe distance or we may need to connect by phone before the day is through. Our hope is that this process will keep you and the staff safe from this challenging virus.To facilitate this process, we will take the history by phone when making the confirmation call for the appointment. When you pull into the parking lot, a sign will remind you to call the front desk and one of us will come out to get your pet. If your dog is ill-behaved at the vet, you may want to place a muzzle prior to handing them over to the staff. As usual, cats or other small creatures should be in carriers.As always, we appreciate the trust you put in us to take care of your friend s needs. This social/business distancing is odd for all of us especially taking your pet away from you to examine. Alas, we are a kind and gentle crew and we will continue to try our best to make this a positive experience for all.Be well Surface disease is very common in veterinary ophthalmology as our critters have a tendency to scratch, poke, gouge, lacerate and abrade the cornea on a regular basis. The cornea is the clear windshield in the front of our eye and is often affected directly or indirectly by these insults. Other primary disease processes, such as degenerative or inflammatory change, can also affect the clarity and integrity of the cornea. Throw in some infectious agents like bacteria and viruses and this can create a host of problems that we as veterinarians need to address either medically and/or surgically.A clear cornea in a dog...with a small lid tumor on the lower lidThe uncomplicated cornea abrasion is simply treated with topical antibiotics to prevent infection along with an Elizabethan collar to prevent self trauma (yes, the dreaded collar is essential!). Healing of these superficial lesions is from side-to-side where the surface tissue (epithelium) slides over the abraded surface rapidly to heal the wound. This should occur within a week in most cases. Searching for a persistent underlying cause such as a foreign object or offending hair is required when initially presented. I see very few of these simple erosions here as most general practitioners can identify these lesions with a dye called fluorescein that stains the cornea and, if simple, go away prior to needing referral with the treatment above. It is the complicated or persistent ulcers that generally prompt a specialist s evaluation and care.Superficial corneal erosion in a catOur focus for this posting will be for the ulcers that become infected or degenerate leading to a loss of tissue. The cornea is made up of layers of collagen, the bulk in the center called the stroma. If an injury penetrates the epithelium and bacteria are presented to this layer, some bacteria in the environment release enzymes called collagenases that can digest the collagen. This can happen rapidly which can progress to a full-thickness hole in the eye resulting in rupture of the globe. Contrarily, this can be slower process leading to a more sloping defect of variable depth. We can also see a similar process in old dogs with degenerative disease where tissue loss without overt evidence of bacteria can lead to a similar appearance. In general, if the depth of the divot is less than 50% of the corneal thickness then medical management is the norm. If the divot is greater than 50%, surgery may be considered due to the loss of structural support and thus an increased risk for rupture. This depth is evaluated by a tool called the slit lamp biomicroscope which is the workhorse for our examinations of the front part of the eye. Let s look at how we identify and approach the non-surgical ulcers first.Small but deep ulcer with an early vascular responseAbove is the photo of a young Pug-mix with a small but deep corneal ulcer. Different than the first photo of the cat, this ulcer looks deeper even with the naked eye. In addition, the eye is a little more angry with an increase in discomfort with redness to the whites of the eye along with small vessels at the edge of the cornea. This activity is consistent with infection and is certainly common in this breed and others with prominent globes like the Pug. With our slit lamp, we could assess that this ulcer was 50% of the way through the cornea. For perspective, the cornea is roughtly 1/2 millimeter thick, so high magnification, a steady hand and good training is needed to evaluate the depth.Diagnostic tests often utilized in this scenario include corneal scraping to look for inflammatory cells and/or organisms (cytology) and culture of the lesion to assess for bacterial growth. These tests are helpful in that the cornea is typically devoid of inflammatory cells so seeing just a few is significant. If these are white blood cells typically seen in times of infection, the culture sample might be submitted to help determine if bacteria are present and what antibiotics may be useful in killing them. While awaiting for the results of the culture (cytology is done on site in many instances), antibiotics are typically started. Other medications that may be employed include drops that dilate the pupil to help with internal ocular discomfort, serum drops to try and stop the collagenase activity, oral antiinflammatories for intraocular inflammation and pain along with the aforementioned dreaded E. collar. Frequency of medication is variable but is usually higher in these cases (4-6x/day or more) with serious infection vs. the 2-3/day utilized in a non-infected ulcer for prophylaxis.Initial healing of the stromal ulcer 3 weeks after initial visitHealing of these ulcers is often facilitated, and frankly necessary in some cases, by vessels that advance into the region of tissue loss and encourage regeneration or rebuilding of the collagen. This may create more potential for scarring, however, is an acceptable trade off rather than rupture. Dogs in particular can have pigment migrate into these regions which, if large, can significantly affect clarity. However, when small like with this lesion, can be clinically insignificant. In the first photo, I think you may appreciate that the vessels have already migrated in and filled in our hole with some residual inflammatory material (white spot) in the deeper tissue. When healing was complete, a focal brown spot without any tissue loss was all that was left. In the final photo below, you can see this region along with some fine granular material unassociated with the ulcer. A good outcome without the need for surgery for him!Now some dogs may epithelialize (the surface tissue slides over and covers the ulcerated area) without concurrent thickening of the underlying tissue. Thus, a divot may remain but the ulcer by definition has healed. The is called a corneal facet. An area of weakness my remain but may be safe if the depth remains less than 50%. It may slowly fill in given time or remain the same. We may have pets that come in with facets that are deeper and leave well enough alone especially if they have a relatively sedate lifestyle where repeat injury seems unlikely. The photo below shows an old dog with a shallow facet with a rim of vessels but reasonable clarity to not warrant any additional intervention.Shallow facet after a healed stromal ulcerThese are just a couple of a examples of when and how medical management is chosen and the potential results of such an intervention. Some dogs and cats get more vessels, pigment and scarring and others get less. The challenge for us is to initially stop the digestion, encourage a reaction and then try to reverse the process to improve the clarity. Different species have different levels of reactivity and scarring that we try to manipulate as best we can. Next time, we will discuss the surgical choices in those patients where the risk of rupture is high without giving some structural support.The staff, spouses, friends and party crashers of the Animal Eye Clinic want to wish you and your pets a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and love! May 2020 be the best year yet!Each year the AEC, along with many other ophthalmologists across the country, will examine animals with an active service job for free! It is part of our way of giving back to these wonderful animals that help us in so many facets of our daily lives. This occurs every May so if you missed this year, you can try again next by going to www.acvo.org and searching for the Service Animal Event.THE CRITTERS OF THE AEC!!!Why are we here and why do we do what we do? That s always a good question to ask one s self and one that hasContinue reading Service Dog Exams and AEC Critters!Tired of the rain yet? The grass is soaked, basements are flooded, rivers are swollen. Where is the summer sun? And the humidity hasn t been much fun either. With the non-stop rain here in Connecticut, everything seems to be dripping. That includes lots of our canine patients as they run in from the parking lot! We also see lots of weepy eyes where the complaint is primarily a clear, sometimes colored, discharge. Let s take a look to see what may be behind the scenes with this presentation.When our patients present with clear discharge, my first question is whether we areContinue reading It is Dripping Wet!After a long and cold winter (is it over yet?), the verdicts are back for our winter fashion award winners here at the Animal Eye Clinic. Contestants included any dog that came in wearing anything to keep them warm and chic! This spontaneously concocted event was prompted by all the different clothes we saw this year along with our endless supply of cold days. Award winners will get extra scratches at their next visit. Many owners of these fashion forward critters commented on the numerous choices they had at home, be it costume or functional in nature, that they couldContinue reading WINTER FASHION AWARDS!Glaucoma is a painful, blinding disease that by definition is an increase in the pressure inside the eye. It is a bummer of a disease, probably the worst one we see. Why? Because no matter what approach is taken to attack this disease, our goal is usually to delay, not prevent, vision loss. This doesn t paint a real rosy picture. But as long as this is understood, then together we can make educated decisions on how we want to manage the problem. Let s talk a little about this entity and see if I can make it a little easier toContinue reading The Pressure is RisingEmail! Tweets! Snapchat! Instagram! Facebook! Yikes!!!We have so many ways to communicate with each other and yet the art of communication seems to be getting lost in the chaos. Multitasking, usually in the form of a downward stare at a cell phone, occurs constantly in our society even if the action is right in front of our face. We try to stay one step ahead of our day, knocking out an errand while doing another, getting a jump on the next event all while staying in time with the constant deluge of emails and texts that raid our devices. NotContinue reading New technology, old fashioned serviceI must confess, I have been remiss at updating my post here at the Animal Eye Clinic. Part of this was intentional, as the last post describes the new cataract surgery machine we purchased last year that is working like a charm. Changes in technology are fascinating and very rewarding when we, as veterinarians, find one that applies to our patients and is cost effective in this ever-changing world of health care. Part of my delay was unintentional, as changes of the kids school, health of relatives, staffing and life in general often reworks our life and schedule when weContinue reading A Change in the SeasonCataract surgery in the dog is a highly successful procedure that many owners have chosen for their four-legged friends to regain or improve vision. Cataracts in general and a brief discussion of the preoperative workup and surgery is presented in a prior post that you can peruse if interested titled Cataracts in the Dog. (You can find this older post if you scroll to the bottom of this page and click on Older Entries.) Removal of an opaque, cataractous lens is an elective procedure that is chosen if we feel we can improve our dog s quality of life by returningContinue reading Technology Upgrade for Cataract Surgery at the AEC Contact Us: Animal Eye Clinic783 Danbury RoadWilton, CT 06897Telephone (1): 203-762-9399Telephone (2): 203-587-1224Fax: 203-587-1226 Hours: Monday-Thursday:8:30AM-5PMFriday:8:30AM-12:30PMSaturday:closed

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