Right now, Rudy's health has been a big part of our everyday lives. Rudy will be 9 years old in November, and for 2 years he has lived with an age-related and permanent disease called "Iris Cyst". Iris Cysts are small cysts/bubbles that float around inside the eye. Iris cysts are not usually a problem, but if they are stuck in a certain way (e.g. stuck or stuck on the pupil itself), they can be irritating.
Since we were diagnosed, he has been given eye drops daily to minimize the redness and irritation they cause to the eye. Rudy's right eye has cysts that are stuck. The left eye swims around just fine and is not a problem yet. These eye drops have been effective and for 1 year, I have been completely calm around his eyes, since we have had it completely under control.
Unfortunately, in April it became too much. The eye drops have the side effect of slowly destroying his immune system, which has made him more susceptible to corneal damage, which is far worse and more painful than the cysts.
4 months have therefore passed with several eye surgeries, thousands of eye drops and many vet visits, which have really cost the bank - and extra because Rudy has a really poor healing process due to his age.
Finally, we are over the corneal damage, and now we need to get the iris cysts under control so that we can have a normal everyday life again, but of course with medication that he will have to take for the rest of his life.
I dream that he can settle for 1 type of eye drop or 1 pill, but it doesn't seem like that's the solution we'll end up with.
We are currently trying a lot of different medications, as mild as possible, so that Rudy's life is not shortened or his quality of life is not impaired. However, I have taken the liberty of asking the vet about the worst-case scenario, which is to remove the eye if we don't find a solution.
In some way, it is reassuring to know that removing the eye is the absolute worst thing that can happen, because a dog can still have a beautiful life with only 1 eye. However, it cuts to my heart that we have not yet had problems with the left eye – and in that situation, the worst-case scenario would again be to remove the eye.
But how cool a dog's life is it to lose both eyes?
We're on our toes, and it's not because we're about to lose him now, but the more focus there is on his illness, the more we realize how big a problem it actually is. We're taking it one day at a time, doing what we can to ensure his quality of life is top notch, and then we'll see how long we can keep it going. Hopefully a few more years, because we're not done hating him at all.
This is the first time we have ever needed our dog insurance, but now it really came in handy, so my best advice from here is that you shouldn't compromise on things like that.
Bloggers of the week
This blog post is written by Mie Eriksson, who is the lucky owner of a beautiful Old English Bulldog named Rudy. Together with Mie's son, Ludwig, they are active on Instagram with the profile @erikssons_boys
When illness announces its arrival
Right now, Rudy's health has been a big part of our everyday lives. Rudy will be 9 years old in November, and for 2 years he has lived with an age-related and permanent disease called "Iris Cyst". Iris Cysts are small cysts/bubbles that float around inside the eye. Iris cysts are not usually a problem, but if they are stuck in a certain way (e.g. stuck or stuck on the pupil itself), they can be irritating.
Since we were diagnosed, he has been given eye drops daily to minimize the redness and irritation they cause to the eye. Rudy's right eye has cysts that are stuck. The left eye swims around just fine and is not a problem yet. These eye drops have been effective and for 1 year, I have been completely calm around his eyes, since we have had it completely under control.
Unfortunately, in April it became too much. The eye drops have the side effect of slowly destroying his immune system, which has made him more susceptible to corneal damage, which is far worse and more painful than the cysts.
4 months have therefore passed with several eye surgeries, thousands of eye drops and many vet visits, which have really cost the bank - and extra because Rudy has a really poor healing process due to his age.
Finally, we are over the corneal damage, and now we need to get the iris cysts under control so that we can have a normal everyday life again, but of course with medication that he will have to take for the rest of his life.
I dream that he can settle for 1 type of eye drop or 1 pill, but it doesn't seem like that's the solution we'll end up with.
We are currently trying a lot of different medications, as mild as possible, so that Rudy's life is not shortened or his quality of life is not impaired. However, I have taken the liberty of asking the vet about the worst-case scenario, which is to remove the eye if we don't find a solution.
In some way, it is reassuring to know that removing the eye is the absolute worst thing that can happen, because a dog can still have a beautiful life with only 1 eye. However, it cuts to my heart that we have not yet had problems with the left eye – and in that situation, the worst-case scenario would again be to remove the eye.
But how cool a dog's life is it to lose both eyes?
We're on our toes, and it's not because we're about to lose him now, but the more focus there is on his illness, the more we realize how big a problem it actually is. We're taking it one day at a time, doing what we can to ensure his quality of life is top notch, and then we'll see how long we can keep it going. Hopefully a few more years, because we're not done hating him at all.
This is the first time we have ever needed our dog insurance, but now it really came in handy, so my best advice from here is that you shouldn't compromise on things like that.
Bloggers of the week
This blog post is written by Mie Eriksson, who is the lucky owner of a beautiful Old English Bulldog named Rudy. Together with Mie's son, Ludwig, they are active on Instagram with the profile @erikssons_boys