Good news on her eyes

We visited our new eye vet again yesterday for a check-up on the status of Susie-Belle’s dry-eye (KCS) and it seems that at long, long last she is beginning to respond to the tacrolimus ointment and her tear production is increasing.

We are going to continue on with the ointment, she’ll probably have to stay on it for life but we can stop putting in the artificial tears for the next month and he’ll reassess it. It may well be that the additional oils that I’ve been adding to her foods now for several months to increase the essential fatty acid levels in her diet may finally be producing results. Certainly we’ve noticed that her coat has got decidedly thicker, softer and shinier; she had a bald patch between her shoulder blades all through the winter months caused by her first harness rubbing, it was about the size of an orange and I thought her hair was permanently lost as there has been no sign of growth at all. Then about a month ago I noticed tiny signs of new hair growth around the edges of the patch and now the area is about the size of a fifty-pence piece and getting visibly smaller by the day….well almost.  The speed of hair regrowth is remarkable now it’s finally got going.

I know in human dermatology there are associations between hair, skin, eyes and I think the auto-immune mediated nature of KCS may well be now under control, reflected not only in the improved tear production but also her hair regrowth.  I treat Susie-Belle holistically, we do all we can with her diet to provide her with the best chance of having a long and healthy life with us. It’s so heartening to know that it might now be starting to pay off in tangible ways and her eyes be less of a bother for her.