A second opinion on Derry's eye

I took Derry to another vet this morning for a second opinion on his eye.

Ironically, it was the clinic I had taken Chumley and Annie to, years ago, a bit further away from me. (Another, closer clinic I had called was booking into October, too late for me.)

It was very long, we were there for at least three hours all told. Very expensive, as I knew they would be, but also very thorough, which I appreciated.

Derry has at least two issues at the moment:

1. Corneal ulcer

2. Eosinophilic keratitis (the suspected diagnosis back in January) AND/OR ulcerative keratitis

They did the pressure test for glaucoma, and while the left eye reading is pretty close to the top end (however they measure it), he does not have glaucoma at this time.

They also stained the eye, which is how they picked up the ulcer. (My regular vet DID this last week, but either it hadn't yet developed or he missed it.)

So right now Derry will get antibiotic ointment four to five times a day, as well as eye lubricant gel twice a day, as his eye is dry. (The eye was tested and found dry back in January, but the regular vet did not give us anything or even recommend eye lubricant.) I also have gabapentin for the pain and to relax him, a very low dose, IF he'll ingest it. (Pill format, the vet told me to crush it up and put it in his canned twice a day.)

She wants to recheck the ulcer next week, so we have a follow up appointment for Wednesday morning, the 28th.

When (hopefully not "if") the ulcer heals, Derry will then need topical anti-inflammatory eye ointment for the keratitis. At least our regular vet was on the right track with that.

I also asked for blood work and a urine analysis, as it's been five months and he has lost a bit of weight, plus his urinary output has increased to four - six (or even seven) times a day. I do have him on urinary hyrolyzed protein dry food (plus his Z/D canned), so that alone will increase pee frequency and volume, but this is excessive for him. He's been on the urinary/hydrolzed dry for a while now and only recent has started peeing so frequently. He IS over 15 now, so I'm not expecting him to live for years to come, but as long as he's with me, I want him to live well. Or as well as possible.

I need to put his cone back on and leave it on, but I want him to decompress a bit first. He's currently outside on his lawn chair. It's been a very stressful morning for him! (Me too.)

This is what loves looks like. From early Sunday morning.