# Anyone ever heard of this?



## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

A friend of mine has a 10+ yr old basset. For about the last month he has been on 
Prednisone
Tramadol Hydrochloride
Famotidine

Ever since he's been on these meds he has had really goopy eyes. They originally thought it was an eye infection and they gave him some ointment to put in his eyes. That seemed to work, and the goopyness went away. However, whenever he stops the goop comes back. I have not seen it; but he tells me that it looks like a yellowish color that you can see come up from the bottom area of his eyes. Now, when I hear yellowish, I think infection. I mean that's what they tell you when a person has a sinus infection. 
Now however the vet is thinking that it could be something to do with Dry Eyes and he may just need to continue the ointment forever? 
Seems kinda weird that a dog 10+ years old would all of a sudden get this dry eye condition and now need to have ointment 2-3x a day forever??
Has anyone ever used these meds and had anything similar happen. He was going to see if this was listed as a side affect of any of these drugs; but I thought I would ask my DFC peeps.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Well, i looked them up and none say eye discharge is a side effect, though prednisone can cause glaucoma and cataracts.

I wonder if maybe he should get a second opinion. The stuff that comes out of Snorekls eyes ends up brown and crusty, but not yellow. But we can also see it coming up from the bottom of her eye.


----------



## BeagleCountry (Jan 20, 2012)

I had a dog with dry eye (Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca). It occurred when she was 15 years old. The film was white, not yellow. Any vet can perform an inexpensive in office Schimer test to diagnose dry eye. The Schirmer tear test involves placing a commercial filter paper strip into the tear pool at the inner corner of the dog’s eye and leaving it for one minute to see how much of the strip is wetted. There are marks on the test paper to indicate the degree of dry eye. The treatment for the condition is Cyclosporin ointment (Optimmune is one brand. It is pricey.) with saline solution several times daily to keep the eye moist. A yellowish discharge indicates an infection. An inexpensive Teramycin ointment is commonly used for eye infections for a limited time. I'd suggest a second opinion with a Schimer test to accurately diagnose the condition. Not to put fear in your friend but with my dog it turned out dry eye was one of the first symptoms of nasal cancer that eventually spread.

Pred and Tramadol are given for pain. Usually serious pain such as severe arthritis or spinal cord pain. Famotidine (generic Pepcid AC) is a stomach protector which is appropriate with Pred and Tramadol.


----------



## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

Dry eye can be caused by several different medications. I'm not sure about those specific ones. One of my cats got it after being on clavamox. It cleared up after about a month. I assume your friends dog is on the meds long term? They may need to keep treating.


----------



## MissusMac (Jan 6, 2011)

Prednisone gave my dog dry, itchy eyes, dehydrated him, made him lethargic and overall very unlike himself. It was scary. One of the many reasons I'm wary of medications prescribed by vets these days.


----------



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

MissusMac said:


> Prednisone gave my dog dry, itchy eyes, dehydrated him, made him lethargic and overall very unlike himself. It was scary. One of the many reasons I'm wary of medications prescribed by vets these days.


Even for people - steroids do great things if they don't kill you in the process.


----------



## MissusMac (Jan 6, 2011)

I also forgot to mention that it made him have to empty his bladder more often, and he even had an accident in the house! I knew something was really wrong then, because he'd been housetrained for almost a year at that point. It was actually really scary to see the changes in him, so I took him off of the prednisone after the accident, called the vet and they said "yeah, that can happen."

It was prescribed because he was shaking his head a lot.


----------



## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

MissusMac said:


> I also forgot to mention that it made him have to empty his bladder more often, and he even had an accident in the house! I knew something was really wrong then, because he'd been housetrained for almost a year at that point. It was actually really scary to see the changes in him, so I took him off of the prednisone after the accident, called the vet and they said "yeah, that can happen."
> 
> It was prescribed because he was shaking his head a lot.


Well, I keep trying to convince him to take him to PT instead of doing the meds. He procrastinated and I think because Oscar does not ride well in the car, he's kinda taking the easy way out. That is interesting about your experience with this; because he has told me similar stories with the water intake, and also a couple accidents he's had. He has also said that Oscar is very constipated. 

Thanks for the info. Maybe I can convince him to do the PT so he can get off of these things!!


----------



## wags (Jan 31, 2009)

My one dog is on Only Tramadol and has No eye problems , no goop ,nothing! And no constipation , no probs at all but like I said she is only on the tramadol so I don't know about the other two things the dog is on, but I can safely say with my dog that it wouldn't be the tramadol!


----------



## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

wags said:


> My one dog is on Only Tramadol and has No eye problems , no goop ,nothing! And no constipation , no probs at all but like I said she is only on the tramadol so I don't know about the other two things the dog is on, but I can safely say with my dog that it wouldn't be the tramadol!


I think Tramadol, is a pretty "light" pain reliever. I only think that; because after Khan had his surgery 2 weeks ago my vet gave me some of these. He told me that I could give him 1-2 pills up to 3x a day depending on his level of discomfort. It was almost as if it was an afterthought. We were actually talking in the room and when we lifted his head to look at the surgery site, Khan let out a little cry. That's when he said, you know, maybe I'll give you some of these. I only gave them to him for the first few days.


----------



## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Chelsy was on continuous Tramadol for her back pain. It is also given to humans for pain. Eventually we had to combine it with another medication. The prednisone is not something you would want to continue long term because it will cause a lot of problems but the Tramadol should not if he is in pain.

Dry eye can often appear as they age and Chelsy had it. The tear test can show it, but it can also show a false negative. Chelsy had severe dry eye but her paper tear test always came back negative. The vet first needs to stain the eye to make sure the dog doesn't have an underlying scratch that is causing the yellowish discharge. Dry eyes itch terribly and the dog will rub them and scratch them. Then they will need a different ointment for awhile.

After the scratch heals, they will need a drop at least twice a day for the rest of their life. It's really not a big deal. I just got the over the counter drops at the drugstore. But you have to make sure there isn't a scratch on the eye first, because it will need healed.


----------

