Rolling Dog Farm Blog

During blind Charlie's eye exam back in May with our vet, Dr. Brenda Culver, we noticed that his pupils reacted to light — which meant his retinas were detecting it somehow, even through his cataracts.  Now, it's not at all uncommon to have fully functioning retinas in eyes that are blinded by cataracts.  But the only way to find out is with an electroretinogram, or ERG, which tests retinal function.  And that was one of the reasons for a trip to the vet clinic in Helena today.

Long-time blog readers know that we are blessed with an excellent primary care vet in Brenda who also has a special interest in ophthalmology.  Because of her skills and her diagnostic equipment, she can do many of the things — including eye surgery — that we would typically need to see an ophthalmologist for.  In our case, the nearest one is Dr. Bill Yakely in Spokane, Washington.  Brenda consults closely with Dr. Yakely, and the result is that we have to make very few trips to Spokane for eye issues.

Dr. Yakely had encouraged Brenda to get an ERG machine so she could perform these tests herself.  When we had taken a blind puppy named Cody to Dr. Yakely several years ago for cataract surgery that restored Cody's vision, Dr. Yakely told me that only about 50% of the dogs he sees for cataract surgery turn out to be candidates for the procedure … and that's because the retinas aren't firing well enough.  So the ERG is the diagnostic tool that determines who is and who isn't a surgical candidate. 

Dr. Yakely had offered to coach Brenda on the use of the ERG and interpret the results for her.  If a dog turned out to be a candidate for cataract surgery, Brenda would refer the case to Dr. Yakely for the operation. 

Thus we were excited when Brenda recently acquired an ERG machine so we could test Charlie's retinal function without having to make the trip to Spokane — and Charlie was her very first patient!  In the photo at top, Charlie is "wired" with electrodes that "read" how his retinas react to a light flashed into his eye (from the yellow device Brenda is holding in that photo).

Here's another view taken during testing of his right eye:

Those electrodes are hooked up to a small white box that is connected to a laptop, and the results are projected in graph form on the computer:

We had different results from his two eyes, so we are going to wait until Dr. Yakely interprets the data and delivers his opinion.  Sorry to leave you holding on this one!

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I took other animals to the vet clinic today, including little Teddy.  In addition to a dental, he'll have bloodwork, a urinalysis (he's peeing a lot), and other tests.  Here is Brenda listening to his heart:

She detected a fairly pronounced murmur, so he'll have an echocardiogram as well.  No results in yet on Teddy, but we'll keep you posted.  I left Teddy at the clinic, and as I walked out, I could hear him from the back, barking and barking from his cage — "I want to go home, I tell ya, so let me out of here!"

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In response to yesterday's post about Twist's adoption, a number of people have asked how his buddy Oliver is doing.  The answer is:  He's fine!  He's running around and playing with blind Austin this afternoon, and he has plenty of other friends here.  No need to worry about him!

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This is the last week for the contest — voting
ends next Sunday, July 26th at midnight (PST).  Please enlist your
family, friends and colleagues to join you in voting for the ranch as
we count down to the finish line.  Remember, you can vote for us every
day in The Animal Rescue
Site/PetFinder's Shelter Challenge. 
Enter
"Rolling Dog Ranch" and our state postal code, MT for Montana,
and it will bring up our listing so you can cast your vote.

With one week to go, we're still No. 3, and that means a $3,000 grant if we can hold that spot!  Thanks for voting!