Published: October 9, 2019
Most people who follow me and my dogs on social media know Zen recently was diagnosed with an eye disease. In this post I will tell you how we learned what it was and what it really is.
How the disease progressed
It all started at the end of June when I noticed small white crystal-like spots on Zen’s eyes. I got his eyes examined a few days later and was told he had Cornea Dystrophy which could be caused by fat secretion.
I put Zen on a low fat diet and went to the vet for a comprehensive blod test. The results showed nothing out of the ordinary and all levels was normal. The spots get on growing.
I therefore reached out to one of the top eye specialist in the Nordic region, Ernst Otto Ropestad at NMBU in Oslo. We got an appointment and after thorough examinations, he was able to give is a diagnose.
Atypical cronical superficial keratitis
This is an autoimmune disease where the immunsystem attacks healthy cells and destroy them. Treatment involves medication to suppress the immune system and and stop/slow down the disease.
The type of autoimmune disease Zen have, is localized to his eyes and can therefor be treated locally. He is treated with daily eye ointment and will need lifelong treatment.
Shades baby!
UV-radiation can make the diseases worse and therefore Zen should not be exposed for UV-radiation for longer periods of time. So, that is why he has the worlds coolest sunglasses for dogs, RexSpecs. They fit him great, weigh very little and is designed for all kind of usage. The people who invented RexSpecs did so when their dog was diagnosed with the same as Zen have.
We live in the now
Zen’s vision is still normal and has not been affected. We are very grateful and happy the prognoses are good and that Zen can continue life as before. As long as his condition stays the same, we have been granted exemption from NKK to continue competing (the eye ointment has 14 days deferred period).
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via Facebook or Instagram. When I am training or competing I prefer not to talk about this.
