May 12, 2025

Nash is ten years old, and has had mild cataracts for several years. He had been to an opthamologist earlier, but not recently. His regular veterinarian did eye pressure checks during his annual checkups and they were normal. I knew that his litter mate had lost both of her eyes a few years ago due to glaucoma, but did not know that I should be having his eyes checked by a specialist.

On May 1 his behavior changed dramatically. He would not move or eat. He did want to go for a walk when I got out his leash. In the daylight, I saw that his right eye was totally clouded and swollen. He was seen by his doctor that afternoon, and I learned he had glaucoma. Could not contact any opthalmologist in our area, but the emergency vet told us what eye drops to get for him. He got in to see the specialist on Tuesday, and scheduled his enucleation; Eye could not be saved.

He is now recovering well and is much more comfortable. We hope the eye drops will keep his left eye healthy. Now that I know more, I will be certain to have regular checkups and also to be much more aware of any behavior changes that cqan indicate pain. You know how stoic they are, it's hard to tell...

Ruth Brittenham

Mar 21, 2024 | Stories

Hello, this is Jack. He is 2 we discovered at 7 months he had acute genetic glaucoma. It was so quick he went out in the morning I noticed his eye was glowing by the time we got him to the emergency vet he had lost all sight in that eye. We treated him with drops in both eyes but the one had to be removed as soon as possible he was in a lot of pain.

We were told he was going to lose the next eye as well but we kept treating him with two kinds of drops. Within 3 months the other eye went. Same thing his eye started glowing and he was blind within an hour. We had that one removed as well as soon as we could.


The great news is he recovered super fast and he is amazing. He is still very independent and rarely bumps into anything. I was devastated but he just kept on being an amazing friendly dog.


We got him from a woman in Quebec who just wanted to have one litter. Once I told her she got both the male and female fixed.


Anyhow, what started so devastating for our family ended up ok. Jack is amazing. We bought him a little brother Bouvier as well so two happy boy

Mar 21, 2024 | Stories

“I’ll never forget the day that Royce was diagnosed with glaucoma. He was two months shy of his 3rd birthday. That day started like any other day, and he seemed happy and playful that morning. I came back from some errands to find him on the couch, unwilling to open his eyes. I knew we were in trouble when he walked off the couch and into the wall. He was rushed to the vet. I wondered if the redness and cloudiness of the left eye was from soap irritation from his bath a few days ago or perhaps a recurrence of the blastomycosis that he’d just survived. Unfortunately, it was primary glaucoma. We tried to reduce the eye pressure with drops of latanoprost and cosopt every 15 minutes all through the night in an attempt to restore vision, to no avail. After a discussion of all the treatment options and risks, we decided to enucleate his left eye to elevate the pain. It was the best decision, and his mood improved dramatically after surgery. Gonioscopy on the good eye and histology of the removed eye revealed primary glaucoma with moderate to severe angle closure and goniodysgenesis in both eyes.

At the time of writing this article, his right eye pressure is still normal (7 months later) He is on Azarga eye drops (dorzolamide and timolol) three times daily with gonioscopy every 6 months. It is important to repeat gonioscopy as with age, the drainage angle changes. His right eye has changed subtly in the last 6 months for the worse. Now, we decide whether to risk laser surgery on that eye and potentially induce a pressure spike and lose the eye prematurely or watch and wait.

I have begun training him for the day that he does go blind with additional commands to help him navigate his world and enrolled him in several scent classes, which he adores. He is close to getting his first title in scent detection.

This is not a diagnosis anyone wants to get, but bouviers are a resilient breed and seem to adapt well to change. Hopefully, more studies are done on glaucoma in the Bouvier to help reduce its incidence in this beautiful breed.”

What do you do when your beautiful 2 year old Bouvier bitch develops glaucoma? After the shock and devastation of the diagnosis, all you can do is wonder how in world it happened. After all, I did my homework when it came to purchasing another Bouvier. I checked the health testing of both parents who passed all the required testing before breeding and bought my dog from a reputable breeder. I never dreamt that after 2 years I would be dealing with glaucoma.

A month after my dog had a litter of puppies, I noticed she was irritable and didn’t want to be bothered by her puppies. When I went to check to see what was bothering her, I pulled back her fall to discover her one eve was completely blue. Icontacted my vet immediately and he referred me to an eye specialist in our area. He told me it was glaucoma and that it was urgent to get her to the specialist. Unfortunately, it was too late to save that eye and it had to be removed. The other eye, although high in pressure, was saved for several years with daily glaucoma pressure drops. Eventually, she would go completely blind and lived with her blindness until she was 10 years old. Because I had no clue where the glaucoma came from, I was never able to breed the 2 beautiful show puppies I kept from her litter.

The eye specialist explained to me that Bouviers were very high on the list of dogs who develop glaucoma. After having Bouviers for over 15 years, this was a total shock to me. Never did anyone tell me about Bouviers and glaucoma. Breeders need to be forthcoming with this information ifthey know they have had issues with glaucoma.

It’s important for all Bouvier owners to do gonioscopies on their dogs periodically and check their dogs eyes daily for any changes. I wish I had know all this when I bought my first Bouvier. It took this horrible experience to show me how much we need to educate the public about glaucoma in Bouviers and other breeds of dogs prone to this problem.

Howard’s Story

Apr 1, 2024 | Glaucoma, Stories

Here is a quick summary of our experience with glaucoma and Bouviers. If you would like more details, please let me know.

1) Our first experience was with Rosie, a purebred, who had issues with both eyes, and never went totally blind, she was 6 to 7 years old. Died shortly after that of cancer. She did have glaucoma and tear duct issues.

2) Birgit was a rescue from Mo. puppy farm. She was about 6 when we got her, blind in one eye, Dr. Dugan had examined her for the rescue group, National Mill. He thought Glaucoma may have caused the blindness. About a week after having her she went blind in the other eye from glaucoma, had her to an emergency room ophthalmologist within hours of the event, and could not save the eye.

We then by happenstance took her to Dr Dugan. She was seen by him for the rest of her life every 6 months. Birgit lived to be close to 16.

3) The 3rd and current Bouvier has a jr. cataract which Dr. Dugan is monitoring closely every 6 months. We have since verified her line does have glaucoma issues in it.

Howard

Apr 1, 2024 | Glaucoma, Stories

My male is a 9-year-old 120 lb. dog who has titled in obedience, rally, carting, and therapy. While training two years ago, I tossed a treat, and he ran right by it. I called him back with an offhand comment, “Are you blind? It’s right in front of you.” When I called him back, I found that the eye on the side of the treat was completely blue. I was shocked, having no idea what was wrong. I immediately called my vet, who referred us to a specialist in another state as there was no one here. We took him to the specialist the next day who confirmed glaucoma as the problem. Enucleation of the affected eye was scheduled as he had no sight in it and the pressure was 78. We began aggressive treatment to save the second eye with several drops administered daily. We fought valiantly for 6 months but then agreed to the second enucleation as the pressure could not be controlled, and he had lost vision. My boy was depressed for a few weeks but soon responded to our female who insisted on playing with him. We have continued to train as he demands attention and wants to work. Although he has been blind for two years, he recently placed first in an obedience trial that allows handicapped dogs to compete. I wish AKC would allow this! Although this has been an awful shock to both of us, we have learned to deal with it. God bless whoever is studying this awful disease to eliminate it, as it has cost us a great deal of money and heartache.