Sadly the surgery scheduled for Asa today is no longer an option. During the reexamination blood was detected in the eye. Similar to the previous time he had hemorrhaging in that eye, we do not know the source of the bleeding. It could be a tick-borne disease, or an undetected underlying condition? The eye specialist did not think hypertension was the cause based on the fact that the previous hemorrhages healed on their own, only to reappear months later. It would be more consistent if due to high blood pressure. However, what Asa’s ophthalmologist explained was that hemorrhaging is not something normally associated with Golden Retriever Pigmentary Uveitis. So yes, our little buddy is proving once again to be atypical.

Because of the inflammation, it would not be safe to do the eye surgery to remove the clot blocking his vision. To combat what may be the cause of the bleeding, Asa will be on antibiotics. Previously when this happened in April, the eye specialist ordered a blood panel with his primary vet. However because that came back inconclusive the last time, he said it would be an unnecessary delay in treatment. He also added another eye drop to Asa’s regiment, as well as increased the frequency of the steroid drops, with the hope that it would calm the eye down, and slow escalation.

The ophthalmologist gently prepared us that Asa’s eye is now in the “red zone,” and progressing towards blindness. We do not know how much time Asa has left with his vision, but we promise to make each day count. We are also preparing Asa for life without vision, and promise to be right by his side every step of the way.

We can’t thank you enough for what all your love, positive energy and prayers mean to us. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your support on Asa’s journey with Golden Retriever Pigmentary Uveitis. We’ll be taking a little time off from posting to regroup from this news, but will be back!