At the beginning of March 2009, I went in to feed my gliders and thought that Dakota’s eye was reflecting strangely. I turned up the light and found that his eye was filled with blood, you could actually see it move when he moved. I took him to the vet in a panic, she looked at it and said that his retina had detached, which had caused his eye to fill with blood.
This is the picture taken at the vets about ½ hour after I initially saw him like this.
Since there was nowhere for the blood to go, she said the pressure had stopped the bleeding and the eye would continue to drain of blood as it was reabsorbed by the body, so the eye would not need to be removed, though he would likely lose his sight in that eye.
This picture was taken, back at home, about 2 - 2 ½ hours after the first picture was taken. The blood level has already significantly dropped. By morning, his eye just looked dark (I thought it looked darker than his other eye for a while).
The vet said that we will likely never know what caused it to happen. It could be related to high blood pressure, impact damage (like a fall or hard landing), genetics, age (since he was 8 at the time), or some combination. She told me that one detached retina could make it more likely that this will occur with his other eye, though there was no way to know for certain either way. She also said that they will occasionally see neurological symptoms with a detached retina. Dakota had 3 seizures in the two years previous to this happening, but none for several months before and he hasn’t had any since, so she did not think they were related.
He didn’t act any differently, or make any sounds before I found him this way. My vet said that it was sheer coincidence that I noticed a difference in him and happened to see it in the few hours it was bleeding and then draining, otherwise I probably would never have known.
Right away, I noticed that his eye reflected differently in light, and about 2 months later I noticed that change in his other eye as well (the reflections appear larger, like his pupils are more dilated and the color is slightly different. I can only assume that he has had retinal detachments in both eyes, but he has never lost all of his sight. He jumps without hesitation and I have not seen him miss his mark. I have really only noticed two differences, long term, which I do not think would be obvious to anyone else. He will occasionally rock side to side once or twice when he is looking at something, I don’t think he sees things quite as clearly as he used to. Secondly, I think he has lost most of his peripheral vision because I accidentally ‘sneak up’ on him sometimes. I will put my hand up by his head (on the pouch, or petting/working with his mate, Kira) and he won’t respond at all until he turns his head and jumps when he sees that I am right there. I try to make an effort to do everything straight on, now, so he knows where my hands are all or most of the time.
Mon Aug 02, 2010 2:05 am