Devoted Morecambe dog owner delighted after vet saves her pet's eyesight

Alan, a two-year-old Lhasa Apso dog owned by Kaitlyn Nicolson from Morecambe, was rapidly losing his sight, but is now back to his cheeky self after specialist treatment from an eye vet in Charnock Richard.

Kaitlyn said the first sign of trouble was when her beloved Alan started getting cloudy eyes.

This meant he was misjudging tasks that he would normally do easily, even missing the bed when trying to jump on it.

Concerned Kaitlyn rushed Alan to her local vets even though she and her family were due to go on holiday later that day.

Alan was quickly referred to Linnaeus-owned Veterinary Vision, in Charnock Richard, where veterinary ophthalmologist, Stephanie Veitch, took over his care and diagnosed him with immune-mediated vascular keratitis in both eyes.

Such was the severity of his condition, almost the entire surface of Alan’s corneas were covered in blood vessels, which was significantly impairing his vision.

Alan was immediately prescribed eye drops – a medication he will need to take for the rest of his life, but one which is very successful in treating the condition.

Kaitlyn said: “It was very emotional as I did not know what the outcome would be and I feared Alan would lose his sight.

“My mum and dad cared for Alan the week I was away and took him to his appointments to get his eye drops, which wasn’t easy at first.

“He now only needs one set of eye drops every morning and night and has learned to enjoy having them as he knows he’ll get a treat.

“You would now never know he had anything wrong with his eyes and he is back to his cheeky self again.”

Stephanie said: “It’s unusual to find this eye condition in a dog as young as Alan, and also unusual for his breed.

“However, Alan responded very well to his prescribed eye drops and after months of treatment his corneas are now much clearer.

“He will require lifelong monitoring and medication to maintain this, but he is quite clearly a very happy boy.”

For more information visit www.veterinaryvision.co.uk or search for Veterinary Vision on social media.