Subject and History

A 4-year-old Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen (PBGV) presented with a history of possible sight problems over the preceding four week period. The dog was in good physical health and there had been no major disease problems in its life. It was owned by a dog breeder and spent most of its days in a communal kennel situation together with some twenty other PBGV's. The owner had only noticed the occasional mistake when the dog had been taken out to dog shows, the mistakes being knocking into stationary objects, missing its footing on steps and fear of jumping in and out of the car. The owner had not noticed any signs of pain or discomfort and apart from a little "epiphora" bilaterally there had been no ocular discharge. To the owner the eyes appeared normal in all respects.

Clinical Examination

The patient appeared to be clinically sound and in good coat. There was a hesitancy about its walking to the examination room, but it did not have to be dragged. The performance in both lit and unlit maze was poor, again the hesitancy was seen and many mistakes were made. Superficially the eyes appeared normal: there was no ocular discharge, no blepharospasm, no photophobia, they were of normal size and both corneas were transparent. There was slight episcleral congestion, but bilateral fixed mydriasis and a lack of both direct and indirect light reflexes were obvious. The anterior chambers were deep and clear, but there was a bilateral subluxation of the lens. The tapetal reflectivity was judged to be normal, but there was some attenuation of the major superficial retinal blood vessels. The intraocular pressures were recorded as 30mmHg in the left eye and 32 mmHg in the right eye. Gonioscopy revealed an open iridocorneal angle with no pectinate ligament dysplasia.

In the lecture we will discuss the possible diagnoses and the efficacy of potential treatment.