Pure german, awful eye condition - Page 1

East Valley 5/15/12
A1135438--Rocky--6 yr pure german shep
Owner surrendered at 6 years old with hor...rible eye disease! he is either fully blind or almost there! he doesnt see your hand until you touch him, but he is absolutely gorgeous and so friendly! gave so many kisses! i'd like to see this boy get out of there before he loses his loving personality in the kennel, and being that he has this awful eye condition, im thinking his chances of adoption from shelter are very slim! its hard to see his eyes in the pics, but they look terrible in person! they have this gooey red looking substance on them, cant see a pupil at all! Please Please help this boy! kennel worker says he is very friendly and always happy for company

City of Los Angeles East Valley Animal Shelter
14409 Vanowen St
Van Nuys CA 91405
Phone: (888) 452-7381
Hours: 8AM to 5PM, Tuesday though Saturday, 12PM to 4PM Sunday

 

My guess is it's pannus.  My understanding is that it doesn't cause pain.  It's an autoimmune disease that causes extra cells to grow on the surface of the eyes, causing blindness. 
Many dogs can still lead good lives with blindness. 

Sounds as though the eye condition could be a condition called  Pannus  -  a "chronic superficial keratitis".  If so, this is a  non-suppurative, non-ulcerative inflammation of the cornea, which only occasionally covers the eyes to such a degree as to cause complete blindness.  It has been linked to auto-immune problems.  As far as I am aware the genetic route has not yet been fully clarified.
It is apparently treatable, but  I've only seen one very mild case 'in the flesh' and the vet advised no action at that time, so I can't tell you how it is treated - maybe someone else on here can fill that gap ?
I'm told that treatment does not mean it won't sometimes recur further down the track.

Without veterinary diagnosis that this IS what this dog has, and without treatment details, it is difficult to predict the commitment to care an adopter would need to be prepared to keep up.
Sorry I can't help further - but I wish you and this dog the best of luck in getting a 'forever home' for him.

There are several things that can be done for pannus, easiest being steroid drops in the eyes. It's a treatment that must continue, but it's not very hard or expensive. Can someone pull him? He's too sweet to stay there! Come on guys....I'm too far away, but could someone out West pull him? He needs to go to a rescue, like Steph has, & outta that pound!
Look at that face! He needs a hero! jackie harris

I have a German Import with Pannus. He is on eye drops for life.
Besides having Pannus he is also sterile.
German Breeder not interested and will not recompense me in any way. I paid a lot of money for him and had him trained up to SchH3 and KKL1. You can imagine how much this cost me.
I do not treat my puppy/dog purchasers like this.

I forgot to say this dog is almost 7 years old and will live with us for the rest of his life as our much loved house dog.

Good on you Ann, I know that you are one of the few who do care about where and who has your pups!!