If you know who Jimmy Carruthers is then it should come as no surprise that this handsome boxer is named Carruthers!
Carruthers visited us at Uni Vets Camden a few weeks ago because his eye was looking rather red and quite teary. We stained the eye in order to investigate the possibility of an ulcer, as this breed is prone to indolent ulcers, or ‘non-healing’ ulcers, so much so they are also known as Boxer ulcers.
The mean age of onset is six years old and the right eye is more commonly affected with approximately 50 per cent of suffers having a recurrence of the problem in the same or opposite eye.
As shown in the image of Carruthers, the presence of an ulcer is identified by adding a florescent dye and then shining a special light across the eye. The areas that shine green indicate ulceration.
Ulcers occur when the surface of the cornea, or outer layer of the eye, no longer adheres to the underlying tissue. In cases of indolent ulcers the eye can sometime take months to heal and can even require surgery and treatment by a specialist ophthalmologist.
We prescribed antibiotics and pain relief for Carruthers, and although it took some time, his ulcer is now showing signs of improvement.
If your animal has redness or cloudiness in the eye, a coloured discharge, excessive tearing or is squinting a lot, make sure you book them in for a consultation.
(Oh and for those who don’t know who Jimmy Carruthers is, you probably already guessed he was a boxer but he was a famous Australian boxer who became world champion in the bantamweight division last century.)
