Starting your own veterinary practice takes dedication and hard work, but it can also be greatly rewarding. You get to determine where you work, who you work with, and what kind of practice you want to have. It’s the best of all worlds with you in the driver’s seat.

Once you’ve made the decision to go for it, you’ll need to start wearing all kinds of hats. It’s what entrepreneurship is all about – getting you in the know of everything you need to run a smart, successful practice. With the right expertise, research, knowledge, and tips from those who’ve been there, you’ll have a more promising start in making your mark for your veterinary practice.

Gain Experience as a Veterinarian

When opening your own veterinary practice, the last thing you need to be doing is developing your skills as a veterinarian. It’s best to already have a few years of experience in hand, building confidence for you and your patients. Then you can tap into specialties for your practice, adding more advanced care and treatments as your veterinary practice takes off.

Revisit Business 101

That freshman business class doesn’t have to go to waste now that you’re starting your own veterinary practice. If you need a refresher, it may be worth the time and investment to complete an online small business course to ensure you know the basics of how to run a business. Those who skip this important step often find themselves wishing they hadn’t. 

Do the Groundwork

Research. Research. Research. Learn everything you can about what it takes to build a successful veterinary practice. Do you rent or own a space? Use an existing location or build? How will you find customers? How will you separate your practice from the competition? Talking with experts – accountants, architects, insurance agents, other veterinary practice owners – can give you extra knowledge you need to make smart decisions.

Check in With Your Budget

You’re going to need cash flow to get your veterinary practice off the ground. Look at your needs and wants to see how they fit within your financial plan. It could be that you don’t really need to build right now. Maybe you’d prefer to invest in advanced technologies and equipment. Once you have a solid plan, obtaining a loan may be an option to consider.

Find Your Talent

For a new veterinary practice, you can plan on needing a receptionist, a technician, and an assistant. As you grow, you can build your team as your client base and revenue builds. 

Provide Better Care

One of the ways to stay ahead of your competition is to offer better care to your patients.

Stay in touch with the latest therapies, surgical procedures and treatments as well as veterinary medicine innovators, like Vetrix regenerative medicine.
Contact one of our professionals to rethink healing with the latest Vetrix advancements in pet treatments for your new veterinary practice.

Just as glaucoma is a primary cause of vision loss in humans, eye disease can be just as big of a threat to canines. This condition can come about due to genetic makeup or other causes but is almost always a progressive problem that should involve careful management by a veterinary ophthalmologist.

What causes glaucoma, how do symptoms present, and how do you treat glaucoma in dogs? Let’s take a closer look.

What Is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease that is characterized by increased intraocular pressure (IOP) within the eye. IOP of the eye is maintained when the aqueous humor (eye fluid) that contains nutrients and vital oxygen is properly drained after production and use by the eye structures. This fluid is normally drained away from the eye after serving its purpose through an area between the cornea and iris known as the anterior chamber.

Dogs with glaucoma have a problem with the excess fluid draining from the eye, which generates undue pressure within the eye. This pressure can lead to damage or degeneration of both the optic nerve and retina, which can lead to total blindness over time.

There are actually two types of glaucoma: primary and secondary. Eye disease affects around 1.7 percent of the total dog population in North America.

What Causes Dog Glaucoma?

The main cause of glaucoma is the lack of aqueous fluid drainage that creates high intraocular pressure on the optic nerve, but the disease itself may have further root causes. Unlike humans, glaucoma among canines has not been found to be caused by an overproduction of aqueous fluid.

Primary Glaucoma

Primary glaucoma is usually rooted in genetics; there may be an abnormal anatomical feature that impedes the fluid drainage process. Specific breeds are more prone to glaucoma than others, such as:

• Poodles
• Beagles
• Basset Hounds
• Cocker Spaniels
• Terrier Breeds

Primary glaucoma most often shows up in one eye initially but does usually affect both of the dog’s eyes.

Primary closed-angle glaucoma, primary narrow-angle, and primary closed angle are all variations that can be possible in dogs. 

Secondary Glaucoma

Secondary glaucoma occurs due to heightened intraocular pressure after an illness or injury that affects the eye and changes normal intraocular pressure. Some of the most common causes include:

• Chronic uveitis – inflammation or infection of the eye that causes drainage blockage
• Anterior lens luxation – the lens slips forward and causes drainage blockage
• Ocular or facial tumors – forces a blockage that impedes proper drainage
• Corneal ulceration – a ruptured lens creates a blockage due to inflammation and scar tissue
• Intraocular bleeding – may cause a blood clot to form that creates a blockage

The secondary form is most common in canines, and can also affect certain dog breeds that have more protruding eyes.

Secondary closed-angle glaucoma and secondary open-angle glaucoma are possible further classifications in this form of glaucoma.

The Difference Between Acute and Chronic Glaucoma

Glaucoma can also be either acute glaucoma or chronic glaucoma, and vets do usually divide the signs into one or the other during treatment. Acute glaucoma is considered an emergency situation in veterinary ophthalmology, while chronic glaucoma is more of a long-term problem. Chronic forms of the disease usually present symptoms slowly over time instead of suddenly.

An acute situation may be caused by an injury or situation that drastically causes increased pressure over the course of a few hours. In some cases, a dog’s vision is salvageable if promptly treated by a veterinary ophthalmologist, but only about 50 percent of dogs retain their visual capacity.

Symptoms of Canine Glaucoma

Glaucoma symptoms for dogs may come on slowly or suddenly, depending on whether the situation is acute or chronic and primary or secondary glaucoma. Some of the telltale symptoms include:

• Watery discharge from the eye
• Physically visible changes to the eyeball, such as bulging or red and engorged sclera
• Signs of eye pain, such as holding the eye closed, rubbing at the eye, or refusing to allow you to touch that side of the head
• Lethargy, unresponsiveness, malaise, loss of appetite
• Dilated pupil in the affected eye 
• Loss of vision, either gradual or suddenly

Symptoms with the eye disease can be present for some time before the owner realizes there is an issue, but in acute cases, a dog can actually experience total vision loss in just a few hours.

Diffuse corneal edema (swelling of the cornea) can also be a sign of glaucoma, even though the condition can be related to other conditions like endothelial dystrophy.

Treatment for Canine Glaucoma

Most treatments for canine glaucoma focus on two goals: normalizing IOP to preserve or regain vision and alleviating pain by controlling IOP if vision is permanently lost. Good results can be achieved with a proper diagnosis and advanced treatments as part of a comprehensive care plan for the long term.

There are many treatments for canine glaucoma, but not all represent a higher level of care for maximized veterinarian services. Both medicinal and surgical treatment options may be necessary for optimal outcomes in some cases.

Medicinal Treatment for Dogs with Glaucoma

Medical therapy is most often a medicinal effort with either topical or systematic solutions. Below are a few often used for medical treatment in the earlier stages after the diagnosis.

Prostaglandin Analogs

As a topical therapy, prostaglandin analogs have been shown to lower IOP by increasing aqueous humor outflow. This presents a state of miosis and may physically open the iridocorneal angle for improved flow. 

Osmotic Diuretics

This treatment is used primarily for cases of acute glaucoma where vision can be improved. For many patients, mannitol significantly reduces IOP within 15 minutes of use. Oral glycerin is also effective, leading to a decrease of IOP within 30 minutes of use.

Topical Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors (CAIs)

Systemic and topical CAIs decrease the production of aqueous humor by reducing the synthesis of bicarbonate in the ciliary body. Methazolamide is a CAI that has been used for the treatment when dogs are unable to be treated topically.

Beta-Blockers

To help reduce the amount of aqueous humor, beta-blockers can be used for treatment, and some have actually been examined in a multicenter clinical trial. IOP reduction with beta-blockers is mild, which is why it is often used with other anti-glaucoma therapy. It’s important to note that beta-blockers should not be administered to dogs with asthma or cardiovascular disease.

Surgical Treatment Options for Dogs Glaucoma

Surgery may be recommended for either primary or secondary glaucoma if some defect in the anterior chamber could potentially be corrected. For example, anterior chamber shunts may be used to improve drainage away from the anterior area.

In later stages of the disease, laser surgery may be recommended to control intraocular pressure and keep the dog as comfortable as possible.

End-Stage Glaucoma Treatment with Enucleation

If all other treatments have proven ineffective and blindness is imminent, veterinary ophthalmologists transition from disease management to focusing purely on keeping the dog comfortable. During the final stage of glaucoma, the IOP can get excessively high, which makes the dog extremely uncomfortable. The most straightforward solution is enucleation (surgical eye removal).

What Happens If You Don’t Treat Glaucoma in Dogs?

Glaucoma is a progressive condition, which means a lack of intervention with veterinary medicine is likely to lead to blindness. Usually, the IOP will gradually worsen until the fluid and pressure buildup is so great that damage occurs to the retina or optic nerve.

Can a Dog Live with Glaucoma?

Dogs can live with glaucoma indefinitely, even though their quality of life can be affected without glaucoma therapy. Likewise, dogs can manage well even with total blindness; the animals learn to rely on other senses to navigate, including their keen sense of smell and hearing.

Is a Dog with Glaucoma in Pain?

Dogs with glaucoma can be in pain, especially in the latter stages of the disease. As the IOP builds within the eye, the dog is likely to show signs of distress and discomfort. This is one reason why it’s so important for dogs with glaucoma to be closely monitored; if the disease causes too much discomfort, the dog’s quality of life can be detrimentally affected.

We all need oxygen to survive. When it comes to dogs and cats, you may be surprised to learn the two tissues that need oxygen the most are the brain and the retina. Both have perfectly evolved to use high levels of oxygen at just the right balance of oxidative stress.

The retina and the brain have similar barriers of specialized cells that protect them from toxins. Many factors—including aging and eye inflammation—can cause a breakdown in the control of oxidative stress, leading to poor retinal health such as a retinal detachment. These can occur quite easily due to a weakened neural retina that separates and “unzips” from the retinal pigment epithelium.

Retinal Detachments

Dogs and cats are often seen for retinal detachments. It’s often a genetic condition for dogs or a result of trauma, cancer, uveitis, or cataract surgery. High blood pressure is the largest cause for senior cats. Both can experience loss in night vision when age is a factor. 

Most Common Retinal Disease for Dogs

More commonly seen as a genetic retinal disease in dogs of all breeds is Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA). Most PRA patients are between the ages of 6 and 8. Many will also develop cataracts. Unfortunately, there is no cure for PRA.

Vetrix Eye Solutions to Rethink Healing

Leading the way in regenerative treatments and technologies, Vetrix rethinks healing to promote cell growth and migration, while reducing inflammation within the eye for healthy healing.

Vetrix EyeQ Amniotic Eye Drops are one solution we offer to veterinarians to promote better eye health for their patients. These drops provide a micronized, naturally occurring, biological scaffold with innate high concentrations of anti-inflammatory components. Reduced inflammation and rapid epithelialization occur as a result.

Using EyeQ Amniotic Eye Drops is easy, and it’s packaged for a long shelf life. Following treatment, the patient is monitored to reveal successful results. While our EyeQ Eye Drops help treat many things, they are not a solution or treatment specifically for PRA. 

What Makes EyeQ Different

Promotes Healing

The product’s concentrations of growth factors and immune-privileged components promote rapid cell migration and epithelialization to the defect.

Modulate Inflammation

Offering strong concentrations of anti-inflammatory properties, EyeQ Amniotic Eye Drops modulate inflammation, creating an environment of superior healing.

Long-Lasting Lubrication

Hyaluronic acid presents a strong, long-lasting lubricant that prevents micro injury from blinking.

Learn More About Vetrix

Vetrix is an innovator in the development of state-of-the-art regenerative medicine to help veterinarians treat patients recovering from an illness, surgery, serious wound, or eye condition. EyeQ Amniotic Eye Drops can be ordered directly from our online store. 

We look forward to sharing more about our technologies and treatments with you!