Sards? (ERG test?)

[xserenee]

Has anyone ever experienced a dog with SARDS? I know that it's very similar to Cushing's... but I'm not completely sure what the relationship is. I know that SARDS is pretty rare, and I'm finding it hard to find very much information about it.

My dog recently lost his vision, very rapidly and he is drinking lots of water with a great increase in appetite. He is very lethargic and isn't acting like himself, although he doesn't seem to be in pain... The vet ruled out Cushing's using his bloodwork. I'm almost positive that this is SARDS, although we haven't been able to get an ERG test done yet. Using my own research I've been finding that SARDS may be an autoimmune disease caused by hormone imbalances within the body. It's not just the blindness that worries me, but if the autoimmune disease bit is true, then my dog will encounter further health problems and more complications as time goes on.

I just wanted to know if anyone has experienced this, and if there's anything I can do? I have read a lot of Dr. Plencher's work on SARDS but I am not sure if I can afford his protocal, or if it's even worth looking into, since standard veterinary medicine says there is no cure for this. Is there anything I can do by changing my dog's diet, or ANYTHING that will help with this...

More than anything, I want to know if anyone on here has experienced this with their dog because information is valuable to me. Thank you very much

[doxiesrock912]

Do your research and test for SARDS.
As I understand it is treatable and some sight can be recovered.
Find a small animal veterinary specialist who is familiar with it.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and your furbaby,

Glad you found us and we will help in any way we can. I don't have any experience with SARDS but on the forum we do have members with dogs suspected of having SARDS.

I'm going to provide some excerpts from their threads as to help in some way.


Hi and welcome to the forum.

I know how upsetting it is to see your baby go blind so suddenly and to watch them struggle to adjust. They adjust a lot faster and much better than us humans and I suspect Petey will be fine in a few months. Petey fits the perfect pattern of SARDS. A good number of dogs diagnosed with SARDS will start to show symptoms associated with cushing's before the onset of blindness. Most dogs with SARDS do not have typical cushing's so the usual diagnostic tests are negative for cushing's because blood cortisol levels are normal. What SARDS dogs do have is elevations in one or more of the intermediate (sex) steroids which cause most of the same symptoms associated with typical cushing's. A lot of experienced vets will opt to take a wait and see approachas these symptoms usually resolve on their own for a good many dogs...


Hi and welcome to the forum.

I only have a minute but can you tell me if your dog went blind suddenly, as in a day or two or a week? What symptoms does your dog have and how long had she had them before going blind? I ask because there is a condition called SARDS (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome) and dogs with this condition will show symptoms associated with cushing's and almost all will have elevated sex hormones before or most certainly after blindness. These elevations are often transient, meaning they normalize within several months. Vets familiar with this syndrome will wait four or five months to see if symptoms resolve before prescribing treatment...

If your dog went blind suddenly, I would recommend that you get her to veterinary opthamologist promptly to get her correctly diagnosed. If you are dealing with SARDS, your vet should consider having a full adrenal panel done at the University of Tenn Knoxville.

http://www.eyevet.ca/sards.html
http://www.carolonpets.com/blog/blind-dogs-cured-with-sards/

Glynda

There is a cure for SARDS but you have to act quickly. Here is a link to an article where 2 dogs with SARDS had their vision restored: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2007/may/blind.shtml

Hugs, Lori

[labblab]

Hello from me, too. Yes, we have had several members with dogs for whom SARDS has been suspected. If you use our "Search" feature and type in SARDS, you should be able to identify those members either through their thread titles or individual posts.

Unfortunately, I am not optimistic about recovery of vision if your dog does indeed have SARDS. That Iowa State research dates from around 2007 and generated a lot of excitement at the time, but I don't believe the alleged success of the protocol has been duplicated by others. The veterinarian who conducted the study program is no longer affiliated with the university vet school and is in individual private practice elsewhere in Iowa. If you want to know more about him, though, you can Google him (Dr. Grozdanic).

Personally, I am not a fan of Dr. Plechner's theories and approach. It involves giving supplemental steroids to dogs who already exhibit elevated adrenal hormone profiles. His explanation for this does not make sense to me and actually seems to me to have the potential to cause harm. But we have also had discussions about his approach elsewhere, so if you perform a search using his name, you should be able to find them.

The positive piece that I can offer out from our members' experiences here is that if Cushing's is ruled out, the symptoms other than vision loss do seem to ultimately resolve, or at least not worsen. So once the dog becomes acclimated to the blindness itself, it may be able to proceed with a very worthy life. Dr. Grozdanic is one who does associate SARDS with the potential for other autoimmune issues. But once again, I am not sure whether there is agreement among the wider vet community about the connection, and whether other systemic issues do frequently manifest or whether they are the exception.

Please do take a look at these other discussions, though, and then get back to us with any questions that are triggered.

Marianne

[xserenee]

Thank you very much for your replies. I will definitely do more research and search for SARDS and Dr. Plechner's theories etc, through this forum and continue to look for more information. I really appreciate your opinion labblab (Marianne) as it's making me feel a lot more optimistic about this whole thing, and I do hope you're right.
Again, thank you and I'm sorry if I'm not replying correctly as I'm not very familiar with how forums like this work :confused:
I hope and pray that my dog's health will not be at risk because of this horrible disease that is SARDS...

[labblab]

You are replying exactly correctly. :)

Also, I just came across this 2013 article from the Journal of the American Veterinary Association that I found to be very interesting, and you may, too.

Long-term outcome of sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome in dogs (http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.243.10.1426)

100 dogs with SARDS were examined at five different vet schools between 2005 and 2010, and these were the main results.


Results—Age at diagnosis was significantly correlated with positive outcome measures; dogs in which SARDS was diagnosed at a younger age were more likely to have alleged partial vision and higher owner-perceived quality of life. Polyphagia was the only associated systemic sign found to increase in severity over time. Medical treatment was attempted in 22% of dogs; visual improvement was not detected in any. Thirty-seven percent of respondents reported an improved relationship with their dog after diagnosis, and 95% indicated they would discourage euthanasia of dogs with SARDS.
Although some pieces were discouraging: medical treatment did not improve vision for any dogs, and the other overt symptoms did tend to persist over time. But excessive hunger was the only systemic symptom that increased, and I found it very interesting that so many owners reported an improved relationship with their dogs afterwards, and the overwhelming majority -- 95% -- did not perceive SARDS to be a reason for euthanasia. I found that to be a very positive indicator of quality of life after diagnosis.

Here is another article that summarizes this research in much greater detail. Once again, I felt as though the overall conclusions were quite positive.

http://speakingforspot.com/blog/2014/07/13/sudden-acquired-retinal-degeneration-syndrome-sards/

Please do let us know how your further testing turns out. Plus, we also have members here whose dogs have gone blind for other reasons, and they have great suggestions for ways to help your dog adapt. I hope they will soon be stopping by to greet you.

Marianne

[xserenee]

Does anyone know if you HAVE to have a dog that is completely blind in order for a veterinary ophthalmologist to perform an ERG test?

My dog isn't completely blind yet, he can still see somewhat even though his eyesight is very poor. We suspect this to be because of SARDS but it's been bothering me that I haven't had a definite diagnosis yet.

Do I need to have a blind dog to get an ERG done or is this something that we could have done at my last appointment with the opthamologist?

Thank you to anyone that has any information.

[labblab]

Hi again! You'll see I've merged your new question into your original thread. This is because it is ever so much easier for us to keep track of info when everything about a single dog is consolidated in one thread. I did edit your title, though, in order to reflect your new question.

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to your question, but I would have thought the opthalmologist would have known. Is this something you discussed at your last apppintment at all?

Marianne

[xserenee]

Oh okay, that's fine thank you.
My ophthalmologist seemed very ill-informed and quite rude about it all, it seemed like she wanted the appointment done and over with and basically told me to deal with my (soon to be) blind dog and left. I found that she isn't very educated about SARDS nor did it seem like she cared, and I was basically wondering if she put off the ERG because of her attitude towards the whole situation or because it is a must to wait for my dog to become blind. I guess I will call and find out. Is very frustrating dealing with a veterinary "professional" like that.
Thank you for your help and suggestions though, much appreciated.

[Renee]

This is a veterinary ophthalmologist you saw? Unbelievable.

I do hope there is another one in your area that you can see. That kind of treatment is inexcusable.

[molly muffin]

No a dog does not need to be blind to have an ERG performed. It does in fact provide a basis for measuring to see how far degeneration has occurred.

There are other causes too of blindness, such as retinal degeneration, high blood pressure (the cause of my dog losing significant focal point eyesight) among others.

My neighbors dog developed what they too think is SARDS and yet, she still goes lickty split down the sidewalk on her walks and sniffs trees and favorite potty spots on her walks.

I would see if it is possible to find a better ophthalmologist than the one you have. Vet Schools, call vet ER's and ask about their eye doctor staff, anything.

And welcome to the forum.

[judymaggie]

Just in case the slight chance exists that you are anywhere near the Tampa, Florida, area ... I have had my Abbie seen by an excellent opthamologist.

[molly muffin]

And if in Toronto, Canada area, there is an excellent eye clinic for dogs here too. :)