Third eyelid....what could be wrong?

[LizzysDad]

Last Friday Lizzy developed a lump under her chin that was swollen, and filled with liquid...was not hard, it seemed infectious. It hung down and was very noticeable. I took her to the vet, and made an appoint. for this past Tues to do several tests. On Saturday last weekend her right lymph node swelled to monsterous proportions, and was hardening by the hour. I was stressing out at the worst possibility of lymphoma. After taking her to the ER, and over 1K worth of tests, her heart, lungs looked great. Doc said her lymph node was not visibly cancerous, and could definately be infectious. We are treating my poor baby with anitbiotics for 10 days...it's been 4 and she is showing improvement, node seems to have gone down slightly.
Monday I found a hookworm in her vomit, which vet says is unlikely unless they've migrated into her trachea. This could also be aggrivating the lymph nodes. We also put her on a powered medication- Panacur. Sprinkle it on her food and....YUMMY! Looks like paste, and Lizzy HATES it!

To the point of my question- she looks sleepy yesterday & today. Her "third eyelid" keeps moving over her eye as she's sitting there looking at me. More her right eye than the left, but kinda on both. She'll be awake, but looks like she can't keep her eye open. The 3rd eyelid will slowly cover her eye (looks like her eyes are rolling in back of her head- scared me 1st time!) .
Sooo...if this happens and I call her, she'll "snap out" of it, and her eye returns to normal, but within seconds it covers again, almost like she is so tired she can't prop open her eyes. Her actual eyelids won't close- unless she's sleeping. It is weird, because this kinda happened years ago when her eye was irritated, so I used Visine with success.....but showed no improvement yesterday when applied. Anyone know anything about this, or think maybe this symptom, combined with last weeks' episode could mean something entirely different than what I'm treating? Although I would sell my soul for Lizzy to get the treatment she needs, I just spent $1,000 this past weekend and just can't afford any more unless absolutely necessary. I hate to take her to the vet if this isn't something to worry about. It just seems weird, and definately not normal, for her.

 

[Lee143]

Eyelid

To the point of my question- she looks sleepy yesterday & today. Her "third eyelid" keeps moving over her eye as she's sitting there looking at me. More her right eye than the left, but kinda on both. She'll be awake, but looks like she can't keep her eye open. The 3rd eyelid will slowly cover her eye (looks like her eyes are rolling in back of her head- scared me 1st time!) .
Sooo...if this happens and I call her, she'll "snap out" of it, and her eye returns to normal, but within seconds it covers again, almost like she is so tired she can't prop open her eyes. Her actual eyelids won't close- unless she's sleeping. It is weird, because this kinda happened years ago when her eye was irritated, so I used Visine with success.....but showed no improvement yesterday when applied. Anyone know anything about this, or think maybe this symptom, combined with last weeks' episode could mean something entirely different than what I'm treating? Although I would sell my soul for Lizzy to get the treatment she needs, I just spent $1,000 this past weekend and just can't afford any more unless absolutely necessary. I hate to take her to the vet if this isn't something to worry about. It just seems weird, and definately not normal, for her.

My baby had the same problem with her eye lid. When I took her to the doctor, they said that is one symptom of a boxer having a high fever, which she had. After just one day of anti-biotics, her third eye lid was not covering up as much and by the 2nd day it was all gone, along with the fever.
Of course there could be other things causing your baby's eye lid to cover up her eye but I thought I'd at least share with you my encounter with it.
I hope Lizzy gets better soon!

 

[LizzysDad]

Gosh, I'm worried.....

She has been on antibiotics for 5 days now for her lymph nodes, so I imagine that would also treat any infection in her eye.

Now the lower lid almost appears "loose" and hanging off the eyeball slightly, and her third eyelid covers over her eye while she's sitting there looking around, obviously conciously awake. I don't know whats going on now, I'm getting nervous. She is acting normally, and not necessarily tired, but her eye (3rd) just keeps covering over, until you arouse her to focus her eye, which then the 3rd lid will retract. Very strange...... :( poor Lizzy.

 

[haleyandmark]

Aw, poor Lizzy ... at least she isn't showing any signs of pain or discomfort...

I don't have any advice to offer you because I have never heard of this sort of thing. Although, I'm sure many others will have suggestions of what the problem may be. Hopefully Lee is right and by the time Lizzy's round of antibiotics are done, she will be like brand new.

My suggestion is if things aren't better by tomorrow or in a couple of days, bump this post up during the day so that more people will have a chance to respond to it; maybe you will hear a few different suggetions.

Sorry to hear about Lizzy being sick. Asia is sending her big sloppy kisses in hopes that she will feel better soon!

Keep us posted

 

[LizzysDad]

Has anyone had to treat the third eyelid with antibiotic drops? I tried Visine, which seems to provide some relief, but I would think antibiotic drops would help localize the medication where it's needed (she's on antibiotics already- chloramphenicol.
Something I could get over the counter at a pharmacy??
Gosh, I'm worried, because now she's gone from being active, with this condition yesterday, to almost not being able to stay awake. She comes in from outside and went right to her bed. Absolutely unheard of for her.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!