SARDS - my dog is suddenly blind

[TrueColours]

Coyoteco - I really think you are on to something … came across this on the livestrong website about taurine and vision issues:

This came from the “livestrong” website about taurine deficencies … Eye Problems

Animals with some forms of vision loss have low levels of taurine, according to 2010 report in “Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences.” It is not clear, however, which process – poor vision or low taurine – appears first. An experiment described in the 2002 edition of the “FASEB Journal” provides data relevant to this question. These researchers studied the visual system of taurine knockout mice. Adult rodents with little circulating taurine showed severe retinal degeneration. The eyes of these mice showed no electrical activity. Autopsies revealed a large number of dead photoreceptors. Younger rodents showed similar – but smaller – effects indicating a progressive decline which worsens over time.

Wouldn’t that be fabulous if this is all it took to reverse or prevent this from happening?

Thanks SO much for posting about this!

[Coyoteco]

[QUOTE=TrueColours;8086741]
Coyoteco - I really think you are on to something … came across this on the livestrong website about taurine and vision issues:

Wouldn’t that be fabulous if this is all it took to reverse or prevent this from happening?

Thanks SO much for posting about this! :)[/QUOTE]

I really hope the information is helpful. My “kitten” is almost 10 years old now, so it was almost 10 years ago that the ophthalmologist made this recommendation. Actually December of 2005. He said to give taurine for six weeks. She really hated it so it was very hard.

Thanks for letting me know what you found out when you followed up on that!!

[TrueColours]

Coyoteco - some more info … all really positive and all pointing out what you found was correct

And another interesting find - the reason that dogs are deficient in taurine and have various ailments associated with low taurine levels in their bodies. The move to dry kibble (Less meat protein) in their daily diets … http://blog.onlynaturalpet.com/2008/02/16/the-importance-of-taurine-for-dogs-and-cats/

And last one - definitive study showing retinal damage associated with low taurine levels in dogs … http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/cardiovascular/c_dg_taurine_deficiency

I’m gobsmacked that no one figured this out sooner!

[Coyoteco]

Great information! Thank you for sharing. I think we will look into supplementing out dogs with taurine in some way.

In the past, I have been fortunate to have had some of the best vets anywhere. Unfortunately vets can retire. This ophthalmologist told me about this almost ten years ago - for a kitten.

[TrueColours]

I make “Puppy Stew” for our little dog (13 lb-er)

I do up a big slow cooker with whatever was on sale that week - beef, chicken, pork, etc and add some veggies and then freeze everything once its cooked into the big muffin tins and then for dinner each night I pop one out and thaw it for her dinner. She still gets a really high quality kibble, but now that I know how important taurine is, I also know 100% that she IS getting a high quality meat product in there, lots of it, and she can pull whatever taurine she needs from that each day

Thanks so much once again for taking this discussion in a WHOLE 'nuther direction …

[In_The_Gate]

TrueColors - unless you are adding taurine supplementation after cooking your food be careful assuming that just because you have lots of meat that the food has adequate taurine levels. Cooking, especially boiling in water, dramatically decreases the available taurine levels. See here:
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmb/labs/aal/pdfs/spitze.pdf

This is especially important if you are making food for cats.

[Coyoteco]

LOL I didn’t mean to derail the thread, but actually think that the taurine discussion is relevant to the SARDS discussion. Remember the vet said my kitten could regain up to 25 percent of her eyesight, and she did regain a lot. She was a very small kitten, but it was not only a preventative, but caused an improvement.

Thanks for all the research and additional information - and good to know about boiling meat, too.

[TrueColours]

Thanks a bunch coyoteco! The things you learn around here and I don’t think you’re derailing this thread at all!

[Sswor]

My canine cardiologist suggested I supplement Taurine, along with other things like CoQ10, for my dog who was in congestive heart failure. I used to buy it at GNC. He was such a trooper; ate the tablets right up like candy. He figured anything I gave him was good