Uveodermatologic Syndrome
I’ll get to the point now because I have two questions and then I’ll add a detailed timeline after.
Cherub (2.5 Malamute) has been diagnosed with UDS and I’m struggling with her uveitis flair ups. I just feel so helpless when she’s having a bad day and I’m looking to see if there’s any recommendations on how I can make her more comfortable during these times. It seems like they just come out of nowhere and she gets so uncomfortable that she paces and obsessively licks her leg (one leg, same spot. It’s so bad that it’s bald) or my legs and arms… obviously I can’t give her a salt lick to distract her - does anyone have any ideas for redirection on this behavior?
Her current treatment consists of oral PredisoLONE (am), HydroxyZine (am/pm), and Pred Acetate Opth drops (am/pm). We also have Cyclosporine Opth drops that I give her when she has her flair ups - I understand that she should be getting this daily but they burn and she will hide in the closet literally all day. Is there anything else I can do to help when she has her flairs?
#timeline
04/2023 : we adopt a 35lb 6-8 month old puppy from a rescue that gets their dogs from reservations (she’s most likely from the 4 corners area, but I never did get confirmation when I called to ask). She lives in our closet for 9 weeks and only comes out to eat and potty. She sneezes, normal and reverse, and hacks a little sometimes but it’s not constant. Our vet doesn’t seem to be concerned.
05/2023 : I wake her up one night to go to bed and there’s blood on the floor. I find out it’s a nose bleed and call the vet very first thing the next day. They get her in same day and examine her; her nasal passages are so swollen that we can’t see in her nose, so we decide to do x-rays to make sure there is nothing in there. Everything looks clear so we give her some anti-inflammatory meds and pray.
06/2023 - 03/2024 : things seem normal, life goes on.
04/2025-05/2024 : her nose starts to peel and occasionally scabs only on the top part. Vet suspects Zinc deficiency, so we put her on zinc supplements for 3 months to see if it helps. It doesn’t.
10/2024 : her nose is not worse, but also does not seem to be getting any better. She’s on seasonal allergy medication (apoquel in the spring/summer and hydroxyzine in the fall/winter) and those work well. Her ear leathers then start getting crusty and flaky. She does not have an ear infection, we up her zinc dosage and get animax to put in the ear canal and wipe on the leather. I don’t notice any change or betterment.
11/2024 : she’s no longer messing with her ears but they are still crusty and flaky, her eyes are staying squinted and her third eyelids are not fully retracting at any point of the day - I think it might be a deep inner ear infection. She is officially diagnosed with “Dermatologic disease (nasal planum, ears) with uveitis - uveodermatologic syndrome” and prescribed both forms of predisolone.
12/2024 : not sure if relevant but we had a very bad bout of diarrhea for about a week, almost exactly a month later. She physically looks better, though, her eyes went back to normal within a week and her nose looks better.
01/2025 : notice a hot spot on her front left inner elbow, at the joint. Her nose looks the best it has since the issue started, she’s getting some pigment back.
03/2025 : she starts squinting more often, harder, and squeezing her eyes shut for extended time, her eyes are bloodshot. Her nose is a weird pink and quickly losing pigment again, I notice her eyes and mouth also losing pigment, there’s some rawness on her lips and Cupid’s bow area. The rawness on her mouth is ulcers and they’re all over her mouth area. She’s having a flair up. Cefpodoxime and cyclosporine Opth are added to our medication list, we up her steroids. Her mouth bleeds for a couple days, but then gets better. It does take 6 weeks, though.
I would like to mention that we love and trust our vet, we have been going to her for 7 years and I do not doubt any decision she has made in Cherub’s journey. She’s younger, eager to learn if she doesn’t know, and excited to be learning about UDS and helping us navigate this process. I came here because I know it’s a rare syndrome and don’t expect anyone to be an expert in it, but maybe someone here has already gone through this journey and learned some tricks or has some suggestions and recommendations.