Those experienced with Dorzol OS and Timolol Maleate

[Jenna AK]

Today, my Jenna's tonometry showed IOP in her left eye of 33-34 and 17-18 in her right. Both eyes now have cataracts as well as iris atrophy, retinal thinning and nuclear sclerosis. Her ophthalmologist is hours away but our regular vet took the readings. I've been instructed to put one of each of these drops in her left eye tonight and tomorrow and they'll take her pressure again at noon. I'm to also continue her ketorolac, just make sure to wait 20 minutes after administering the other two.

We also have disputed history of a possible heart murmur in Jenna. It tends to show up at times of stress but different vets have argued as to whether she actually has one. Are the beta blocker drops likely to affect this? I hadn't realized what they were till after hours.

I don't want to ignore her eye pressure, and could use some opinions as to their effectiveness and side effects. Has anyone here used them before?

Thanks in advance for all replies.

[Wylie's Mom]

My Wylie had juvenile cataracts and was blind by the end of his life. With cataracts, it's extremely important to treat every day with eye drops to prevent the progression to glaucoma - that's the main thing. We used Flurbiprofen. He also had dry eye after a while and for that we used Optimmune and then later, another drop whose name I forget just now.

If they can't even be sure of the murmur being there (and therefore, can't even confirm it enough to grade it) - I wouldn't be worrying about any small effect of the beta blocker. Also, beta blockers are generally very benign meds in terms of side effects and safety.

[Jenna AK]

Thank you, Wylie's Mom. I'm relieved to report her tonometry was better today and she read 17-18 in each eye.

So I guess this means she has glaucoma? My vet said to keep up with the drops. I notice they start to wear off about 3 hours prior to the next dose if her 'hiding' behavior is any indication. Is that normal?

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Jenna AK

Thank you, Wylie's Mom. I'm relieved to report her tonometry was better today and she read 17-18 in each eye.

So I guess this means she has glaucoma? My vet said to keep up with the drops. I notice they start to wear off about 3 hours prior to the next dose if her 'hiding' behavior is any indication. Is that normal?

So with the hiding, is that what she was typically doing prior to any eye drops, bc of eye pressure and pain...? I would call the vet and ask if there are any add'l eye drops for pain available. Also, was she tested for dry eye via a Schirmer test...?

[Jenna AK]

I had a huge reply typed and my phone glitched and I lost it.

No, they didn't do the dryness test and both offices are shut for the weekend. She has generally weepy eyes and there's your typical flotsam in them from hair that needs wiping away each day, so I don't think they're dry. Her eye vet has tested them regularly and found them to be normal in this regard. Barring anything else worrying we'll see her at the end of the month.

I have metacam here for general pain though, so if that's safe to use in conjunction with the eyedrops I have more pain relief at hand.

Jenna's behavior has been off since we left Alaska 2 years ago and came here. First it was accidents in the new house that never happened before, which we thought was the unfamiliar surroundings, plus she seems a lot itchier here than she was up north. Plenty of tests have been run to be sure it's not food or insect/parasite related and everything comes up clean. But since she's really been chewing at herself in recent weeks I'm now chalking that up to discomfort.
"Hiding" is something she used to do occasionally when sleepy, she'd put her face in the crook of my arm. Now she goes right in her cozy cone at night and puts her face in the back of it. That's only happened occasionally in Alaska and began right before we moved. Come to think of it she had a few accidents then too that were simultaneous with her hiding more but we figured she was middle aged so perhaps her ability to hold her pee was decreasing so we just took her for more walks. This seemed to help but her vet never mentioned impending blindness being a factor. There were no eye changes obvious to us. I wonder now if that's when all this started and her distress at not being able to see as well or having painful eyes was the cause?

She also cries a lot these days. When I gave her the new drops that stopped for the day. Today she's whimpering again a bit.

I'll get her metacam into her today and see if there's an improvement. Thank you again, WM.

[Wylie's Mom]

Poor Jenna . I think something more is going on here, I really do. Was a urinalysis ever done...? Those are very simple and it'd probably be good just to make sure things are okay there. And recent full blood chems...including kidney, liver etc..? Is her weight stable and appetite okay?

On the dry eye, if a Schirmer test has never been - you might want to suggest it. Two of my kiddos had/have severe dry eye - and Pfeiffer was producing all kinds of eye-gunk still bc the eyes are so irritated. I would describe as different from the regular goop - it's not clear, it's not yellowish like some of the more normal goop, and it's not green - it's more like brown-rusty and it gets extremely hard -- it happens both at inner corners and on upper lid area. Since I started treating her about a month ago - omg, total change !!!

When you say she's "chewing herself" - do you mean her paws mostly? Does she have allergies? If so, I've found both Apoquel and Atopica miraculous for allergies; and now there is the Cytopoint shot as well.

Keep me posted on how the little one is doing!

[Jenna AK]

Hi WM. Yes, she's had multiple urinalyses and blood tests were just done at her last dental which was within the last few months. All comes back clear. Her appetite is unstoppable, thank goodness. And although she's thin (about 5 lbs) she's not losing weight so that's all good.


I've asked about the dryness test so we'll be doing that the next time they check her pressure, hopefully in the next few days. I got a bit worried about her yesterday because she'd had a weird twitch in her right eyebrow that seemed a bit too persistent to be a foreign body (her eyes do water and have a clear goo in them but that usually is caused by her drops being administered or fur in her eyes) but it went away fairly quickly. I took video of it to show the vet. Then last night after her drops she was really floppy (even after sleeping all day) and her heartbeat was slow and sounded like it was skipping a beat so I had the vet listen to her heart today. He felt is was a normal rhythm, due to how the heart slows down when they breathe. Jenna knew where she was despite not being able to see, having poor hearing and a diminished sense of smell, and she was nervous so I know her heart was probably pounding a bit, but he also said nothing about a murmur, so I was relieved at that. She's seemed a bit more active earlier in the day but a few hours after her eyedrops she's a lump again, so I'm attributing the fatigue to possibly the drops are lowering her blood pressure overall? She's normally a nervous little thing and usually burning herself out with her separation anxiety, but she still doesn't normally sleep this much. I've had the last two days off work so maybe she's more relaxed?


I was a little worried too after we first began the drops that her left eye (the one being treated with the timolol and dorzol) seemed like it was bigger than the other, but they seem about the same size now. I think that's just my paranoia because I'm so afraid of her eventually needing ennucleation. I really hope it never has to come to that.


She also scratches at her face, particularly under/to the side of her eyes and her mouth on both sides a lot. I'm not certain what is causing this and will address that with her vets when we next see them.

[Jenna AK]

Okay, so the drops do seem to be affecting her blood pressure/energy levels after administration and in the evenings. She becomes disturbingly sleepy and limp with an unsteady gait and it's worsening with each dose.



I've read about the effects in humans, but the only solution is to reduce or discontinue the drops. I'll be discussing how to proceed with my vet, but has anyone else had this issue with their Yorkie and if so how did you resolve it? Thank you.