SoloRiver Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Tonight Solo surprised me by deciding to make his pupils two wildly different sizes. (Photo attached.) This has happened once before, while I was home anyway. Both times were on evenings that I developed film in the bathroom, which is making me wonder if I should stop doing this. Other than having totally asymmetric pupils, Solo is totally normal, is having no problems catching balls or treats, wants to do tricks, etc. He's been this way for about an hour and it's resolving itself now. His right pupil, the big one, is normal (the photo was taken in dim room light). His left pupil is constricted. Both are responsive to light, it's just that the left pupil starts out smaller, and gets smaller, and then doesn't dilate as much in dim light. The ER vet didn't think he was emergent since he's behaviorally fine and suggested that I investigate this with my regular vet. I am pretty confident that none of the more horrible possible diagnoses apply here (Google on "anisocoria" if you're bored), and don't think Solo has a dissected carotid or a brain tumor (if he did, he'd have more problems than a small pupil). Apparently, in humans there's also a condition that basically translates to "just 'cause" but if I'm reading correctly people with this condition have uneven pupils all the time, and Solo doesn't. I'm going to look into an ophthalmologist, but since Solo is nearly impossible for a veterinarian to examine under normal conditions (he goes into full-blown panic mode and does the "if I'm going down, I'm taking you all down with me" routine, and it isn't pretty) I have a hard time figuring out how an eye doctor is going to get a good look at him. If any of you have any experience with this, I'd love to hear about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 No experience and not a clue here, but wishing you and Solo the best outcome possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurie etc Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Could he have smacked his head on something? I think in humans, asymetric pupils is a sign of concussion... Laurie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Ben gets this when he runs into something. Greg did this when he was having those mini-strokes at the end. Obviously irrelevant in both cases, but that's the limit of my direct experience. Seizure activity? Can you run him really really quick and get him scanned when this happens? How strong is the chemical smell in the apartment when you develop? Really strong chemical exposure is one of the no-nos for my epi brother. Other possibility, are you in there for a long time when you develop film? Maybe it's an emotional reaction - locking yourself in the bathroom with awful smells (umm, chemicals) and probably some kind of running commentary that doesn't include him. I remember how he hated being locked in the back room while we talked somewhere else in the house, when you visited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted March 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 I know he didn't run into anything or have a seizure (unless it was a teeny tiny seizure with no post-ictal effects) because he was basically sitting next to me all evening while I worked on the computer. His pupils didn't get weird until a couple of hours after I was done developing film. We live in a studio apartment so I would have noticed if something weird happened. But I can't say how long it took for the effect to come on. I just looked at him at some point and noticed. If he didn't have such light eyes I might not have. So far it's only happened at night, and the regular vets and specialists are never open at the time. The ER vets weren't able to do a neuro or ophthalmological evaluation (so they said over the phone) so I never took him in because he's hugely stressed at the vet and it didn't seem worth it. Solo only gets stressed like he did at your place when we're somewhere unfamiliar. At home, he doesn't care how long I stay in the bathroom. He did hang out outside the bathroom door last night, though, so I wondered if the fumes affected him. I thought the chemicals involved were pretty benign, but maybe he's allergic or sensitive. The smells aren't strong. The only one I would consider strong is the stop bath, and it smells like vinegar. To me, everything else smells pretty much like nothing unless you get it right up to your nose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Luna did that twice while I owned her. The first time I didn't see what happened, but she was an accident prone puppy. I think it was because she stuck her tongue into the electrical socket (she thought doing that was fun). The second time Fly ran into her and smacked his head into her head. The second time she also had damage to the nerve that controls the upper eyelid, which runs just under the skin. Her upper eyelid never quite opened all the way after that, which made her look a bit drunk all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljrphoto Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Photo chemicals are definitely NOT benign, although I don't know if they would cause what you are seeing in Solo. I hope that you aren't putting your hands in them unprotected. http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/arthazards/photo2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted March 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Yikes, thanks for pointing me to that list. I haven't been wearing gloves. I didn't see "mutagen" on that list so I guess I'm still safe if I want to have kids but I am definitely going to be wearing nitriles from now on. I feel stupid for not looking this stuff up, especially considering I work in a lab, but I figured if you can develop film in your own bathroom and even use household stuff to do it if you want to (like coffee), it must not be that dangerous. Dumb. It occurs to me that I'm right handed and Solo's left eye was affected, so maybe I still had something on my hand and then picked an eye booger off of Solo or something. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Um, Melanie, I saw one, potassium iodide, that's listed as a known human teratogen, and another, thiourea, is listed as a possible carcinogen and mutagen, as well as a couple other possible carcinogens listed (of course if you're not using those specific ingredients, then not to worry). I hope you're using the exhaust fan in addition to getting nitrile gloves.... J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted March 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Crap. Oh well, at my age and with my medical history I'm in defective triplet territory anyway, so I guess it's just as well. More importantly, I need to keep the stuff away from my dogs. At this point I'm a lot more worried about them than about any putative possible future offspring. If I have kids I'd rather adopt anyway. But I digress. Luckily, I have industrial-strength ventilation in my bathroom. In San Francisco, moldy bathrooms are a constant problem because of the humidity (it never becomes hot and heavy, like it did back home, but there's almost always fog, especially in my neighborhood) so bathroom fans here are no joke. The fan in my bathroom is so loud, and violent, that you could practically explode ordinance in there and no one would ever know. Still, maybe I should stock up on SARS masks or something. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljrphoto Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Live and learn! Everyone used to stick their hands in the stuff. I think people started to worry when they realized Edward Weston was experiencing Parkinsonian symptoms at the end of his life, but that one is just speculation since no one really seems to know what even causes Parkinson's or if that's really what Weston had. Most of the big photographers never developed Parkinson's anyway. Just one more FYI, I think it's the fixer you really don't want to pour down the drain. You can pour it into a jug and have it disposed of. Someone told me about a book called Overexposed that's supposed to be really good for information on safe handling of all those wonderful chemicals. You are lucky. Ventilation is 3/4's of the battle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Stein Posted March 17, 2007 Report Share Posted March 17, 2007 Melanie, I think pupils of different sizes can be a reaction to pain. I don't know why that should be, but one of the emergency vets told me so once when I brought a dog in with that. The vet was not particularly concerned, and it resolved within a few hours, without specific treatment. (No photographic chemicals involved in my case.) Does Solo tend to be stoic about pain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljrphoto Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 Did you ever find out what was going on with Solo's pupils? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted April 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 Not really. Basically, anisocoria can mean either something really horrible, or nothing in particular. Solo is still kicking around just fine, so we're going with the "idiopathic" (meaning, "we don't know why") explanation. I'm personally pretty sure it was due to the chemicals on my hands. I guess if I'm really curious I could experiment on myself next time I develop film. Solo isn't a drama queen about pain, but he will whine when he's in pain (like when his hip is bothering him) so I doubt that he could be in enough pain to cause such a reaction and for the pain to not be obvious in any other way. It hasn't happened again since I posted the original post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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