I've just found out that Lurcherboy has it. Not seen the vet yet, but found out today that his brother has been diagnosed. I've never heard of it before, but the instant I started reading up I knew. I've noticed brown pigmentation in the whites of his eyes for quite a while, but stupidly assumed it was just to do with ageing - I am so angry with myself for not realising it was more serious. 
There's been a change in his behaviour recently, where he's become obsessive about sniffing absolutely everything. It makes sense once you know his sight is impaired.
What a horrible day. I only found out because I posted on the rescue forum that I'm worried about a lump that's appeared at the bottom of his ribs and a lady that has his brother got in touch to tell me her boy had been diagnosed with it.
We have a vet appointment tomorrow evening, but I'd like to be as informed as possible before I go if I can.
I can't believe it hasn't been picked up by the vets - it's really obvious once you know what you're looking at. He has the brown pigmentation to the outer whites of his eyes. When you look closely it's actually on the surface and already starting to encroach across his irises. I've noticed it a few times and questioned whether or not his eyes have always had blurry brown bits to the outside of the irises or if it was just age related (he's 10 shortly) - I'm so cross with myself. He was at the vet for his annual check up only 3 weeks ago and given a clean bill of health - also both dogs had an eye infection last year and it wasn't picked up then either.
Three weeks ago I had what I thought was a fit and healthy dog and now we're looking at a progressive eye condition and suspicious lump, all in one day.
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
Can anyone talk to me about Pannus?
moosemama · 11/05/2015 19:53
Oh no moose poor lurcherboy
I'm afraid I know absolutely nothing about the condition so have nothing helpful to add - however we met a completely blind dog the other day and I didn't realise she had absolutely no vision at all until her owner told me!
Fingers crossed the lump is nothing serious
Thanks basil
I've actually had an almost blind dog before and strangely enough she was of a breed that Pannus is associated with. Dh said this evening that he's pretty sure she had the same signs in her eyes, but obviously we had no idea what it was at the time.
Apparently it's often missed by vets until it's progressed, I suppose because it doesn't cause any pain, which means there's no reason to suspect a problem until it actually starts affecting their eyesight or becomes really obvious on the surface of the eye.
The lump is a bit of a worry, it's approximately egg sized, defined but soft and right on the bottom edge of his ribs, almost over his stomach, but seems to have grown in the week since I first noticed it. I'm sure it wasn't there when I groomed him before he went to kennels, but I noticed it straight away when I was fussing him after picking him up the next day. It's not painful, so dh and I thought it was most likely bump from rough play with Pip in the play paddock at the kennels and decided to observe it for a few days and see if it went down - it didn't, it got bigger.
Hopefully it will just be a lipoma. I've had enough bad news for one week.
So, we're back from the vets.
The fantastic news is that, although he does have some very bizarre pigmentation on the whites of his eyes, he doesn't have the auto-immune condition and there's no damage at all to his corneas! 
Not so great news is that we're back there tomorrow morning to have a fine needle aspiration done on the lump. Vet thinks it's probably a benign lipoma, but wants to double check due to the location and sudden appearance.
Have to take both dogs with me tomorrow, as I have no-one to dog-sit Pip. Vet very kindly offered the receptionist for Pip sitting duties - I did warn her he'll almost definitely scream reception down as well. 
Feeling a little calmer now. He's just coming up for 10, so benign fatty lumps are more likely. I'm just glad I have a vet that doesn't make that assumption and wants to check for anything more sinister first.
Ooh half a yay!!! Saving the full 'yay' for when you get the biopsy results 
Thank you.
I haven't seen this vet for ages and had forgotten how good and reassuring she is. It makes such a difference when you see a vet that knows what they're doing and has confidence in themselves.
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