Bright Light Veterinary Eye Care

02/21/2025

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for "Stamp Out Eye Cancer: Equine Ocular Neoplasia". This yearly, free continuing education event for equine veterinarians provides an opportunity for community learning. This also allows us an opportunity to raise funds together that support the Indigenous youth-led . The work of being good relations is a daily commitment. We encourage our community to support A7G financially beyond this yearly event.

02/17/2025

Happy Family Day! We are closed today, Monday, February 17, 2025. Calls and emails will be returned tomorrow. Emergency ophthalmology services are available through Capital City Specialty and Emergency Animal Hospital.

We hope you are as snug as two pugs today!

02/12/2025

Welcome to Wednesday. This is the left eye of a 6y MC mixed breed dog. What's your diagnosis?

02/11/2025

We are really looking forward to sharing information about OFA eye exams with the community at this upcoming educational event sponsored by The Ottawa Kennel Club. Register before this event sells out!

We still have a few spots left in our very exciting Canine Health and Reproduction seminar!

A friendly reminder that your registration is not complete until payment is received.

02/07/2025

Did you make the correct diagnosis?

This feline patient has persistent pupillary membranes (PPMs).

PPMs result from a failure of the normal embryonic rarification of iris tissue to form the pupil. They come in three varieties: iris to iris, iris to cornea, and iris to lens. The dorsonasal cornea has strand-like iris to cornea PPM, the ventral cornea has strand-like iris to iris PPM, and the temporal cornea has a more sheet-like iris to cornea PPM. The black arrows in the second image point to the large PPM sheet that is arising from the iris collarette region. The iris collarette is the region approximately halfway between the pupil and the iridocorneal angle. One way to differentiate a PPM from an anterior synechiae is looking at what part of the iris is involved. If the pupillary margin is involved, it is most likely an anterior synechiae (adhesion between the iris and cornea). If the iris collarette is involved, it is most likely a PPM.

The reason there is a large corneal opacity is that when the area of the iris-cornea PPM is very large, normal corneal endothelium is not present and thus the cornea has both fibrosis and edema.

02/05/2025

Welcome to this week's .

This is the right eye of a 2y FS DSH who presents with a complaint of "white spot on the eye". The cat was recently adopted from the shelter.

What's your diagnosis?

02/04/2025

Did you make the correct diagnosis last week?

This poor pug's left eye has now gone from having a simple corneal ulcer to having a complicated corneal ulcer. Four factors define a simple ulcer:

1. Superficial (only loss of epithelium, no loss of stroma)
2. Not infected
3. No other complicating factors present (like entropion or ectopic cilia or dry eye)
4. Heals in an appropriate amount of time.

Complicated ulcers are defined by:

1. Loss of stroma
2. Infection/melting
3. Complicating factors present
4. Do not heal in an appropriate amount of time.

This sweet puggo has evidence of loss of stroma (see the crater in the center of the cornea? That is definitely loss of stroma). The edema around the ulcer, the increase in pain, the chemosis (swelling of the conjunctiva), and the increased ocular discharge are all supportive of infection. This is a definite emergency, and you need to tell your BFF to get their pug to the veterinarian ASAP! Cytology is indicated to assess what microorganisms are present, and culture/sensitivity may also be helpful. This pug likely needs a change in antibiotics, some anti-collagenase/anti-proteinase therapy, and better analgesia. If the ulcer continues to get worse, surgical intervention would be indicated.

A pug in need is a friend, indeed!

02/03/2025

This is a wonderful educational experience for our Ottawa community from Black History Ottawa! Who is going to join us in learning about the history of the community in which we live, serve, and care for?

02/03/2025

This is a wonderful educational experience for our Ottawa community from Black History Ottawa! Who is going to join us in learning about the history of the community in which we live, serve, and care for?

02/01/2025

Today is the first day of Black History Month where we set aside time to learn about, uplift, and celebrate the contributions of Black Canadians.

There is so little written about the history of veterinary medicine and the legacies of discrimination and systemic racism that have contributed to the racial demographic of our profession. Here in Canada, the lack of racial demographic data creates an even larger barrier to learning our real history. In researching this article for Veterinary Clinics of North America, I encountered information on who may be the first Black veterinarian to graduate from a Canadian veterinary college in "A Historical Overview of African American Veterinarians in the United States: 1889–2000" by Eugene W. Adams.

https://www.vet.k-state.edu/docs/about/diversity/AA_409.pdf

"Special mention is due to Dr. Sylvanus Weathersby (OVC ’20). After graduation from the Department of Agriculture at Tuskegee Institute in 1915, unable to gain admission to any of the US veterinary schools, he was admitted to the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, ON. Upon graduation he returned to his home in D’Lo, MS, where he practiced for 30 years. His two sons would matriculate much later at the new veterinary school at the Tuskegee Institute. These early veterinarians were trailblazers during a very difficult period and were, by any yardstick, eminently successful."

I challenge our Canadian veterinary colleges to review their historical archives and share the history of Black veterinarians in their institutions not just during Black History Month, but every month.

01/30/2025

The OOntario Animal Health Networks most recent Need 2 Know Update for Companion Animal practitioners includes a report of dog with hepatozoonosis. Hepatozoonosis is endemic in the southeastern US but has not previously been reported in Ontario.

Clinical signs of Hepatozoonosis include lethargy, weakness, muscle atrophy, fever, cachexia and, most importantly, bilateral conjunctivitis and mucopurulent ocular discharge. Tear production may be decreased.

Hepatozoonosis is one of the rare, infectious causes of conjunctivitis in dogs, although it would be highly unusual for the ocular clinical signs to occur without other systemic clinical signs. With this disease being recognized in Ontario, it should be on your list of differential diagnoses for dogs with bilateral conjunctivitis and concurrent systemic illness.

If you want a copy of a recent Vet Clinics article on Hepatozoonosis, send us an email!

01/29/2025

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/stamp-out-eye-cancer-understanding-equine-ocular-neoplasia-tickets-1225078184829

Equine ocular neoplasia is relatively common and presents many treatment challenges to the experienced equine practitioner. Please join board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Amber Labelle of Bright Light Veterinary Eye Care for a discussion on the diagnosis and treatment of equine ocular neoplasia. This free, one-hour CE talk will be delivered on Zoom.

This session is free for equine veterinarians in Ontario and Quebec. Veterinarians in other locales are welcome for $10 CDN. All monies collected will be donated to the youth-led, grassroots Indigenous collective A7G - Assembly of Seven Generations. Amber Labelle lives, works, and plays on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, also called Ottawa. Part of the real work of reconciliation is ensuring that profits generated by settlers are returned to Indigenous communities. Ontario-based equine veterinarians are also welcome to make a donation to A7G.

01/29/2025

Equine ocular neoplasia is relatively common and presents many treatment challenges to the experienced equine practitioner. Please join board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Amber Labelle of Bright Light Veterinary Eye Care for a discussion on the diagnosis and treatment of equine ocular neoplasia. This free, one-hour CE talk will be delivered on Zoom.

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/stamp-out-eye-cancer-understanding-equine-ocular-neoplasia-tickets-1225078184829

This session is free for equine veterinarians in Ontario and Quebec. Veterinarians in other locales are welcome for $10 CDN. All monies collected will be donated to the youth-led, grassroots Indigenous collective A7G - Assembly of Seven Generations. Amber Labelle lives, works, and plays on unceded and unsurrendered Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, also called Ottawa. Part of the real work of reconciliation is ensuring that profits generated by settlers are returned to Indigenous communities. Ontario-based equine veterinarians are also welcome to make a donation to A7G.

01/28/2025

We appreciate this timely and sincere apology from the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.

Membership-based organizations make mistakes, as do their members. Now is the time for veterinarians in Canada to become involved and share feedback with our national veterinary organization. There is much work to be done to ensure veterinarians are delivering to the public and to the animals and to the planet the services that we are uniquely positioned to provide. We are stronger together, but that strength requires work from all of us. Let's go!

01/27/2025

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the N**i Germany Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps.

We took some time to sit with the stories of survivors and commit to preserving the truth of the horrors of the Holocaust. The 6 million people killed at the hands of the N**i regime included Jewish people, LGBTQ+ people, Roma people, neurodivergent people, and disabled people. The stories of survivors help us remember the lives lost and work together to end violence against those made marginalized worldwide.

To mark the 80th anniversay of the liberation of Auschwitz, admission will be free on January 26th-27th. The Museum will be open until 7pm on January 27th

01/22/2025

Are you ready for Wednesday?

On Monday, your BFF who lives in another city sends you a photograph of their 3y MC pug's left eye after his appointment with his veterinarian for a squinty eye. Your BFF tells you the veterinarian put stain in the eye, diagnosed a corneal ulcer, and gave her an antibiotic drop to give three times daily and a pain medication to give by mouth once a day. Their pug's eye seems less squinty that night.

This morning, your BFF frantically texts you that their pug's eye is more cloudy and more squinty and has lots of goo coming out. They send you this photo. What is your diagnosis, and what do you do?

01/20/2025

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Associations supposed to be a nonpartisan organization that advocates for veterinarians and veterinary medicine. Last week, they published and promoted a letter thanking Pierre Poilievre for his campaign promise to repeal the capital gains tax increase. This is a completely unacceptable action on the part of the CVMA, and despite numerous member complains, they have failed to see their error.

Together with colleagues from four other provinces, Dr. Amber Labelle penned this letter outlining our disappointment in the CVMA and the actions they need to course correct. If you are a veterinarian or veterinary student in Canada, please consider signing and sharing.

January 20, 2025 We are writing to express our profound disappointment in your January 16, 2025 partisan public announcement lauding the campaign promises of Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party to repeal the capital gains tax.(1) A review of CVMA’s Government Relations archives show that n...

01/17/2025

Dear .acmv Leadership,

I am writing to you regarding the letter to MP Poilivre that was published yesterday.

I was aware that the CVMA was lobbying around the capital gains tax, and I recognize that it is my fault for not speaking up sooner to let you know that I oppose this lobbying. I do not think the capital gains tax as proposed presents “severe and detrimental effects to both our members and the clients we serve”. The capital gains tax is fair and a necessary tax to ensure the wealthiest in our society (which sometimes includes veterinarians) are paying their fair share. I am a practice owner, I am supportive of the capital gains tax, and I would like the CVMA to cease lobbying against it. Should the public become more aware that their local veterinarian is lobbying against this tax, it would result in immediate damage to our reputation as veterinarians. We would, rightfully, be seen as greedy, and I can imagine that creating lasting damage in many veterinary-client-patient relationships.

I recognize that CVMA is a non-partisan organization, and that we work with all political parties on our legislative and policy agendas. In reviewing previous public letters, I have yet to find one who provides the full-throated support for a candidate and party that this letter provides. The CVMA has overstepped here and is treading dangerously close to an endorsement of a candidate and party. This is unacceptable. I expect you to retract and revise this letter. I also expect that you will have a human being write it, not artificial intelligence. I pay dues, in part, to ensure the CVMA staff is paid. We need to utilize human expertise, not AI systems that are robbing our planet (and my home state of Arizona) of electricity and water. 

The CVMA has made a grave mistake here, and as a member, a veterinarian, and a practice owner, I expect you to course correct immediately.

Regards,

Amber Labelle, DVM, MS, DACVO