Lipid Deposit

Harley is a 3 year old Sheltie and on his last visit he was diognosed  with Lipid Deposit on both eyes. What causes it and can I prevent any more damage? His weight is finally getting up to what the vet would like. He was only 14.5 and now he is up to 19 pounds. He only eats when he wants has plenty of water.I give him a variety of soft food. His favorite is chicken.He also has moist and dry food. He does not care for teats very often. His stomach can not handle anything with grease so I watch what I give him.Thank you.
Ginnie and Harley

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Does your Sheltie have hypothyroid disease?  Shelties can have hypothyroid even though they are thin.  Corneal Dystrophy is common in Shelties.

Corneal lipid (cholesterol) deposits are very common in dogs, and there are three causes as follows:  

1. Corneal Dystrophy.  This is an inherited condition.  It begins in one eye and progresses to the other eye.  It is a degenerative change of the cornea resulting in the deposition of cholesterol between the outer and inner layers of the cornea. It occurs commonly in dogs with hypothyroid disease.  

2.  Corneal degeneration.  This occurs from chronic irritation of the cornea from eye diseases such as dry eye (KCS).  Due to the chronic eye irritation,  the body deposit’s cholesterol between the corneal layers.

3.  Corneal lipid keratopathy. This problem is due to a high cholesterol level in the blood.  The underlying causes of this problem may include any disease that can elevate blood cholesterol such as hypothyroid, Cushing’s Syndrome, inherited lipid metabolism diseases, and high fat diets.