Corneal ulcer

[Pippin's person]

Hamish ran into the path of a ball I was throwing for Rafe this morning and it hit him smack in the eye. When we first looked at it, it looked like the pupil wasn't dilating, so we took him straight off to the vet. He has a corneal ulcer--I assume a fairly superficial one since the vet didn't tell me it was a deep one. She said it was in the second layer of the cornea. The mechanics of the eye are all working (pupils dilating, pressure is good in both eyes, both eyes respond to motion, etc.). He's acting pretty puny and the area around the eye is swollen, but not swollen shut.

 

I am a know-almost-nothing about eyes and eye injuries (indeed, being someone who doesn't wear contacts, even thinking about putting them in one's eyes gives me the heebie-jeebies). The vet gave us eye ointment and a cone and told me to come back in 7-10 days for a recheck and to be sure not to let him scratch at it.

 

I forgot to ask her if there's something I should watch for that might indicate some kind of problem. Any advice on something that wouldn't be obvious (I could probably figure out that goopy discharge was a bad sign or the eye being stuck shut, etc. ).

 

Also, I assume he should skip his activities until we know he's healed (sheep work and agility), yes? I also forgot to ask about that (that's what happens when I go to the vet before being adequately caffeinated).

 

Thanks!

[ShoresDog]

I would add to what you have here that a corneal ulcer can be quite painful. I hope the ointment helps that. But lots of the dog equivalent of tea and sympathy are called for, and don't let him touch it. If the eye seems to begin hurting more, or a bunch of discharge starts, the vet should see it right away because it could be getting infected. At any rate, the follow up appointment is really important to make sure the cornea is healing properly.

 

All this comes from my experience as a fellow mammal. I had a corneal ulcer that resulted from looking up at the badminton shuttlecock as it dropped and then entirely missing it when I when to swat it. Ouch! It hit me right in the eye, and it really did hurt. Same type of injury as Hamish's. Poor guy!

[bc friend]

Also if after a couple of days, he still remains light-sensative in that eye, I would contact the vet just to be sure. A couple of my dogs over the years have corneal ulcers or scratches and healed up fine using the ointment the vet prescribed.