Don't mess with the eye!!!

[Keegan's Mom]

Brian noticed two weeks ago that Tess' eye was swollen shut and oozing puss. So he took her to the vet and they said she had a corneal ulcer and to put this ointment in it every 8 hours. It helped the swelling and discomfort...go back in one week to get rechecked...not any better (they thought she had a piece of dead cornea).

 

So we made an appt with an optomologist and went today. Tess actually had a piece of bark logged in her cornea for 2 plus weeks!!! I can only imagine the discomfort she was in.

 

They had to do surgery today to remove the bark and she is sleepy now. They gave us pain meds, drops for her eye and an antibiotic.

 

Next time I think I will ask for a specialist's opinion right away when dealing with the eyes...who knows how long she was in pain and how painful it was.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Specialists rock. I've never regretted spending money on one.

 

Hope Tess feels better soon!

[nancy in AZ]

My sister had a very similar experience with her chinese crested. Had an eye problem for 6 weeks, the entire time for which she kept taking him back to the vet. Specialist cleared it up in short order.

[Keegan's Mom]

The initial $50 is nothing in comparison to what I spent today; however, it would have been nice to just skip the initial $50 to begin with.

 

She is a sneaky little thing though when it comes to meds...so any ideas how to get her to take 5 pills a day??????? I tried to hide it in a treat just now...no go. I had to go to cheese and she was weary about eating it. All suggestions welcome - we have a week of this.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

If you can get some cans of green tripe (Tripett or Green Cow), I've never seen a dog that would stop long enough to pick pills out of that stuff! It smells/tastes so strong it hides anything. If you mix some kibbles in it to camoflage the hard pills, that works even better.

 

Ben is my sneaky one - he has to take four pills a day and that's the main reason I give him half a can of Green Cow every day.

 

They also make a handy little pill shooter but you can only do one pill at a time with that.

 

All of the rest of my gang take pills on command. I give the pill and then a yummy treat. It makes them more cooperative. Except Ben, who always has to be special!

 

Now I really wish you were coming tomorrow, I could give you a can of the Green Cow I've got here. It's sold at most places that sell Solid Gold Products. I don't think there's anywhere that sells Tripett locally, unfortunately.

[2 Devils]

All my dogs will allow me to "give" them pills without much fight but they get treats for it.

 

Of course my dogs don't ever spend enough time worrying about what is in their food so I just drop pills in the food even with the puppy. I do add salmon oil and/or arthrimaxx to food so that may help but they will take pills in food without addition things.

 

If your dog likes peanut butter try that or even jelly. A pill can be covered quite easily in a spoonful of jelly and it slides down the throat.

[nancy]

Fergie is like my 4-year-old granddaughter (maybe why they are such pals). If you put peanut butter on it, they'd eat a bale of hay.

[Keegan's Mom]

I never thought of jelly. She does like pb...some days. I have a dog that somehow seems to know you are coming with "bad" things and will hide...nothing will draw her out...not even the yummiest snack.

 

She LOVES hot dogs though...maybe I will have to try to slide the pills into the center of a hot dog bite.

 

Becca - I wish we were coming, but I just don't want to chance the weather...Jason said it was rainy pretty significantly at his place tonight.

 

Have fun next weekend. Tess will be raring to go next time she gets on sheep - it has been and will be almost 3 months!!!!

[Tassie]

Rachel - sorry to hear about the eye - hopefully it will heal quickly now.

 

On the pill question - I usually put mine in a little ball of ground beef. I make a few - toss a couple of unbaited ones one at a time, then the baited one, then unbaited - if you toss them rather than just give, and let them see the next one coming, it usually works fine. My previous old girl had 3 Oroxine tablets morning and night for some 12 years with no dramas - and A/bs every now and again. (Course you have to be careful to toss the right beef ball to the right dog if there's more than one dog in the mix!)

[Keegan's Mom]

AH - yes...Keegan has to a get a "treat" too. I tried PB this morning and it worked...she first spit it back out though to make sure I wasn't tricking her...evidently I'm still smarter than my dogs because she didn't find the evidence.

 

I'm going to have to mix it up though because I know that she will catch onto us at some point during this week.

[lrayburn]

Pill Pockets. My vet carries them. They are soft, smelly treats with a hole to put the pill in. My guys have NEVER said no to a Pill Pocket. The cats take them too. Even the cat that wants to sniff everything to death before he'll think about putting it in his mouth. Much better than cheese, turkey, cream cheese or hot dogs in my experience. No, I don't work for the company or get a kickback.

Lisa

[Smokjbc]

We started carring Pill Pockets too- its not too impressive with the dogs- because they will eat anything . But its great for my cat- he gets thyroid meds 2X a day- what a difference to have him BEG for his pills twice a day instead of having to shove pills down his throat. I give a little piece to my younger cat- just so he's "trained" when the time comes for him to have any pills.

[Keegan's Mom]

I found they were expensive and my vet didn't carry them. Our cat gets blood pressure medicine 2 times daily. I just get the soft Friskies treats for him...they are the only soft treats that work.

[Miztiki]

How is Tess's eye doing now? What a scare. I always take the "better safe than sorry" approach with eyes because they are such an important organ. I sure hope she's going to be fine!

 

I was mowing years ago and something knicked my pupil. Went to the eye doc and was told there was a tiny hole there. It was extremely painful, like a razor blade in there or something, but some drops and strong meds kept the pain at bay until it healed a couple/few days later, so hopefully Tess is all better now.

[Rave]

Poor Tess!! How is she doing now? I use PB and competition from the other dogs.

[Peg Haese]

I hope Tess is doing better. Eye problems are nothing to fool around with. Go straight to the nearest veterinary ophthalmologist! Vet schools and specialty clinics have them. My whippet Babs lost both eyes due to glaucoma. Our local vet thought it was a scratched cornea and kept treating it wrong. He never apologized for messing up (scared of liability) and I changed vets. The specialist we finally got referred to had a long talk with him and his partners at a professional meeting.

 

Panda gets half a Uricon tablet twice a day for incontinence. I put them right down her throat and she gets a treat.

 

My dogs come running when they hear a pill bottle rattle because they think it means treat time. I start by giving pretend pills when they're puppies (finger in throat, treat).

 

The cats don't get much oral medicine but when they do, there's milk waiting in the dish. Any kittens we keep get pretend pills, too.

 

Peg Haese and Border collies in SW Wisconsin USA

PNP Katahdins and commercial wool flock

[Little Bo Boop]

You can try hiding it in peanut butter, that usually works. If you are really having trouble (they tend to figure things out pretty quick) you can just get a syringe put the pills in the syringe, add water, and make a slurry out of the pills. After they disolve you can just place the syringe in the side of the dogs mouth and depress the plunger. Works great.

[Keegan's Mom]

Tess is doing great. She has one pill left to take today. She caugt onto the PB so we put them in hot dogs then she caught onto that...so we cut to the chase and put them down her throat. She doesn't mind us putting the pill back there and it is much less hassle then all the other treats and what not.

 

She still can't do her "activities" for another week. So she will go with us to our herding lesson today but she won't participate. Although I think she probably could...she went swimming last night and seems to be fine today.

 

Our optomologist and vet tech sent us a nice card yesterday wishing Tess a speedy recovery. The doctor was very to the point, but a GREAT doctor. They did the surgery the same day as the consultation and it only took them 40 minutes to call me back with the results.

 

Thanks for your concern - but Tess wanted to let you know that she A-OK!!!

[Miztiki]

I'm so glad to hear that she's going to be ok! You must be so relieved.

 

Thanks for letting us know Rachel, and give her a kiss from me and my gang!

[Keegan's Mom]

Yeah, just when Tess is getting better...Keegan's eye has a problem.

 

He got into a little fight yesterday. When we got home he had blood running out of his eye. Tore his third eyelid but the vet said it would heal on its own. He seems to be fine.

 

Stupid dog for fighting!!!

[Miztiki]

You've got to be kidding me! Who did he get into a fight with? Wow. Is the vet confident that it will heal on its own? That would absolutely scare the crap out of me to see blood coming out of my dog's eye, especially when my other dog just went through an eye injury.

 

Geez, maybe I ought to send you some safety glasses for them to wear.

[Keegan's Mom]

Maybe I do need safety glasses for them wear for a while.

 

Long story, but Keegan doesn't like to messed with by other dogs and he was on leash going through a gate with another dog.

 

They said it would heal properly on its own - no antibiotics or anything.