PHEW / THE EYE HAS IT

Phew, the sky didn't fall!!!!   I am delighted this AM to see that my dashboard reader is well and happy.I am so sorry if my false alarm caused any one stress.

 I ended up pulling a Scarlett, backed up my blog list and waited to see what would happen. Even with exhaustive search,I never really got a definitive answer from Google one way or the other. A few smart sources on the Net said "no problem" while others  said,"the sky is  falling, seek shelter."  Anyway, my service did not change and I hope yours hasn't either. "Change" is only 100% good if it involves a wet diaper.  

                            THE EYE HAS IT

And what does the eye have you ask?  Well it has an ugly sore on it. Not my eye, mind you, but my dear friend Mighty Dog is sporting a nasty boo boo. 

I sent him out for his evening toilet on Wednesday. I wasn't paying much  attention to him as I was busy dispatching flies from my porch with my hand held bug zapper.  My annual fly invasion (since the Euonymus hedge started blooming) is here so I was pretty busy. Luckily, the invasion only lasts a week or so. However the zapper has turned this not too pleasant chore into kind of a fun game. 

I heard a muffled yelp but when I went to investigate, Mighty was just standing  in the yard apparently unharmed. He came inside and I reached down to give him his congratulatory head pat accompanied by a loud GOOD BOY ( he is hard of hearing) for a successful toilet. He jerked his head away from my hand in obvious distress. 

He wanted no part of my touching his head so I was thinking maybe he had a tick inside his ear. As I examined his head, I saw something protruding from his eye. Closer exam showed a small bluish/white something sticking out from the center of his eye. 

This is Mighty preinjury showing off his best feature, his eyes. I took no pictures of the injury as  it really isn't pretty plus blasting his eyes with a camera flash would be insult to injury. He is light sensitive right now. 

Since it was too late for the vet, I hustled off to the computer.I was pretty sure he had an injury ulcer to the cornea either from an animal or weed scratch and sure enough the computer confirmed it. It said these will often self heal but sometimes can cause blindness. I couldn't take a chance since he is all ready vision impaired with early cataracts. Besides, he was in a LOT of discomfort. 

By morning, he was much better and seemed no longer in pain. The lump had diminished a little but I still took him to the vet. Mighty knew where we were going and was super anxious. 

He is such a wienie about pain or discomfort that he screams when they take his temperature. He views a thermometer in the butt as an unnecessary,  personal violation. He could never do jail time.  Mighty was in full vibrator and heavy panting mode as soon as we got to the exam room. 

The vet said Mighty's body was doing a great job healing (kind of rare in an old dog) but sometimes the body will do too good a job healing and they can end up with a projection from their eye like a nose. That image had disgusting written all over it so I said "do what you have to."

Mighty had minor surgery and is on meds for the next 10 days. He is not in any discomfort now and the "thing" is shrinking nicely. 

The main reason for this post is that my vet said this is a very common problem for dogs during the summer.  He is not exactly sure why but I suspect it is because dogs get more outdoor time in the summer, thus more opportunities to get into trouble.

This can happen to cats also, especially if they get into  fisticuffs with another animal.   Just remember it is generally treatable but early care gives the best results. Hope you never need this information for your pet and you can just file it away. 

Here's hoping you all have a safe and happy 4th.