We had made up our minds to endure the hour trek to the Surgeon's, cone hitting everything in sight, an angry dog barking for her window to be put down, and me, angry that we would "just be wasting our time." Why? We're overly cautious. I can't tell you the amount of times in the past that we went back and forth for one ailment or another and ran her down to the vet, the ER, only to be assured she was fine. With that being said, you can't put a price on assurance and there was something that just irked us about her left eye. To go or not to go? Go. Always go.
Stella's left eye looked much different to us than her right.
When she figured out where we were, betrayal swept across that shaved face. She made us pay for it by causing a scene: pulling, yelping, pulling, repeat. We heard how much training she needed (no surprise there) but were devastated, shocked, surprised and angry with the state of her eyes.
The ophthalmologist believed that not only was Stella having an allergic reaction to the stitches, but the crust on the bottom lids was affecting her healing. Her prednisone for Addison's and the compress (or lack of compress) could have also been a factor.
While we have mastered the drops, the compress directions we found to be confusing and nearly impossible for any extended amount of time. This must be an extended soak, not a wipe. The wet washcloth must be pressed directly onto the dog's eye sockets, paying close attention to wipe away everything, which can be confusing. At this point, the dog's facial hair is also growing back so it's difficult to determine what it is or isn't wipe-able. In our case, the dog is also doing everything she can do get away from you, an added challenge, that at times will cause you to scream, cry, beg your dog to cooperate, but you'll get through. Although we took a warm gauze pad to her face 4x a day as instructed, we were too gentle thus allowing scabs to form.
As diligent as we are, I must advise you to be forceful, keep a warm bowl with cover (I place the water in a to-go soup bowl that was given to me as a gift, microwave the water, put the lid on the bowl, wring it out into a separate bowl, every so often and aim for 5 minutes each eye.)
While the staff rid Stella of her scabs, we were told to discontinue Stella's eye medicines and were given a different drop. Her raw skin where her scabs were posed risk for infection (despite antibiotic) and scarring, comfort and healing. We were in the worst possible situation and needed to turn this around.
Stella's left eye looked much different to us than her right.
When she figured out where we were, betrayal swept across that shaved face. She made us pay for it by causing a scene: pulling, yelping, pulling, repeat. We heard how much training she needed (no surprise there) but were devastated, shocked, surprised and angry with the state of her eyes.
The ophthalmologist believed that not only was Stella having an allergic reaction to the stitches, but the crust on the bottom lids was affecting her healing. Her prednisone for Addison's and the compress (or lack of compress) could have also been a factor.
While we have mastered the drops, the compress directions we found to be confusing and nearly impossible for any extended amount of time. This must be an extended soak, not a wipe. The wet washcloth must be pressed directly onto the dog's eye sockets, paying close attention to wipe away everything, which can be confusing. At this point, the dog's facial hair is also growing back so it's difficult to determine what it is or isn't wipe-able. In our case, the dog is also doing everything she can do get away from you, an added challenge, that at times will cause you to scream, cry, beg your dog to cooperate, but you'll get through. Although we took a warm gauze pad to her face 4x a day as instructed, we were too gentle thus allowing scabs to form.
As diligent as we are, I must advise you to be forceful, keep a warm bowl with cover (I place the water in a to-go soup bowl that was given to me as a gift, microwave the water, put the lid on the bowl, wring it out into a separate bowl, every so often and aim for 5 minutes each eye.)
While the staff rid Stella of her scabs, we were told to discontinue Stella's eye medicines and were given a different drop. Her raw skin where her scabs were posed risk for infection (despite antibiotic) and scarring, comfort and healing. We were in the worst possible situation and needed to turn this around.
Due to the fact that Stella was in such pain with the newly opened skin (or maybe she heard her Surgeon firmly insisting of its importance and how critical we were at this point,I was able to gwt about twn minutes each eye every two hours as now directed by her Doctor)
This is the best picture I could get, clearly press this spot and cover the eye.
Let me tell you, it is NOT enough to just "warm" the compress. Here is what you will need:
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