Weepy eye...

HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
So it's off to the vets for Kipper and me this morning as he woke up yesterday with a gunky eye :( poor mite. I've been cleaning it with cotton wool and saline solution and was (optimistically) hoping it'd be clear by this morning, but still a little gunky although less so. Hopefully not bothering him too much as he's not rubbing or indicating that I can see, but I suspect we'll have fun and games with eye drops later...
 
HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
Thanks all! It's good news in that he hasn't scratched anything so he has conjunctivitis eye drops twice a day for a week :eek: (good luck to us...)

They did have to take him 'out the back' to inspect his eyes, and I'm hoping it hasn't made him nervous of the vets again. Back in March he went to the vet for a similar thing and hated having his eyes inspected, so they took him to a different room which I think meant several nurses holding him while the vet looked in his eye. He clearly hated it and was quite nervous of the vet since, but in the last few weeks has started getting over it with some work from us to the point that he now trots in happily.

The vet also said that if it keeps happening it may be that he has an issue with him producing enough tear fluid to lubricate the eye so needs further investigation - the only treatment is daily eye drops that are 'very expensive' :(. Apparently the assessment for that needs a piece of indicator paper in his eye for 60 seconds (!!!) so not sure on any level how that would work. Really hoping it's not needed...
 
SwampDonkey

SwampDonkey

The paper test the quality and quantity of his tears. Depending what the are looking for they can time it too. If he's insured they should cover the cost. IF not you can get a prescription from the on line people like petdrugsonline which is cheaper than vets. You just send them the script and they send you the drug, your get may charge for the script but it usually works out cheaper. A lot of dog have dry itchy eyes at the moment . It's hot and others a lot if dust and pollen about.
 
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HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
Oh thanks both, that's v. useful info (and @SwampDonkey, I hadn't even thought about using insurance for this, thanks for the reminder (y)).
Hoping it's just a time of year thing, fingers crossed.
@edzbird good tip on artificial tears; also love the macabre sound of buying 'human tears' o_O And definitely need to up the rewards after application! I might get some frankfurters...
 
SwampDonkey

SwampDonkey

I just do it before they get fed. I get the food ready and put the bowl just out of reach. Rory sees it and then has to sit while I put his drops in. He gets the food immediately after. I been doing this for a while and he just sits and let's me do it.
 
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Plum's mum

Plum's mum

Location
East Sussex
Plum went through the eye tests you describe many a time, she was always so stoic, bless her.
After many applications of gels and creams for her eyes she was eventually prescribed the human stuff, which I guess is what @edzbird means and it was a fiver a box, I think, and the box lasted yonks.

I had to apply twice a day for two months!! o_O:eek: I couldn't believe it when I heard, I wanted to cry.

I hope Kipper's eyes clear up soon.

Nowadays if I notice eye gunk I try used tea bags swiped over each eye for a couple of days and it, so far has done the trick (got that tip from here).
 
Jen

Jen

Oooh we’ve just gone through the exact same thing. A week of eyedrops has been hell! I hope we’re doing now but we’ll have to wait and see.

I found it easier by doing it myself without OH. I just sort of sat on his back and got his eyes from behind, it hadn’t been enjoyable but they do look much better so hopefully that’ll be the end of it! X
 
HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
Oh wowser, that's the ticket - thanks @Boogie, this gives me a lot to work on. Exactly what I'd like to get to with head-handling generally, Kipper's still uncomfy with eyes and mouth so this is perfect.

So far (based on one meal!) @SwampDonkey 's suggestion worked pretty well; Kipper was looking at his food, kept shifting backwards but eventually stayed still long enough to get a squidge in while he licked the yoghurt spoon ;) That's the short term solution, I'll work on the bucket method for a permanent fix.

I wonder why it's called the "Bucket" method?
 
M

MaccieD

Boogie said:
The bucket method is excellent for training for giving drops etc.

I’m trying to find a link for you. Maybe @MaccieD has a good one?
Click to expand...
I don't have any links to hand but will see if I can find something suitable for future reference. I got caught out with an eye infection earlier this year - twice! Without time to do any real preparation training I used tiny squares of parmesan cheese and roast chicken. Fed several cubes of chicken approached with eye drops and applied and immediately followed with small handful of parmesan cubes and then repeated to apply another drop and follow with more parmesan. It works for me but I know I'm lucky with Juno but I've been working on holding her muzzle recently on preparation for her next kennel cough (my vet vet prefers holding the muzzle to get the spray into a nostril) and it's really quite surprising how quickly you build duration and I'm switching hands and angles to try and cover most possibilities.
 
HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
A quick update on eye drops - Kipper quickly became averse to a drop in his eye, even with the temptation of a yoghurt spoon. So my mum suggested putting a blob of the cream on my thumb and gently wiping it into the corner of his eye whilst distracting with fodder.

It worked a treat - making sure to wash hands beforehand obvs. I'm persevering with the bucket game but this was a handy and low-stress quick fix.
 
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