spottychick

Thanks belladonna - but I'm not sure that one will do the trick - he could still rub his eye with his paws and along carpet etc with that on. It's a lot harder to find an alternative when it's the face/eye involved. I like this one but I suspect he'd still be able to do damage with this on too - but I might get one and have it on hand for other surgery issues. It looks great comfy cone This would be ideal but you can't order it yourself - it's only available via vet eye specialists which is frustrating!

Oooh a soft collar would be nice - kinder on my legs too

LMAO - Does my heart good to see all this humour in here! Great to "see" you smiling Jed

Yes kirty - its a little bit of tubing. So it's not a shunt??? Tilly - of course i'm giving him lots of sympathy/cuddles/etc I took the collar off and took him for a walk while keeping a firm grip on the lead and an eagle eye out for any "I'm going to rub my eye with my paw" movements. There were a couple but he only got in a couple of actual swipes before I jerked his head away. A kind lady held him while I was in the shop and made sure he didn't rub it Apparently Pepper gave her lots of kisses and Tango snuggled into her. It's back on now and he's sleeping. He seems to be getting better at dealing with it already. Altho he's already done the damage ... blast!!!!

Yes they do but their responses to my questions about stone-forming and diet didn't fill me with confidence that they know a lot about it. They told me to stop feeding him chicken wings and other raw meat and give him Hills science diet. WHen I talked about purines they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. So I'm not confident they know enough about Tango's special needs.

I dont know but I'm so sorry you and your gang are having such a torrid time of it - fingers crossed it's nothing serious

Just wondering about this drug as I have been given some to give Tango after his op. He is due the first one now but I am hesitating. I'm wary of NSAIDS and have done some research in the past when I had a dog with cancer but I'm not so sure about this one as I've never heard of it (or it's previous name) before. Also this is short term (7 tablets over 7 days) whereas with my dog with cancer I was looking at a long term issue. Also Tango is a confirmed stone-former dalmatian and has trouble staying hydrated enough to flush out his system. A lot of NSAID warnings seem to relate to issues of hydration and kidney/liver problems so this obviously concerns me. I am not sure what effect (if any) the drug will have on him in particular.

No he doesn't have a button but he has what I think is a shunt and the inner eyelid is stitched shut. She told me that in addition to doing the "grid" abrasion on the eye itself, they also abraded the inner eyelid and did something fancy where they took some of his blood, processed it and put it into his eye as some sort of serum (?????). Last night he had a miserable time of it with his Elizabethan collar. He crashed into everything, bashed into me and Pepper, bashed into things around the bed when he tried to get in it (including the wall) and took forever to sleep because he was so uncomfortable. He kept getting up and running around frantically shaking his head. I felt so awful for him - like I was torturing him LOL He actually snapped at my hand at one point so I'm a little worried he's taking a few steps backward in his "trust" development. But the little devil has made a serious effort at resolving the Liz Collar problem all by himself. Observe: Note the brown masking tape on the right hand side of the collar - he has snapped the damn thing in two!!! He just bashed into the door frame a few times and broke it. PS THey forgot to clip his nails dang it!!!

Yep but when you live in a rural area that can be a challenge. I'm excited just having a normal vet within reasonable driving distance for the first time in YEARS! Tango is home and seems quite perky - but not happy with the stupid thing on his head that keeps getting in his way and banging into things. His eye looks wierd. He has these tiny rolled plastic things in there. He also keeps trapping Peppers bottom in the plastic "bucket" coz he runs up too close behind her hahahahaha

I can tell this is going to be fun

I just rang the vet. Tango is just waking up after the op and all seems well. Apparently he has been a model citizen, no barking, whinging or carrying on when in the crate waiting or overnight in his pen etc. Somewhere along the lines he may have been crate-trained. What a good boy! I'll be picking him up after 3 today.

mine get both all the time. The apples are a particular favourite - also with core removed when I give them apples - altho when I lived in a house with lots of apple trees all my dogs kept scoffing apples (core and all) with no side effects. Watch out for banana skins - they can be toxic I heard.

Oh dear CavnRott, I sure hope this works for Tango! I've also spent a lot on him so far! Good to hear your girl's eye eventually got sorted. The vet did mention the specialist but I think he flies over from melbourne and is only available in launceston/Hobart so we're hoping it doesn't come to that. That contact lens idea sounds dead clever!

Ahhh great tip persephone! Thanks - I'll find something tomorrow to put his bowl on before he comes home.

THanks for all the thoughts/vibes and information/advice Belladonna - he has an indolent ulcer and the operation is where they scratch the eyeball to promote healing then sew the inner eyelid over the eye to allow healing to take place. I think he also goes on a course of antibiotics (more of them) but obviously they would be internal rather than the ointment types he's tried up until now. They are also concerned about whether his eyelashes/eyelid are scratching the eye but they can't get a good look until he's under. He is still building the fatty tissue back around his eyes (he had lost all the fatty tissue there when I got him so both eyes were sunken) so it's possible that's causing problems as the ulcer is located right down the bottom of his eye. If it is his eyelid/eyelashes causing problems they may have to remove a bit of the eyelid or something. But they're reasonably sure that wont be necessary and that he's got enough fatty tissue now to stop that happening. Sorry if that sounds a bit garbled - it's what I could gather from the 2 vets having a rapid fire vet-like discussion You can see his eye problem in this pic THe other eye looks good tho - much better than it was a few months ago when most of the time you couldn't see his eyes at all.

I'm always wary of any website that sells stuff but has no contact details, no real details about themselves, no physical address/phone number and no ABN I got burned badly by a retailer I had been using for a while and when things went wrong and I couldnt get a response from their stupid contact form I had to resort to searching for the owner of the web domain and tracking them down through their web host. Lucky I knew how to do that and BOY did they get a shock when I rang them LMAO I hadn't thought about all this before but when it went pear shaped I realised they had no ABN and no way to contact them and nothing really that told you who they were. Very dodgy really. So since then I won't buy if I cant call them and see where they are and see an ABN etc - I dont even browse as it's the first thing I check out and I leave if it looks dodgy

Hi all! My dalmatian Tango has been battling an eye ulcer since I got him. After 3 vets and several different antibiotics we (the vet and I) reluctantly decided he has to have surgery and so he is staying overnight at the local vets and has surgery first thing tomorrow. Poor wee babe (and poor wee bank account ) We only went to check progress but when the vet put the staining stuff in his eye she wasnt happy - it hadn't improved at all. She called in the older vet and they both said he needs surgery and they could do it first thing in the morning (they don't do surgery in the afternoon unless it's an emergency). Because I live a bit out of town and there is a mountain in the way with a quite tricky windy road that gets black ice on it, I don't like driving through there too early so they said he could stay there free of charge if I provided the food. (nice of them I thought). That way he could have surgery first thing and then I could pick him up in the afternoon when he's fully recovered. So me and the dogs raced off to the shops and I left them with a can of NG chicken and rice, a small tub of cottage cheese, a banana and an apple and detailed lengthy instructions on feeding him and giving him treats (the apple being the "treats" - he adores them). [eats well dont he!!!] Tango was already leaping up beside me and doing his tango dance just at the sight of the apple and banana so we just HAD to give him a piece . I rang a little while ago because it occurred to me that I could ask them to clip his nails while they have him anaesthetised and at their mercy - save me risking life and limb to try it. They said sure they could do that and told me they were just preparing his dinner, but I knew that because I could hear him making "OH MY GOD dinners coming" noises in the background. They assured me he is having a great time and loving all the activity and stuff going on around him (ie not missing me one bit ) and they will be putting him in a big 'pen' with lots of blankets in a room with a heated floor tonight (geez can I stay too!!?) SO Fingers crossed for my sweet little terror for tomorrow morning that everything goes well - I'm a bit distressed because 1. The last time I put a dog in for surgery I took him back home to bury him and 2. WHen I was dropping off Tango, the food etc they asked me to wait because they were euthenasing a lady's dog. I could hear her talking in the consulting room clearly distressed and then she came out to get the car ready and was in tears and making distressed traumatised dog owner comments to everyone in the waiting room and then she carried her sweet pup through the waiting room and out to her car, sobbing all the way. I lost it and couldn't speak properly to the girl at the counter. My mouth just wouldn't respond to my commands and my eyes had gone all weepy. Anyway - apparently when he comes home he will have an E Collar (not electric LOL) to stop him rubbing his eye and I've never experienced that before so can anyone give me the info on how dogs are with them. ANything I should watch out for or whatever. Is it likely to distress him, how much does it restrict him? How do I help him cope with it? Anything else you know or can think of would be very much appreciated.

awwww thats so nice

I had the same problem as goldengirl and ended up abandoning the purchase.

How many dogs are there, what breed, sex etc Perhaps give us a little more info and people might have a better idea how to help you.

Just got the ADSL back online and watched it - she is adorable. I'd take her and Pepper would be a brilliant guide for her - but of course she's not in Australia LOL

Being blind shouldn't have any effect on his quality of life - especially if he's born blind - he doesn't know the difference. Many blind dogs live happy lives - including my old girl who went blind later in life. They are supremely adaptable and use their other senses. Can't watch the vid because my adsl just went belly-up and I'm back on dialup - but that little guy looks SO cute. And it looks like he'll end up in a great home given how many people want him. So my guess is his quality of life is going to be just fine

Wagsalot. I have had that problem every since I got the plastic bed. Mine has ventilation holes in the bottom but still does it when the weather is cold. I've just developed a winter habit of stripping the bedding out every morning and letting the bottom layer in particular dry out (the bottom layer is one of my old pillows - they get recycled to the dog bed whenever I get a new pillow). That seems to prevent the mould issue (I too have thrown out bedding because of mould) but it doesn't stop it getting wet overnight. But I haven't had a mouldy pillow in quite a while as a result. I would have thrown the bed out ages ago except the dogs seem to like it and often argue over who will have the little cheap plastic bed instead of the nice, large Snooza soft comfy snuggly bed LOL Go figure! I won't get another one tho, it only happens to the plastic one.

Just a quick vent. It's only due to sharp eyesight and reflexes that I don't have a nasty situation with my girl Pepper. While walking today she went to grab a stick that was lying a little way off the path next to the river but I glanced at it and stopped her in time. It had fishing line wound around it several times, with a couple of small floats and several rusty hooks hanging off it. One of them was a triple hook and it clearly had an interesting smell around it. A second similar stick with more hooks was lying nearby. What is wrong with people that they can't clean up after themselves? I took them with us to dispose of properly at home. I didn't want to put it in a public bin because I could imagine someone accidentally grabbing it or the rubbish collector getting the hooks stuck in them. Not nice.

Oh poor Lucy.... I have thoughts but with something like this I don't want to go giving you half-ar$ed advice. I'd suggest you call one of the natural/holistic vets - or two or three. The people at Herbal Treatments are good ETA I also found these folks invaluable when I was dealing with a dog with cancer dogcancernet They are happy to talk with you on the phone.