One eyed dog

Orr became an one eyed dog recently. This was very sudden change for us, as everything developed quite fast. Here is the story:

10 May we went to a forest walk with seemingly well dog. He had lots of fun.

On the next day, 11th May, I noticed that he squinting one eye a bit.

I was thinking at first that he managed to get something in the eye from the forest walk. By the evening he started to shake the head excessively as there would be something in the ear as well.

On 12th May I went to the vet to get an infection medicine for the eye and the ear.

After a week of putting the drops, there was no change what so ever, the eye was even worst, if anything. So we went back to the vet on 19th May. Orr had developed a glaucoma to this point. We got painkillers as it was obvious that the dog is suffering with the eye. We also got an appointment to the eye specialist.

10 days before the eye specialist appointment we ran out of painkillers, so the effect of them was clear. As soon as he was off from the painkillers, the eye squinting was back on. On 30th May we were back to the vet, who said that we shouldn't wait for the eye specialist appointment in their clinic, but go to the other clinic who also have specialist working there.We got an emergency appointment for the next day, Sunday as the regular appointment times were all full for 2 weeks.

The same evening we had another adventure. A small male was crawling under the gate to our garden and Orr and him had a fight. It was pretty scary site. I managed to drive the small male out from our garden (ha is a loose dog that I have seen walking alone before). Fortunately, there was no serious injuries, except bleeding of the mouth of the small male. Orr was unharmed.

Next day, on 31 May, we went to the eye specialist. Who measured that the pressure of the eye is very high (37) and discovered that he has changes in the iris of the eye, that has caused the deformation of the pupil and also the high pressure and glaucoma. We got drops for lowering the pressure in the eye. And next appointment in 9 days to have x-rays for the lungs and blood sample taken.

Waiting for the next appointment it was clear that the new eye drops do not work also. The eye was still very gray and white part red.

On 9th June we went to get the thorough examination.

He had to go on slight anesthesia for that. The blood results were very good, as well as the x-ray and examination of the lymph. But the eye pressure had gone up 100% more, being 64 now. And the diagnosis was the same - melanoma of the iris. As the medicine did not work at all, then we decided to have the operation to remove the eye as soon as possible in order for Orr to get the healing process started. The operation was scheduled for the very next morning!

On 10th June, I took Orr back to the vet for another anesthesia and the operation.

5 hours later I went to get my little pirate back.

He was very confused all the rest of the day. But he had good appetite and very nasty diarrhea. He did not slept most of the night, just stood.

11 June, 2nd day. He slept during the day a lot now. Mood is relatively good. Slept all night in our bed.

12 June, 3rd day. Very restless all day. Needs attention and caressing and closeness ALL the time. Wants to sleep ON the human and can sleep ONLY when being as close as possible :) Night was also restless. Searches for missing family members from everywhere.

13 June, 4th day. Desperate need for care continues. He did not want to move. I think he was to scared to bump into something and get even more hurt. I guess the wound was hurting a lot in those days. I tried to offer closeness but also to encourage him to move around. For the second day he do not go on or down from the bed, or the stairs on his own. I guess again, there is the problem with the cone and looking down.

14 June, 5th day. More active. Already wants to spend some time outside. Can sleep independently now. The wound has been very dry and nice so far. But brownish-bloodish liquid started to come out from the nose. Just some drops I noticed on the floor in the evening. Slept calmly the entire night (close to our faces still)!

15 June, 6th day. Still more active, but still wants closeness. The eye has become extremely litchi now. As soon as my hand is close to the eye, he wants scratching. Even more of the brown stuff coming out from the nose. Still countable with drops. Talked with the vet about it. She said little is okay. But the swelling has reduced a lot now.

16 June, 7th day. Swelling even less swelling today. Still drops coming out from the nose. And the eye is still litchi. Do not want closeness so much anymore.

17 June, 8th day. Last day with painkillers. Already goes to bark outside. And it seems that he has got used with the cone. There was some drops still coming in the morning. Almost all of the swelling has gone.