Re: Dollar, Roscoe, Crate Training, etc.

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

>  
> Next patient is Roscoe to see what's wrong with
> his eye.  Do dogs get conjunctivitis?  I hope not because I
> know how contagious that is to others.
>  

Joan ET All,

 Yes dogs can get conjunctivitis, but not all forms of this are
contagious.  More so with dogs they get corneal abrasions which can
be a bear to clear up, we are dealing with one with Kaycee right now and
Gambler had one [our first Gambler].  This seems to me to be more
prevalent in mature dogs, and Roscoe is 6 right?  Mature maybe not?
<grin>  Our Specialist here said he sees them with some
frequency.  We thought Kaycee had injured her eye out on the farm,
felt bad that we didn't see her get inured, felt neglectful, but this is
not the case these just simply irrupt and must be treated.  The eye
will tear a lot, the dog will wink or hold eye closed and if you peel it
open you will see the ulcer on the cornea. Treatment can be medication
and or surgery.  Our vet her has opted to try medication first, and
we are putting two kinds of meds in her eyes three times a day:  The
first one is a ointment with antibiotics and steroids in it, the steroids
slow down the healing process which is necessary with this condition and
the second is also a ointment, that is basically salt water sodium
chloride, that also keeps the irritation level up.  Weird course of
treatment considering all the vets say to never use steroids in an
eye.  This is the one exception they say.  So in short when
eyes are in question the best thing to do is to do as Joan is get to the
vet ASAP.  

The other simple thing this could be with Roscoe is allergies or an
abundance of dust in his eye clogging his tear duct in that event they
will simply flush his tear ducts with saline and or boric acid eye
wash.  If that is the case they can show you how to manage this at
home and it's no big deal as long as he doesn't go into dry eye. 
Which could be a precursor to glaucoma.

Hope this helps, and give Roscoe a hug from us!

Gina