Monday 17 September 2012

Poor Ozzy….

Some of our regular readers who are on Facebook will already know that Ozzy has had a problem, but for those of you who don’t, I’ll start at the beginning.

On Thursday last, Ozzy didn’t seem quite his normal self and it was obvious his mouth was hurting as he squealed when he tried to pick up toys and dropped them again quickly.  When he woke after his morning nap his left eye was slightly swollen.  We took him to the vets, and after a thorough examination it was decided that he had a conjunctivitis type infection and a sore mouth due to teething.  We went home with painkillers/anti inflammatory tablets and eye drops.  On Friday morning his eye looked a lot better and he was back in normal ‘cockerdile’  puppy mode.  Saturday saw a downward turn again, but his eye still didn’t look any worse.  Sunday morning arrived and it was immediately evident that another trip to the vet was required as his eye had swollen up considerably overnight, so we cancelled our plan to meet up with the crews or nb Yarwood and nb Matilda Rose, and off we went to the vets.  After tests to check the pressure in his eye, he was referred to the Willows Veterinary Hospital in Solihull, and the afternoon saw us driving up the motorway to keep a 4pm appointment.  He was seen by a wonderful lady specialist called Christine, and before too long she had examined him and given him an ultrasound scan.  The verdict was dismal!  His eye was already damaged beyond repair, and his retina detached.  There was also a huge amount of infection.  He was kept there overnight, and given large doses of antibiotics, but this morning he was worse so they went ahead and operated to remove his eye and drain the infection.  They discovered a nasty barbed grass seed which had penetrated the roof of his mouth behind his last molar and gone up into his eye!  He is now recovering from his op and, all being well, we will be able to collect him and bring him home tomorrow.

Obviously, we are shocked and devastated by all this, but we do know that he will do perfectly well with just one eye, and he will be all the more special to us because of it.  The one bright spot in all this is that it isn’t glaucoma, where he would have lost the eye anyway and the other would have been at risk in the near future.  He has been such a brave little boy, given how much pain he must have been in!

We aren’t sure how much more dog-related trauma we can take, so we hope that he will be healthy in the future.  Our last 2 Golden Retrievers were been really unlucky in regard to their health. We were hoping that in having a change of breed we would be ‘third time lucky’…obviously not.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Pip, poor little thing, best wishes that Ozzy improves, for your sake too.

    Heth

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  2. So sorry to read about Ozzy. Our cocker lost an argument with a car at 4 months old but two operations later is doing very well and overcoming any shortfalls the accident left her with. I think the laid back nature of cockers helps a lot in these circumstances (although the 2 months cage rest wasn't exactly plain sailing!). I'm sure Ozzy will do fine without the eye, as much as it is heartbreaking to have it happen, but he's young enough to adapt to it very easily. What wonderful colouring, I love it!

    Regards, Aly

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  3. Oh Pip, so sorry to hear about Ozzy, We do hope he makes a quick recovery and comes home soon. Look forward to your next update on him xx

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  4. Poor little Ozzy. Who would have thought a grass seed could cause so much trouble. Hope he's feeling better soon.

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  5. Hi Pip, what an awful thing to have happened to such a lovely puppy - hope he’s back home soon and on the road to recovery. Best Wishes to you both.

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  6. We've had our fair share of bad luck with doggie health - it's rubbish when you're going through the wringer with them!

    My only consolation is that if our greyhounds are acting as lightning rods for misfortune then maybe somewhere else, someone is having all the luck with healthy hounds living to age 14! I don't begrudge them :-)

    Sue, nb Indigo Dream

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