When it came time to go to my dad's house we headed out and when we showed up we kept our dog on his leash for a while so that he would calm down. My dad has a cat and they had never met before. Honestly, we were worried about our dog hurting the cat. Not because our dog is aggressive, but because he's a hound and well... sometimes ya worry about the dog looking at a cat or other small animal as prey and going after it.
After a while the cat was up on the kitchen counter relaxing and stared at our dog. No big deal. Our dog pretty much completely ignored the cat. But since everyone was calm we asked Dad if it would be okay to let our dog off the leash. He said fine.
So our mutt starts walking around my dad's place smelling absolutely everything because, like I said, he is a hound mix.
I stood in the kitchen just to make sure that our mutt didn't try jumping up on it. He's very tall. Since that is where the cat was I didn't want the mutt popping up onto the counter.
Well, apparently it wasn't the dog we had to worry about. My dad's cat is not declawed. We knew this and we also knew that his cat had lived with dogs before. Granted they were smaller dogs but we had seen the cat running around and playing with the dogs that were living there until my dad's girlfriend at the time moved out.
Our mutt started sniffing along the bottom of the counter, right under the lip of it that protrudes from the cabinets. The cat was pretty far back on the counter so I didn't think anything of it. Then as quick as fucking lightning the cat moved forward and swatted at the dog. He was like a fucking cobra. That's how fast it happened. Our mutt barked and then tucked his tail and ran into the other room. I was honestly very surprised by this and so was everyone else. Normally when an animal attacks another animal they react in kind. But not our mutt. Nope. He ran.
I honestly thought at first that the cat had clawed our mutt's muzzle like a warning shot. Like I said the hit was so fast that it didn't even really register until after the fact. After a few minutes though we all noticed that our dog wasn't opening his eye. Guess where the cat got him? Yep. The fucking eye. This fact only surprises me more in so far as our dog not trying to hurt the cat afterward.
But nope. We all gave him pets and cuddles telling him it would be okay. We left shortly there after. I called our vet about it. He was still keeping his eye closed most of the time but was trying to open it now and again. I've scratched my own eye and I know how much it hurts and burns so I figured that was why he was keeping it closed. Our vet clinic was already closed but I got a hold of the on call vet and he said to take our dog in as soon as the clinic opened in the morning. He said to just occasionally put a damp washcloth over his eye very, very gently every now and then.
The vet clinic opened yesterday at 9am. Because I thought traffic was going to be worse we actually ended up getting there at 8:30am. So we just sat in the car. I kept the windows open and all that to make sure we were cool.
About two minutes before they opened we were waiting at the door and as soon as it was unlocked we walked in. Apparently the on call vet from the night before had called and let the vet on duty yesterday morning know that we were coming in and why.
They had to put drops in his eye to stain it so they could see it better. The cat had scratched the lens of his eye. There is an opaque spot right where the scratch is. She told me that she was prescribing him with an anti-inflammatory/pain killer that he can take orally, half of a pill twice a day. She also prescribed an antibiotic ointment that we have to put directly on his eye three times a day.
She checked and he still has partial vision in that eye even with the swelling that was occurring. She did tell me that she wants us back there in a week. I immediately made the follow-up appointment for this upcoming Friday. That's technically a day before a full week since the appointment has passed but she said that would be fine. She told me to continue to use the pill and the ointment everyday until the appointment.
She did tell me that there is a possibility that he either may only have partial vision in that eye after it heals or no vision at all after it heals. She also stated that if his eye ruptures he would have to have the eye removed. That is the absolute worst case scenario although she assured me that if that should have to happen, gods forbid, that the quality of his life would not go down at all.
However, she did say since that since he still has partial vision in that eye currently it is a good sign.
Our mutt has been eating and drinking and using the bathroom normally. He is sleeping a lot but the vet said that the pill and ointment may make him tired. Needless to say we are letting him sleep as much as he wants. Sleep promotes healing after all. I just pray that there are no complications and that he gets a clean bill of health next Friday.
Both Master and I are very upset. The more we thought about it the more upset we got. Of course we are upset about our pup and hoping that everything turns out okay but we are also upset about it happening at all.
We understand that the dog was just being a dog and the cat was just being a cat however... it's really, really hard to not be pissed off about it. I mean he is our kid. Plain and simple. And our kid is hurt and we can only do what the vet prescribes and hope for the best. That is a horrible feeling. And it's not even like it was an accident. I mean I know none of us thought that this would happen, obviously. Because if any of us did we never would have brought our dog down there with us to visit. This is a fact where basically someone's kid injured ours. And while that saying of kids will be kids, just like dogs and cats will be dogs and cats, it doesn't stop you from being pissed off about it.
One of the things that pisses us off is the fact that if this had been the other way around and our dog hurt the cat, our dog would most likely have been put down.
But not our gentle giant. Not our hound dog. Nope. Rather than retaliate, when he had absolutely every reason and right to, he ran and found his dad, Master, to seek comfort. And even though it hurt he has been the same sweet and loving dog he always is. When the vet was checking him he obviously didn't like it and kept trying to move away, but he didn't growl or even raise his lip at any point and he doesn't know her. I mean this is the same vet clinic we go to all the time but he has only ever had to go in for his yearly checkup. The only other time he had to was shortly after we got him because we discovered he had a wheat allergy and a tape worm. So we had to go to an appointment for that as well as a follow-up. But that was four years ago.
The vet did send us home with a "cone of shame", which is actually called an Elizabeth collar. She said that he doesn't have to wear it as long as someone is able to keep a close eye on him because he cannot be allowed to paw at his eye at all as he could easily damage it further without meaning too. This means he has to wear it at night because we'll both be sleeping. Neither of us are crazy about that idea as he has never worn one before, at least not while he has been with us.
So, I took a nap earlier this evening. Now Master is in bed sleeping and I am staying up late so our pup doesn't have to wear it any longer than he has to. I'll put it on him right before I go to bed and I'll be sleeping out here, in the living room, with the dog just to make sure I can hear him if he tries to take it off or anything along those lines. I don't want to make him have to wear it but I am also not going to go against the vet's advice. I want to give him the absolute best chance possible of having his vision go back to normal. We've already had to stop him from doing it while we're in the same room so I can't imagine how much he'll try to do it when we're sleeping. And sure as hell I just had to stop doing my post to tell him to leave his eye alone. He literally woke up just to try and paw at it. Yep. No way we can sleep without him wearing it. I don't want him to injure himself further. I mean, he obviously wouldn't be trying to but that's because he doesn't know better.
Master and I are both very emotional and will be quite some time. The emotions range from worry to being utterly pissed off.
I will say that we are spoiling the hell out of our mutt. The vet said that was just fine, especially since he should get his rest and have food in his stomach through out the day so he doesn't have an empty stomach with the meds in his system. We can't allow the pup to eat his actual food whenever he wants, he has a very specific feeding schedule, but instead we give him treats.
I will also say that putting that ointment on his eye is a huge pain in the ass. I don't get mad at him for it or anything. I just try and make sure that I get enough on there without over doing it. The vet told me how much to put on but she also told me that because no dog wants their eye to be messed with, it would be difficult and to just do the best we could. Trust me, we are.
I just want to say this one more time... That cat is damn lucky that our dog didn't retaliate.
**UPDATE**
It's honestly not much of an update. Last night I stayed up until about 5:30am to keep an eye on the mutt. Right before I wanted to go to sleep I put the "cone of shame" on him. However, it is the kind where you have to slide it over his head so I didn't really feel that comfortable once I saw how close it got to his eye when I was putting it on him. And of course as usual when you put one of those on a pet they bang into shit. I took it off as he couldn't lay down comfortably with it. As a result I set four alarms on my cell phone. I set each a hour apart. I slept on Master's recliner so that the dog could have full use of the couch if he wanted to sleep there. Each time my alarm went off I checked on the mutt to make sure he wasn't pawing at it. I caught him doing it once. I immediately got him to stop. I stayed up for about 20 minutes after that to make sure he wouldn't try to do it again but he just fell right back to sleep.
After the last alarm I just stayed up. I gave him his pain pill/anti-inflammatory. After that I somehow managed to put the ointment in his eye by myself. Admittedly it is a lot easier when Master is helping but it needed to be done.
After Master got up I gave Him the update on how the night went and that I already already given him the meds. I then I ran to the pet store. I had bought him a fleece bed for his crate but it was too small. So I exchanged that for the correct size. I also bought a nylon "cone of shame". I don't have to slide it over his head so I don't have to worry about it coming too close to his eye when I put it on and it'll do the same job the plastic one would do. Also it'll conform so that when he lays down he will be more comfortable. And since it is nylon and not hard plastic he shouldn't bang into things and have a hard time backing up or anything.
Poor pup! Give him my love, I will be thinking good thoughts so he can keep his eye and hopefully his vision!
ReplyDeleteThank you Angel! We both really appreciate you doing so for our pup.
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