Ari's Eye is Swollen

Oh Ari, what did you get into this time?

I hope everything goes well at the vet. Let us know please!!

Sounds to me like she either got stung or got something *in* that eye.  The other eye could be irritated just because of trying to do the work for both eyes.

If I were you I'd make a dog emergency kit -- yes, it contains liquid Benedryl, and then things like gauze pads and rolls, Betadyne, an unopened bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and a baby medicine syringe to administer that in case of poisoning, a good pair of tweezers, etc.  There's one on my critturs.com website that will start you off and folks have posted on here as well.

Most of the things are things people usually "have around" BUT the problem is that in an emergency you can't lay your fingers on them.  So yeah, the dog gets its own pair of tweezers, gauze pads, etc. 

Most benedryl is good for a least a year after expired to be honest -- but I usually pair checking the first aid kit with an 'event' like my birthday or July 4th or *grin* Thanksgiving or whatever.  Then you can check for expiry dates, etc. 

I'd put in stuff like Hylands Calms, maybe some valerian root -- anything you've wished so far you'd had and then more.  It gets it's own box and it's own 'place'.  But it will likely save you nights on the sofa.

 Another thing you might want to get is Giffen & Carlson's "Dog Owners Home Veterinary Manual" -- it's a darned good first aid/medical book. It's got a list of "e-vet" emergencies in the front cover but it can give you a better idea of how critical something is *right now*.  It's not a cheap book but it's a very good one to keep on hand.

When hiking things like seed pods and foxtails can get in eyes, nose, ears, etc. so hopefully the vet checked all those places.  Let us know what this was??  Good luck! 

Poor Ari!  Hopefully, it's something minor, & she'll be back to normal soon.

Poor Little Ari.  I know just what you mean about her wanting to be near you when she doesn't feel well.  Heidi is the same way.  She is typically NOT a cuddler or a lovey...but when she doesn't feel well, she always makes it obvious that she needs consoling...and of course I take complete advantage of it.  Its the only time I get to baby her. 

Please keep us posted on your girls' little eye.

Thanks everyone.  I actually do have a first aid kit, with everything BUT the Benedryl!  I cleaned out of medicines when I saw one bottle that expired in 2006 eek (we don't use meds around the house really).  

Thankfully it's nothing more serious than a shallow scratch on her cornea.  I had a feeling it might be that, as we spent a lot of time in the woods yesterday and Ari is quite the adventurous puppy these days.  She did very well at the vets.  I'm really lucky to have a dog that does not mind being poked, prodded and getting goopy stuff put in her eyes.  She just looks at you pitifully and wags her tail.  

We'll have a follow up appointment in a few days just to make sure everything is healing up as it should.  

The vets office should just keep a running tab open for us... 

Oh man -- and that hurts!  One time Muffin the Intrepid decided to stick his nose into the cold BBQ grill.  He snorted up ashes and SNEEZED and blew ashes into his eyes.

About 5 minutes later (he wasn't out long at all) I let him in and here he stands at the back door with his EYES ROLLED BACK IN HIS HEAD.

It scared the liver out of me -- if he hadn't been standing up I would have thot he was dead. 

It wasn't, of course -- it looks like that when the "third eyelid" (which is under the eyelid) comes down and they look for all the world like their eyes are rolled up in their head.  I swear I aged 40 years in 3 seconds.

I squirted Hypo Tears in his eyes and got the gunk out but it scratched his eye nonetheless.  But an eye injury looks SO bad SO fast. 

If you don't have that book -- it truly is a good one. 

I think, very often it is harder for folks who are intrinsically well to deal with stuff like this simply because you don't have stuff like this around and you aren't used to thinking "oh this is easy!". 

Now me?  shoot -- Benedryl all over the place ... in fact, "David will you bring me home the Benedryl **name brand** caplets -- I know I have the capsules but I need to break them sometimes so I need the caplets on hand and Wal-marts capsules are good but the capLETS suck." -- So I have 3 varieties around the house.  LOL

My Mom's dog when she was younger scratched the heck out of her cornea (far worse than Ari has done, thankfully no eye damage) and yup I'm about going grey with Ari and her various ills and injuries.  I'll really be turning 72 in January not 27 :)  I'll absolutely get that book.  I have a ton of books around that are dog related and that's a great one to add in there.  

The reason there's little medication around is because I simply cannot take most of it.  I'm one of those weird types that reacts poorly to most over the counter and prescription medication.  Benedryl will about put me into a coma, Nyquil keeps me up all night in a hyper active state.  The most I take is Tylenol or IB Profen for headaches/fevers.  Unfortunately I'm not intrinsitctly well these days.  Last couple years with stress I have been sick a lot.  I had the flu twice last season, plus a nasty stomach bug, my migraines are back, and I've already had several colds this year.  I just don't take meds for anything.  I will be restocking the Benedryl though for Ari.  And I could use another bottle of hydrogen peroxide (comes in very handy with a dog that will literally eat anything).   

Poor girl is moping around trying to elicit pity from everyone here at the office (and succeeding of course).  Her eye is open now and her third lid is back down.  She is handling having drops put in her eye like a champ (except it is really hard to put in drops while she's busy licking my face raw heh).  I may complain about some of her behavioral problems we are working on, but she really does great when she's ill/injured as far as being treated goes (which makes her humans jobs and the vets jobs all the easier).  I remember it being a battle with my mom's dog, and she didn't want you touching her if she was hurt (understandable of course!).   I'm very grateful that Ari is a trusting soul and does seem to understand your doing it for her good, not out of malicious intent to make her feel worse.  Although there have been a few dirty looks thrown my way in regards to the cone collar - but she doesn't fight having it on either. 

Oh Callie - unrelated to this injury but I will have to say the recipe you gave me for her ears has been phenomenal.  Her ears are WONDERFUL now that we do maintenance with only that.  It does stain like the dickens (I have a designated ear cleaning only shirt) but the vets have even said to me her ears are looking fantastic compared to what we were battling before. 
 

I'm glad Ari is OK.  She's giving Willow a run for her money in the most vet visits contest!!

willowchow they sure do like to keep us hopping!  Ari was at work with me (since she needed drops and the vet is near to wear I work (more so than where we live)) and one of my coworkers came into my office for something - took one look at her with her cone collar and said "now what happened?"  This was our first vet visit since the surgery though, so at least that is something! 

I keep telling the brat she's not allowed to scare me anymore, but she just doesn't listen to me!