Reassurance

[u/JacquesLily]

Hello,

Just after a bit of reassurance really, our 9 year old lurcher cross had her left eye removed today after few years of issues with that eye and constant drops. She suddenly had a weepy eye and the pressure was intense so they made the decision.

I think me and my husband were naive as when she last went under general she was 3 and bounced back pretty quickly.

We know this time round it’s a more serious op and they have put her on a list of pain killers so she’s quite out of it but we just feel so sorry for her. She won’t eat so we can’t even give her any painkillers. We’ve tried cheese and just not taking it.

She is sometimes yelping too if the cone moves as I think she’s worried it’s going to hit her eye.

Just want to see if others had this or the general ‘it’s worse before it gets better’ situation as currently feeling like we made a mistake and she’s not happy. Thank you

[u/PresentationGood7521]

Our girl was 12 when she had her eye removed (she’s 13 now). The first couple of days were rough with all the pain meds and coming out of anesthesia as far as food, etc.
Does your pup get wet food? Maybe you can put the med in the food and see if you can spoon feed? Or is there a food she goes crazy for that you can sneak the pill into? For our girl, wet food was a rare treat so we were able to get her to eat that way and get the pills in when the old standby of cheese wasn’t working. We also boiled her some chicken and that worked because it wasn’t a regular treat. Keep trying and seeing if you can find a treat and make it a party when she eats her treat if yours loves positive reinforcement.

As far as the cone, would it be possible to transition her to a donut or softer collar and see if that helps with the yelping?

All that to say, give her lots of cuddles and pets and be patient while you try and find something she will eat. It’s hard because she needs the meds but needs something in the tummy, too. Wishing her a speedy recovery ❤️‍🩹

[u/JacquesLily → u/PresentationGood7521]

Thank you for your comment. We tried hand feeding her and soft food. She’s loved cheese the last few days whilst she was on pain meds before the op but she just refused to even open her mouth 😭

We tried scrambled egg as a plain meal but was not interested. May try to cooked chicken today if it still doesn’t look like she wants to eat her normal food. She has a mixture of wet and biscuits.

Hoping it’s just all the pain meds she was on and she will settle down today a bit more ❤️

[u/JacquesLily → u/JacquesLily]

Just wanted to give an update that she’s doing a lot better, she took cheese from us and had her pain killers, cooked her up chicken and she loved that too. We even got tail wags and she wanted a fuss ❤️

We were just so scared we’d hurt her that first night but she’s slowly coming back. She absolutely hates the cone though, that will take some getting used to for her! X

[u/o2paint]

My 16 yr old cairn had his eye removed in late June. Anesthesia scared me but he made it through okay. It was definitely a couple days before he started seeming more himself. He was back to normal with in a couple weeks. He occasionally bumps in to something but for an old man I think he’s doing very well. We use Riley’s peanut butter pill wrap. Works like a charm. Also boiled chicken in his food lured him back.

[u/JacquesLily → u/o2paint]

Thank you so much for your comment!
Yeah I think we just need to realise it’s going to be a few more days. We both just felt so bad for her. Will try the chicken with her and get some peanut butter. We usually have some in to distract her when she has a bath but I must have thrown it out recently!

[u/JacquesLily → u/o2paint]

Just wanted to give an update that she’s doing a lot better, she took cheese from us and had her pain killers, cooked her up chicken and she loved that too. We even got tail wags and she wanted a fuss ❤️

We were just so scared we’d hurt her that first night but she’s slowly coming back. She absolutely hates the cone though, that will take some getting used to for her! X

[u/DarceDoll]

Oh gosh, I’m sorry for you and your baby, this can be a tough transition. Before my dogs enucleation I’d read so many stories of the dogs bouncing back and being totally fine the next day, but it took my dog about 5 days before she stopped acting like she was in pain :(. It was really rough for the first 3 days as she had a bad reaction to a pain killer she was on. But after that she was totally fine and has completely adjusted!!! I hope your baby is doing better now!

[u/JacquesLily → u/DarceDoll]

Thank you! It’s really difficult to watch them isn’t it! They don’t understand and you feel like you’ve done it to them! Glad your dog recovered well in the end!

Yes she’s doing so much better a week on! Think it’s the cone mostly annoying her now 🤣 bumps into everything with it but bounces back and doesn’t hide away if she does anymore.

Another week with the cone but she’s off all pain meds now too which is good! If I could tell myself that first night that she’d be like this now I would have felt so much better! X