A Conehead once again...

You may remember a blog I did back in January about Cheyenne having to wear a protective cone collar. That was just for a minor scratch she had. Well, unfortunately, she is sporting the cone again, but this time the injury is little more serious.

Poor Chey apparently had an encounter with another dog while at work on Monday. In general, our dogs all get along pretty well. My honest guess is that they were playing too rough and it just got out of hand. They all have their moody days and like to chase and wrestle. So, there is no dog to blame- its just part of having a group of dogs together. Consider all of the different breeds we have out there... 3 Labs, 1 Heeler, 1 Labradoodle, 1 Cavalier/Terrier and 1 Cattle Dog (Cheyenne). We occasionally have a Bulldog and Basenji too. So, the temperament and activity level of these dogs vary greatly. However, that mixture is also what is so great about it... its Doggie Day Care. They get to be social and play ALL day. They are exhausted when they come home!

At my office, the dogs have their own play area. Its a large, nicely fenced in area. The house offers air conditioning and water.

As soon as we arrive in the morning, Chey runs to the gate and is ready to go in!!! Her buddies, Cyphus and Tucker (the Labs), greet her and they usually roll around for a while and talk.

After I get her settled, our Tucker and I head into my office for the day and I don't see Cheyenne until it is time to go home. I noticed when we loaded up to leave on Monday that one of her eyes looked a little runny. Dogs have this occasionally, so I didn't think a whole of it. By the time we went to bed that night, it was looking worse. Then by the time I woke up the next morning, it had badly swollen and looked awful. Luckily our vet was able to see her within the hour so we headed out.

She stayed glued to me while we waited for the vet to enter the exam room. I am sure it was a combination of fear and that she didn't feel good. However, I LOOOOVE our vet and he was so good with her. As he worked with her eye she whined and even growled. He said she was in a lot of pain. After thoroughly checking her out, he said that is appeared that she had been bitten on the eye!!! It could have been much, much worse if the tooth had made contact with the eye itself, but it had apparently only punctured the inside of her lower lid. On top of that, it seemed that it had already become infected! My poor baby girl!!!! He had to give her some medication in her eye and she was NOT having that. He had to muzzle her and she made the saddest sounds I have ever heard... it broke my heart. I tried to stay in her eyeline and talk to her, hoping that could help in some way.

So, she is home now. She has to wear the cone 24 hours a day so she doesn't scratch or rub her eye. I know she hates that thing. Plus, she bangs into walls, doors and has a hard time negotiating the stairs and furniture. We have to give her eye drops 3 times a day. She also has a week's worth of antibiotics, pain killers and anti-inflammatories. The worse part, as far as she is concerned, is that she has to stay home for a least a week.

Other than being slightly drugged and sad from being home constantly, she is her normal happy, tail-wagging Chey.