We're away on what was meant to be a relaxing holiday in the middle of nowhere. Yesterday we visited friends upriver. Of course Snowie came with. They have a very playful 2-year-old Ridgeback male. Snowie and him were at it non-stop for almost two hours. Had to drag him away. After we got off the boat at our jetty he sprayed out a jet of diarrhea - must've swallowed a lot of salty river water. His eye looked gooey, we thought got dust in while playing. But later I was more concerned about his back cos he was crying. We gave him two Rimadyl so that he could sleep comfortably. I was awake most of the night in fear of the worst. This morning he was very wobbly on his feet. Didn't poo. So I phoned a vet in a nearby town (just over an hour away on a very bumpy gravel road) who was open asking if friends who were en route could pick up anti inflammatories for Snowie. Vet wanted to know everything about Snowie - a stranger on the phone! When I mentioned Snowie's eye he said I must irrigate with saline and if no improvement to bring him in immediately. Which we did. He found a huge corneal abrasion - I felt ill at the thought we might've neglected it! It showed up with dye. Thankfully not over the pupil but under the bottom lid. Must've knocked it while playing wildly. Vet sewed the third eyelid across it - said acts as a natural bandage. Then sewed his eye shut. Stitches stay in for 10 days. Has anyone heard of this procedure? He said the vet in the city another 2 hours away says best to insert a contact lens, but the vet we saw said this is how he was trained, that he's not sending clients another two hours away, and that he performs this procedure on about 100 dairy calves each week! (Harsh conditions for these poor calves, very dry arid area, lots of insects and dust.) Snowie must take antibiotics and we must irrigate eye, keep it clean. I stayed in for the whole operation - my husband went out, worried he'd faint. Snowie only needed a sedative, not general. Altho had to be woken. This was all after the vet had shut, no support staff. New Year's Eve afternoon! The reason we'd not rushed there first thing was because we were worried about Snowie's back and how he'd manage to get into the car and the bumpy ride. Well that looks fine, easily hopped into the car. I think he was just plain stiff from playing for almost two hours. We might cut our holiday short, see how Snowie is. Right now he's sleeping off the anaesthetic. Got his paw all bandaged up to prevent scratching his eye with his dew claw. Vet is hopeful of a successful outcome. I am just plain drained. Interestingly this country vet, who sees a wide range of domestic and farm animals, is very anti any oral tick/flea chew and the spot-ons, where the body stores the insecticide. He said if you're going to use anything, then he recommends the Seresto collar where the insecticide stays in the collar mostly and repels ticks. Or the Frontline spray (not spot-on). He said Bravecto causes liver damage. Snowie had some ticks on him - they seemed to appear after he was injected with the sedative! - and thankfully he identified them as harmless. All we need now is biliary!
Thank you everyone! @SwampDonkey yes - we do need a holiday to recover from this one!!!!! I think maybe a staycation will be the safest bet! Thankfully Snowie is quite sleepy and not worrying his eye too much. But he hasn't pooed since last night - yet something else to worry about!!
I am so sorry that Snowie has a poorly eye! Sounds quite sore, hopefully he makes a good recovery! I hope you don't mind, I just want to explore your comment re: Bravecto. We have given this to our dogs, our vet was perfectly happy to do so. I would be interested to understand why your vet thought this causes liver damage as that is quite a strong statement. When I have looked on the veterinary sites, I have found no mention of any changes in hepatic blood chemistry to indicate this.
Also very interested (and worried) about the Bravecto comment, especially as someone on another thread said that reactions to Bravecto tend to happen with the second or third dose. I think it was suggested that this was because it accumulates in the body (I assume also referring to the liver). Quite frankly, despite all reassurances from our vet, I am now terrified of Ripple having his next dose (his third) in a couple of months time .
The way Bravecto is eliminated is via the liver and bile and eventually via the feces. In dogs that have been ill after taking Bravecto, their liver enzymes have been very high. However no studies have been done; these are from individual vet reports. This is what I have gleaned from my own reading. I didn't ask this vet for details - I'm sorry actually, I should've. He did say he was treating a dog for seizures. When they stopped the Bravecto, the seizures stopped. He did say he would never willingly ingest an insecticide that would be stored in his body and he wouldn't do that to an animal either. He also said that a tick must suck blood before dying (from Bravecto) and could infect the dog in any case, that it did not act as a repellent. He said repellents were his preferred method. He did warn me against too much neem oil - in the repellent I'm using on Snowie - he said too much can be toxic. He was in favor of the Seresto collar - but he stressed only if needed. He didn't see anything wrong with ticks if not in a biliary area. He said most people themselves didn't like the ticks but they were harmless to the dog. Unfortunately we are holidaying in a biliary area and he did say to keep them off Snowie. He said smothering the ticks in Vaseline was a good way to get them to detach. I've been using paraffin on an earbud - works a charm, tick comes off easily. He said that was also an effective method. I didn't know of the Vaseline method.
We have a tick problem here, lots of deer in the area which also venture into our garden. Lyme disease is carried by the ticks here.
I think this is very dodgy advice indeed, and it would pretty much make me discount advice from that vet. From the Lyme Disease Action (and this has always been my understanding for years, ever since I was removing ticks from dogs as a kid) : DO NOT try to burn the tick off, apply petroleum jelly, nail polish or any other chemical. Any of these methods can cause discomfort to the tick, resulting in regurgitation, or saliva release. http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/about-ticks/tick-removal/
I am sorry to read about snowy! I hope he recovers rapidly and uneventful! I hope you soon can get some more vacation time. Nevertheless a happy new year!
The important thing is I hope Snowie recovers quickly, and his eye problem resolves as painlessly as possible. I don't want to detract from this thread re: tick musings! I know you have a concern re: seizures and Snowie, and it is important to consider how to manage this effectively. In your position, I too would be scrutinising any medications for interactions which may impact on liver enzymes and/or seizure thresholds. On the other hand I am paranoid about ticks! (having contracted Lymes disease from a tick) so have at times become quite engrossed in the evidence available. I have looked into all the clinical data available (registry data, NOAH, EU clinical data ) and have not spotted any signals re; liver chemistry. I am not for one second saying your wrong, as Snowie has obviously had a reaction.
Poor Snowie. I can understand you must be exhausted by all this. I really hope Snowie has a quick recovery. Stitching the eyelid will significantly reduce pain from any ulcer/abrasion. Sounds drastic, but if it was ME, I wouldn't be keen on a lens, I have a bit of a phobia about them, although I believe it is a much more modern treatment than tarsorrhaphy. In people, often firm padding with eye pad and bandage, to keep the lid shut, isn't unusual for abrasions. I don't think I would worry too much about the vet. Attitudes towards flea and tick treatments, immunisations, food, raw feeding, lots of thing I have found vary significantly from vet to vet. I'm personally with Julie on this one though....
@Beanwood I'm also conscious about not detracting from this thread about Snowie's eye, can we continue the tick discussion elsewhere - I'm also paranoid about ticks, but becoming increasingly paranoid about Bravecto .
