This poor dog. Has got conjunctivitis. The third time he has had to have eyedrops and the word struggle doesnt cut it. She said no creams will work and gave us watery drops as opposed to gel. All the sensitisation training has been useless we cannot get a drop in. Going to try from height when hes tirwd wish me luck. Im so worried as we go away on thursday next week.
Poor Rolo & you. Not helpful now, but all I can suggest is you persist, forever, with liquid tear type stuff, if the vet can recommend one. That way you can train him for any future episodes. Or even just an empty bottle. For now, it's a 2 person job, with lots and lots of special treats after each application. Good luck.
Oh @Jyssica, sorry to hear that. Plum's had all sorts of drops, liquid, gel, water; the latter I had to apply twice a day for TWO MONTHS! It was a nightmare. The most successful attempts were made when she was fast asleep on the sofa and my son was there to hold her head. The rest of the time, forget it, as it was only me. Even the vet struggled to get a drop in. I don't imagine she's ever had more than 50% of the prescribed drops actually in her eyes and not on her face . I wish someone would invent another medicine to help conjunctivitis which isn't in the form of eye drops! Good luck, I feel your pain.
We've had most success with keeping the eye closed, putting a line of drops along the area where the eyelids come together, then opening the eyelids a bit so the drops kind of fall into the eye. That way the dog doesn't have to look at the bottle and feels safer having the eye closed and 'protected'. Still not easy but much less traumatic and difficult than trying to keep the eye open as you put drops in.
Poor Rolo. Good luck with the drops. Could you try sitting down with him sitting with his back to you between your legs? I'm thinking you might be able to put your hand under his chin and angle the dropper down from his forehead so it's not in his direct line of sight.
Sorry you are going through this again @Jyssica, poor you and poor Rolo. hope you find a method that works - it's awful having to struggle to do something for your dog which you know he hates but is in his best interests. Giving a cat a pill is a two person job in this house.
Oh, I feel for you, having had the drops debacle with Luna. It's so difficult. It could take me an hour just to get a single drop in at times. I have heard that cold used tea bags (regular black tea) wiped over the eyes can make a big difference to conjunctivitis. I have no idea if this is true, and it's worth checking with your vet first, but might be worth a call to ask? I just had the quickest of looks and Bupa has it on their website for a treatment in humans, so there may be something to it!
I don't want to recommend it, but I'll just say that the cold tea bag trick helps keep Coco's eyes clear. He went to the vets a good while back with a green discharge and had the gel drops. That cleared it up, but after a few days, a white discharge came back - more than the normal amount of sleep. A girl I work with had been told about the tea bags by her vet when her Springers were getting a lot of conjunctivitis (a different vet to mine) - I wiped with tea bags & it cleared up. He has recently started again with a white discharge - wiping with cold tea bags & it's cleared. He will come to me & sit for the tea bag routine - he gets a treat afterwards. Yellow or green discharge & he'd be back at the vet for eye drops. I will ask for their opinion on tea bags if he ever gets another eye infection.
Thanks for all the messages everyone. Things have gotten a little worse. Infection has spread to the back of his eye not managed any drops and it got worse this eve. Went emergency vet it took 4 of them to administer some gel. They gave him a pain releif injection, i am beside myself with worry going away thurs. He now has a cone of shame to stop scratching an hes bouncing off every wall haha poor baby. Hoping the gel is a tad easier and hope his daycare lady is comfortable administering it. Always bad timing x
Ohhh that it is a worry! Hopefully he starts accepting them a bit better. It's really hard getting drops in a dogs eye! If only you could explain to them that they'll feel better for it
Oh no poor Rolo and worry worry for you xxxxx Dexter had a few gungy eye episodes when he was little....in between times on the vets advice I used some saline drops purely for a rinse out and lubrication if I felt like we'd had a particularly dusty ,dry walk.I know this probably won't help you at the moment as you just need to get the medication in but I spent time getting Dexter used to me putting my hand around his snout ...I imagined that this wouldn't be something very nice for a dog so used lots of treats and built up slowly.Now I can steady his head and tilt his nose upwards by gently holding his snout and pop the drops in the inner corner of his eye and they mostly drain into the main part of his eye....a miss is if he blinks as I do it! It takes seconds and I can do it on my own .When he's better and you are home it might be worth doing if there is a next time...hope not though x
Thanks Angela, Most certainly going to try and work on this after this episode, kicking myself I didnt try when he was small. Really makes it hard for both me and him when this happens... Fingers crossed he is better soon x
Don't beat yourself up about this @Jyssica, I've had to do it since Plum was tiny and it hasn't helped any! Really hope he gets better quickly and you can enjoy your hols.
