Hi all, This is my first post here, and I am pleased to announce I am a proud owner of a beautiful yellow Labrador puppy, that I have named Alex. He is very pale, a creamy white champagne colour. Alex was brought to his new home on Saturday the 1st of July, approximately 8 weeks old. When we went to pick him up we were nearly given the wrong puppy, but it was finally sorted out and we got our boy. Sadly, his eyes were all runny when we picked him up, and he is still having runny eyes. When we took him for his first vaccinations on Monday, the vet said that he might have Entropion in both eyes, gave us some eye drops and we have to wait it out and see if they help. Other than this he is a perfect puppy, he has already started going to the back door and ringing the bell when he needs to go to the toilet. He sleeps through the night in his cage, waking between 5:40 and 7:30 am for a pee, and he sleeps on a little bit more after. Alex eats well, but he doesn't munch it down quickly like I thought a lab would, he drinks some water, goes for some food, then walks around the kitchen and comes up to us while he is eating, it's so cute. He has terrible wind, and it smells rather bad lol! We have been giving him a bit of the food we chose for him (Carnilove) and weaning him off Eukanuba puppy food (maybe the wheat doesn't agree with him?) He poops around 5 times a day, the vet said this is usual for a puppy. He also loves to play, bites quite a bit, but we direct him to his toys and that works. We are super pleased with our new puppy, but because we were almost given the wrong puppy, our Kennel Club insurance papers have been mixed up and we are now awaiting the correct ones to come through as we had papers for another puppy in the litter. As he has been diagnosed with entropion in his eyes, we won't be covered for this as it was diagnosed within 10 days of his health insurance starting, so this will cost us £500 or more to sort him out when the time is right. He is too young at the moment, and he might just grow out of it yet as he ages a bit. I look in his eyes, and I can see his lower eyelashes touching his eyes, it make me feel so sad. If this is entropion, then it didn't show up when I went to see him when he was 6 and a half weeks old, his eyes were perfect then. Does this suddenly come on? And if so, could this have been hereditary? That would mean that the breeder should have confessed this with us. I am rather shocked that such a young puppy should have to go through this, though he doesn't rub his eyes much, only when he wakes. But the thought that he will have to get an operation when he is six months or over is frightening. We are not super rich or anything, but We will pay what it takes to sort our boy out and protect his beautiful eyes. Has anyone else on here had a diagnosis of possible entropion in their Labrador? Is there a good chance it will improve as he grows? Is there a chance it is only an eye infection? He was sleeping in sawdust shavings which I did not feel was a good environment for dogs at all. When we brought him home he had sniffles, and I couldn't help but think he had dust in his nose. He seems alright now he has clean air and a soft bed. I would put a picture up but not sure how to do that. Sorry for the long post, I'm just so proud of him and want to share my joy xxx
Hi and welcome to the forum from me and my boy Bailey, a 16 month old fox red lab. Sorry to hear your Alex has a problem with his eyes I really can't help with this, but I am sure there will be somebody along soon with more experience than me. If you look in the technical section there are instructions there how to upload photo's - they really are a must! I found it easier to become a forum supporter (£10 a year) and then upload photo's directly, otherwise you need to use a photosharing site. Looking forward to seeing the pictures of Alex, and hope all is sorted with his eyes soon
Hi Samantha! Thank you for your welcome, and Bailey's. I will upload some photos soon. I have just wiped Alex's eyes again, and he now has a pinky brown discharge, I'm not having much luck getting his eye drops in as he is just so playful! I'll have to do it while he is asleep.
Hi @BarbWireBlondie and welcome to you and Alex. He looks yummy! I'm sorry to hear about his eyes, what a rotten thing to happen in such a young pup. What I can tell you from my own experience is that my pup was thought to have entropian at one point because she kept getting discharge in her eyes and was diagnosed several times with conjunctivitis. I can't remember at what age she was first diagnosed with it, maybe around 4 months? Anyway, she doesn't have entropian but it was 'watch and wait' for a while and various tests each time she went to the vet with all sorts of things being stuck in her eyes, poor girl. She's had an endless supply of drops and gel which have been a nightmare to get in. The best results were when she was asleep. Now, at 9 months, her eyes are much better (touchwood). She still produces a lot of gunk at times which I just wipe with a tissue. And her conjunctiva are definitely more red than white but I'm guessing that's just her. I think she has grown out of whatever the problem was (I would say the problem lasted to some degree for about 4-5 months). And a friend of mine had a lab with the same problems and she grew out of it too. I hope your boy doesn't have entropian and it's just something he has picked up from his old home. He may have sensitive eyes and therefore vulnerable to dust etc.
Aw sorry about young Alex's eye problems. Aside from that though, your obvious joy and love for him is shining through your post. I look forward to seeing some more pics of him.
Welcome to the forum ! Get used to the wind as every lab I have owned has always made terrible smells ...my last Lab Ebony used to startle herself something terrible when she was sleeping ...she would break wind and jump up as if a rocket had gone off wondering what it was lol . Ebs also had problems with her eyes but this was not until much much later in her life ( she was probably around 9 years old ) , we took her to the local beach near us and when she came back above her eyes ( where a dogs eyebrows would be if they had them ) was all swollen , we took her to the vet and they gave us eye drops however this did not work completely and her left eye started to lose all the fur around it ...long story short after lots of tests etc the vets and even a specialist could not work out what was going on and all we could do was manage the condition and give her daily eye drops to ease her eye .She suffered from this for the rest of her life , however she was still a happy go lucky gorgeous girl . Bella my current lab who has just turned 2 gets "weepy" eyes and always has but this is mostly after she has eaten a meal or woken up . I hope Alex's eyes improve , sorry I couldnt shed any light other than tell you about my own experience and once again welcome to the forum !
Welcome to the forum! Alex looks like a lovely little guy despite some health setbacks. Another forum member, @snowbunny , did a nifty "how to train to give eyedrops" tutorial on her blog that might come in handy for you at some point. You can find it here: https://thislittledoggy.com/2017/03/07/husbandry-eye-drops/ Looking forward to hearing more about Alex and lots and lots of photos!
Thank you so much for advice from your experiences Plums mum, I actually feel more reassured now that you have shared this. Alex has another appointment at the vets in two weeks for another part of his vaccinations, so I will keep my fingers crossed and see what the vet thinks then. The vet did say that we will wait it out, and he said that he hopes it doesn't come to having to do an operation on him, as it's not something they like to do if they can help it.
Thank you Dalliance, I appreciate your information. Alex just dropped another one now, and yes it really stinks lol! Alex sometimes wakes when he farts, but the thing with him is they are silent, so we are not warned in advance lol!
Thanks for the link Emily_BabbelHund, the good thing is that other than his eyes, he is a picture of health, and when we took him for his vaccinations he didn't even notice a thing.
Alex is settling in his new home beautifully by Kelly, on Flickr This is a pic of him sleeping Alex is settling in his new home beautifully by Kelly, on Flickr With his tongue out lol! Alex has poorly eyes by Kelly, on Flickr You can see his poor runny eyes here.
Thanks Plums mum This one is a pic of his face, you can sort of see them running poor thing. Alex has poorly eyes by Kelly, on Flickr
What a dear little boy. I hope his eyes are sorted. I used to work for a vet and so have seen this op many times.
Thank you Stacia, I know that the vets has a five star review so I'm confident in them, I just hope it doesn't come to that. The vet said it wasn't a common occurrence in Labs, but it does happen.
Hi @BarbWireBlondie, I fixed your photos so they show up inline. On Flickr, if you click the share arrow (looks like an arrow to the right), there's a link that says "BBCode". Copy what appears in the box under that, and your pictures will show up embedded in your post He's a cutie, I hope his eye problems are resolved soon.
Welcome @BarbWireBlondie and Alex from Hattie 9 years and our rescue boy Charlie 6 years. What a beautiful puppy Alex is So sorry he has poorly eyes which I really hope can be sorted out. xx
Thank you so much Snowbunny I tried to copy the BBCode but I'm using an iPad, and it won't let me copy the whole text for some reason, so thank you for fixing them for me, much appreciated. Thank you for your kind words xxx