what now?

We've had a very busy month here - every weekend in July we have driven hundreds of miles up or down the east coast either dropping off or picking up a child from some adventure.  Last weekend we went up to the Adirondacks and then dropped Jasper at camp in New Hampshire - Zuzu even got to go on a boatride.

This past weekend it was Charlotte's turn - her first summer at sleepaway camp.  All day Saturday, she was diligently piling her clothing/books/flashlights/hairbrushes on her bed in preparation.  We were determined to have it all packed and by the front door so that we could just up and go on Sunday morning.  Despite all of our practice, this is highly unusual behavior for our family.    At dinnertime,  I happened to glance at the pooch who had been following me from room to room all day.  I noticed her right eye was swelling up.  Like the good mommy I am, I tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away.  How often does that work?  Um, never.  And true to form, by bedtime her eye had swelled to the size of a walnut, and she could no longer open it.  Perfect.

Given that we were once again piling everything into the car the next morning and driving for the entire day, we decided it was time for a Saturday night trip to the doggie ER.  For goodness sake, we can't have a one eyed French Bulldog!  What if?!?

I suspected she might be having an allergic reaction to something in the yard.  That, or the dreaded distichia had returned.   Back in March, when we took Zuzu in for her one year checkup, we mentioned that Zuzu's left eye was tearing pretty frequently and as a result she had long brown stains in her folds.

Distichia - an extra layer of eyelashes growing in toward her eyeball - were scratching her whenever she blinked.  Poor nunky.  She had to have them removed (to the tune of $1500!).  We couldn't very well let her go through life getting scratched every time she blinked.

After the operation, we were told that they could grow back, but that it was unlikely.  Hmmm.  It's about time for that, right?  And she had just started tearing again the weekend before,  rubbing her eyes on the sisal carpet when she got up in the morning.

As it turns out, she scratched her cornea.  Not sure exactly how.  But when they dyed her eye orange to examine her, there it was.

48 hours later, a cone around her head, and some antibacterial ointment 2x/day - all better.  At the follow-up with the vet it turns out there are no new distichia to speak of.   Phew!