Let me start you off on a few random puppy facts before we get into my story.
Did you know that a puppy’s ears don’t have external opening, these only “open” after the puppy’s eyes open?
Normally a puppy’s eyes will open when they are around 10 to 14 days old. It’s actually very amazing to experience. A puppy will only be able to crawl around for the first two weeks of life and then after their eyes open, they will start walking around.
It totally makes sense that the external ear canals would only open once the puppy is fully mobile to prevent creatures and environmental gunk from entering the ears while puppy is crawling around. Isn’t nature just amazing.
So, my story takes us back to when I was 2 weeks old. Just after my eyes opened for the first time and I was able to see the light of day and what a beautiful light it was. The light seemed somewhat distorted as my one eye was struggling to focus. My mommy had my eye checked at the vet and it seemed that I had an abscess. We got some medication and we were making our way home.
Over the next few weeks my motor skills started developing, I was moving about more and even discovered my voice. When the time came, I said my goodbyes to my biological family and moved into my new family home. Life was great. I was being spoiled rotten.
My new family soon realised that my one eye looked different than the other and decided to have me seen by a specialist. So off we went to Valley Farm Animal Hospital to meet with Dr Lo-An the ophthalmologist.
After checking in at reception we found ourselves in the dog waiting area. Just as I made myself comfortable a friendly looking lady introduced herself as Dr Lo-An. We got up and followed her into her consult room. Mommy chatted to the vet and I heard them talking about my eye. The vet then asked if she could look into my eyes. She moved over to the door and with the flick of a switch the room went dark.
The vet held a bright light in her hand and started shining it at my eyes. She examined both my eyes before switching on the lights again. The vet then continued looking at my eyes. After all the examining Dr explained to mommy, I would need surgical correction to my eyelid.
It seems I have Eyelid agenesis which is a congenital condition (birth defect) where a portion of the eyelid margin is underdeveloped at birth. Eyelid agenesis is generally accompanied by varying degrees of corneal irritation due to hairs rubbing on the cornea or improper tear film distribution leading to corneal drying. These side effects can occasionally lead to corneal ulceration varying from superficial to deep wounds.
For this reason, I needed surgical correction. My nerves were in flatters as I realised, I would need to stay in the hospital away from my family. I would have 4 weeks to get over the fear of surgery as my operation was only booked for a month after my consult.
As the day of the surgery came, I had mixed feelings. I found myself both nervous and excited. Mommy took me in to the hospital. She gave me gentle cuddles before handing me over to the hospital staff during our admission consult. As I said goodbye I was taken to the back.
On our way in to the hospital they weighed in not only my baggage but me as well. I wondered if hospital rooms had a weight limit like aeroplanes have a weight limit? This is my first admission, so everything is still very new to me. The staff gently shaved my leg in preparation of my IV catheter and with precision the IV got placed and everything was hooked up.
An anaesthetist came and spoke to me. While we were chatting about what to expect from the anaesthetic, I felt my eyes feeling sleepy. Before I could blink my eyes, they were both closed shut and I was in dreamland.
When I woke up after my deep sleep my eye felt heavy and I was struggling to open the operated eye. One of the nurses explained to me that I had a bit of swelling around the surgical site and that was shy my eye felt heavy. I stayed in hospital for the remainder of the day and was then discharged.
They sent me home with the weirdest plastic hat. I personally think the person who put my hat on for me needs to make an appointment with Dr Lo-An to check their own eyesight as the put the hat on around my neck. It kind of looked like I put my head in a plastic bucket and got it stuck around my neck. I had no idea why I was wearing such a funny hat until I heard the vet tell mommy that the “cone” would need to stay on until my sutures came out. This was to prevent me from scratching.
Since my discharge I have had a few follow up visits with Dr Lo-An and my operated eyelid is looking a lot better. My eye is less irritated and all in all I feel better.
