Chibby and The Eye That Popped Out

Recuperating with the cone of shame.

One night when Alvie and I got to her house, and as it usually goes, her tiny tiny tiny dog, Chibby came running to greet us, and it didn't seem like a night unlike any other. Upon getting in, we were told that something happened to Chibby's eye: it had popped out of the socket. What?? As crazy as it sounded, I rushed toward the little dog and checked. Yep, it's out, alright. Where one of here eyes should be was a huge seemingly red plastic ball just sitting there outside her face. It wasn't dangling or anything (thank God) so it wasn't as gruesome as one might imagine, but still, seeing the red dried up eye that definitely did not look functional anymore, and just imagining the pain our little canine friend must have been going through was enough to get us to be very alarmed. It was strange how Chibby didn't seem to feel the pain, she was pretty normal except for the fact that she looked exhausted, with her other eye being closed often. Perhaps the eye had grown numb?

It was past eleven and I was just about ready to start on my long drive home, so I was still tempted to leave it for tomorrow but I couldn't just forget that the dog couldn't blink, and I couldn't imagine what would be left of the eye the next day. Much as I needed to rest, Chibby needed it more. With a long internal groan, I suggested we start on looking for 24 hour vets online. Thankfully, it didn't take us long and we eventually chose one on Kalayaan, which was relatively close. We called them up to verify they were available, and set out on our errand to save an eye.

We got lost a bit on our way to the New Central Pet Clinic, but we eventually found our way. The area and the entrance were quite dark, but the clinic looked nice once we got in. I appreciated that they had dogs and cats roaming around the area. These people are real animal lovers. Chibby was now in the safe hands of Mr. Vet Man (I think his name was Doc Mike, but I'm not sure). Even with his experience and care, it turned out to be a disturbing affair. He injected a sedative which knocked the little pup out in 30 seconds, with her eyes half open and tongue sticking out. Putting the eye back in was tough, even after lubricating with baby oil, and then after lubricating with KY Jelly. It was getting so lubricated that the eye was slipping out even more. Ugh. After many tries with a pair of forceps for assistance, the eye finally popped back in. It was a great relief, because it was getting pretty heavy to watch. Even though it was now back in place, the eye and muscles around it got to be very swollen. The doctor then proceeded the sew the eye up. We needed to keep it sown up for two weeks so the red eye could heal much better. The scary part was that aside from regularly placing antibiotic eye drops on the wound, we had to keep watch for any sign of infection. If there is any pus, they'd need to take the eye out and shut it up permanently, due to the danger the infection would spread to the brain. Yeesh.

Resting on the first night.

When we got home, Chibby seemed to be very relieved and exhausted. Well, it could just be the medication. I set her down on the floor and she was wobbly and couldn't walk straight. I felt a bit guilty that I found it really funny. Haha. Here eye was so swollen I was afraid it had popped out again, but we decided to just wait and see if it would subside. It did over the next few days, and now, two weeks later the eye is totally fine and not only the eye, but her vision was saved too. What a relief!

If your dog ever has the misfortune of getting its eye popping out (Shih Tzus and similarly big-eyed dogs are most prone), time will be of the essence. In the hands of a capable veterinarian, all will be okay, but you have to get your dog there quick. If an entire day passes, the dog will lose sight in the eye permanently or worse, the dog will have to lose the eye completely. It has to be resolved in a matter of hours. I wish our canine companions weren't so prone to this at all, but alas, we have to do what we can to take care of 'em.