Sheltie with a black eye.

S

Smudge

Forums Sage
About three weeks ago I noticed that Smudge's eye was getting a little funky. Now it's gotten to the point that it looks like somebody punched him and gave him a black eye! Here's the picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/hobitfancier/100_0208.jpg

Anybody have any ideas of what this could be? Does it require a vet visit? You can clearly see the difference between the "good" eye and the other eye. The one is normal, and the other one is very purple looking.
 
Shoot, that looks nasty. Could it be conjunctivitis and the soreness from him rubbing it? Does the actual eyeball look pink? It could also be a household irritant, an allergy, hayfever...the list goes on.

I would definately take him to the vet, it does look like some sort of eye irritation - its a matter of working out what the irritation is. What a pain hey, but I spent a lot of time at the vet's too in my pups' first year (they seemed to get in to everything).
 
I've long thought that Smudge had allergies. He used to sneeze all the time. He would scratch and scrath his fur, but I'm telling you now there are no fleas on this dog. I've checked and checked. I give him flea medicine when it's time every month, and have combed through his (not quite yet fluffy) fur all the time. No fleas. The only thing I think it might could be is that about two weeks prior to this happening I switched dog foods. I went from Wellness Puppy to Orijen puppy. He never scratches at it though. While he was on Wellness he scratched a LOT more and sneezed. When I switched to Orijen he stopped sneezing so much and wasn't scratching as often. The first night I saw it I thought maybe he got into a fight with something, but I think it would have looked different. Also, on the side of his eye the fur is completely gone and you can see his pink flesh. I couldn't get him to stand still long enough to get a shot of that though.

So on my next days off I'll see what the vet says.
 
Ditto on the vet visit. Until you said fur was missing around that eye, I thought perhaps it was just tearing that tamped down the area.

It sounds more dermatological than optical, but it will be interesting to see what the vet says.

My first Sheltie was fine until we moved south. Then he eyes "ran" constantly.

Gee, it's always something, isn't it?
 
I agree, a vet visit is in order. It does sound like it is more dermatological. Poor Smudge, I hope it clears up soon. Let us know what the vet says.
 
I never knew it was possible to hate somebody as much as I hate the "woman" who allowed her two dogs to breed and have Smudge. I went to the vet and this is the horror story that followed.

Smudge had a slice of the skin around his eye shaved off for tests. He has hereditary mange. The vet said the dip used to fix the mange might not work on him because it's around his eye. She said they would try to find a way to make it work, but it was not 100% positive because of the location of it. She said I could put him on a much higher dose of interceptor, but it would cost me over $180 a month and I would have to give him the pill everyday. She said there was another medicine, but collie breeds don't always have a nice reaction to it.

She said I should contact the breeder and let her know. What should I say? Gee, I know you run a legit "business" so I just wanted to let you know that your puppy mill is spitting out puppies with hereditary mange! ARRRRRRGGGG! :mad:

I had to leave Smudge at the vet as today it was decided that he should get fixed. I was going to do it eventually anyway, but boy I didn't plan on it being today! I have to go to work tonight!!!!! :mad:
 
I was just looking back at photos that I took of a labrador that my brother had which was diagnosed with dermodectic mange a few years ago. The circle around the eye was just the same and Nike was treated with daily doses of interceptor for quite a while... maybe 2 months + ? However, the interceptor worked and she recovered beautifully.

I'm glad you at least got a quick diagnosis. This can be difficult to diagnose and instead be thought to be dermatitis caused by anything and everything from allergies to fleas, food, etc. Nike's condition had deteriorated to the point that she lost most of the coat over her entire body and her skin was thickening with ugly red patches all over. It looked like elephant skin to me. Untreated mange can lead to blindness.

Pills are not that difficult to give, presuming your dog is food motivated. Pill Pockets or peanut butter have worked beautifully for my dogs.

I'm really sorry you're having to deal with this, but at least there is a treatment for it. A hug to both you and to Smudge.
 
Katherine said:
It looked like elephant skin to me. Untreated mange can lead to blindness.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what the skin close to his eye looked like - an elephant. I could never get a picture of it though. He stands still until the camera comes out. :rolleyes2:

I go to pick him up at 4:30-5:00. I've never had a dog fixed before, so I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I hope it goes ok. :uhoh: He's going to be getting pain medicine, so I think maybe it won't be so bad. I don't know what the name of the pain medicine is though.

Also, she said if I wanted they could run bloodwork on him, but she said she didn't really see a point since he was so small. I told her to go ahead and do it. I want to know what else I might possibly be up against. I don't like surprises.

They weighed Smudge, and he weighs 15.5 lbs! :eek2: He's only 4 months old, and not overweight at all! Yesh. He's going to be collie sized!
 
My sympathies on the challenges you and Smudge are facing. Ref his operation, the biggest challenge willbe to keep him quiet, no jumping or rough playing, until his sutures heal. Crate time!!
 
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