Quick Treatment of Dolly's Corneal Eye Ulcer - Success!

Dolly couldn't open her eye so we rushed her to the vet

Our 12 year old Weimaraner Dolly developed her second corneal ulcer (it becomes apparent immediately as a result of a simple blink of an eye). Last year she had one on her left eye, this year one developed on her right eye. She's now healing after a visit to the canine ophthalmologist, and we decided to blog about it in case anyone has questions.

RECOGNIZING A CORNEAL ULCER IN A DOG - 
Our Weimaraner Dolly suddenly couldn't open her right eye very much after waking up from a nap. Apparently, there was a corneal ulcer developing on her eye, and the eyelid tore off the cells and exposed the ulcer when she awoke.
  
WHAT IS A CORNEAL ULCER? CAUSES? -
There are several causes of corneal ulcers in dogs. The most common cause is trauma. An ulcer may result from blunt trauma, such as a dog rubbing its eye on the carpet, or due to a laceration, such as a cat scratch or a contact with a sharp object. As dogs age, they can also get them. That's what happened in our dog Dolly's case. Another common cause is chemical burn of the cornea.

Dolly and Tyler at the Vet to find out what's happening with Dolly's eye

WHAT  IS IT AND WHY THEY HURT (and need Quick Treatment)  - Basically a corneal ulcer is a rupture of cells in the eye. When you blink, you pull off the new cells that try to heal the ulcer - and that hurts! It's like tearing a layer of new skin off every time you blink. That's why a contact lense is needed to prevent blinking from removing the new eye cells.

GET TREATMENT QUICKLY - The quicker you get a contact lense applied, the less cell damage will be done to your dog's eye. You will also likely get pain meds and an antibiotic eye drop to apply three times a day for a week until healed.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? - The ulcer basically looks like a little spot on the eye.

close up of a corneal ulcer (from the internet)

UPDATE POST-OPHTHALMOLOGIST VISIT - During our canine ophthalmologist appointment Dolly did have a contact lense put in over the corneal ulcer in her right eye. It should heal quickly since we caught it early. Fortunately, she was very patient and allowed the doctor to put the lense in her eye with no problem.  

SMILING AND HEALING - 
Here's a pic of her smiling at the vet after the contact was put in.. because it stops the pain (every time she blinked before, her eyelid tore the healing cells off the eye ulcer). 

Smiling as a contact lense prevents more damage and no pain