I am thrilled to report that following Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV of Boca's non-healing corneal ulcer saga, things are finally getting back to normal at the Ginger Sister residence. My three-day weekend was the perfect time to fade out the cone, and while I watched her like a hawk that first day, Boca is far more interested in chewing all the things, sunbathing and napping than rubbing her eye.
Her eye looks better every day. There is minimal watering, and she is holding it all the way open full time - something she hasn't been able to do in months. If you are curious what it looks like, the photo is here behind a cut. This was taken Friday - the edges of the graft are still sort of raised but it should continue to thin and smooth out. I think it is so incredible that the veterinary ophthalmologist attached the graft with teeny-tiny micro stitches. Can you imagine the steady hand that must take?
I hope that chronicling my experience will be helpful to others since I could find very little personal documentation about the surgery online when I was researching. We have a re-check appointment on Thursday and after that it will probably be a month before we need to go back.
Boca has been such a trooper through everything - maintaining her goofy, optimistic spirit - but she was so obviously happy to free of the cone! She can fit in her crate (where she loves to sleep of her own accord), curl up in a ball, gnaw on antlers and most importantly, play biteyface with Ruby every morning again:
Ha ha. I think Ruby is even more excited to have her bitey face partner back in action! Great news! Good job, Boca! Good job, Lara!
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about that, Kari.
DeleteSo glad things are getting back to normal - and of course I'm happy for bitey face time (well happy for everyone but the cat lol )
ReplyDeleteThe cat has led a long life of tolerating dogs!
DeleteI'm super glad to hear this, I know what an ordeal you and Boca have been through.
ReplyDeleteI want to chime in, when Sampson had his ACL tear and was on restrictions, one of the things I felt the worst about was him and Delilah not being able to play. Honestly, I think they felt it too. Glad to hear she is well on her way.
Thanks so much, Jodi! It's so hard to impose negative changes on their routines.
DeleteTo make matters even worse, Ruby was afraid of the cone, especially when Boca was crashing into walls with it. We are all so relieved to see Boca's beautiful face again!
Awesome! Boca must be thrilled to get the cone off and have things back to normal. :)
ReplyDeleteShe maintained her upbeat attitude for ten weeks of the cone, but she was definitely overjoyed to be free of it!
DeleteThat's so awesome! I'm glad she's feeling better!! <3
ReplyDeleteHooray! They are sooo cute together. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to see Boca's face again!
DeleteWoo hoo!!!!!!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteYay!!!! I agree - it is unimaginable to have a steady enough hand for that surgery.
ReplyDeleteI can barely put on eye makeup.
DeleteYay! So happy that she is back to a normal cone-free life! :) I bet Ruby is even more excited!
ReplyDeleteRuby was scared of the cone - it was pitiful!
DeleteFantastic news - yay! So glad she can enjoy life on her terms again!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Kim!
DeleteI am so happy to see the progress in Boca's eye! I bet she is soooo happy to be cone of shame free!! Keep up the great healing boca!!
ReplyDeleteIt really was amazing to see it start to heal after such a long road.
DeleteWhat wonderful news that Boca's ocular ordeal is over. She must be so happy to be feeling better and I know you must be relieved this is over. My French Bulldog, Florence, recently had an ocular ulceration too. It took about one month for it to heal completely with eye drops and with weekly visits to our veterinarian as part of the process.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Florence got through it okay - I just love her name! Boca was a bit of a medical mystery - none of the standard treatments worked for her.
DeleteThat is such GREAT news. I'm so happy for you both!
ReplyDeleteWas that the cat just sitting there in the foreground while those two were wrestling? Too funny.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that Boca is doing well. I think it's great that you posted a series about it. I did the same for Luke's knee, because when I searched there was so little to be found as far as personal experience with his condition, and sometimes that is exactly what we need.
Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets
Yes, that is my 18 year old cat, Nina - she has been tolerating dogs her entire life! I think it's always comforting to read personal stories about medical experiences.
DeleteCongrats on the great news! Love the bitey face video :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Asia!
DeleteThat is amazing news! I have been following the updates and I'm so glad Boca is doing well! Your whole experience has made me consider insurance a bit more too.
ReplyDelete-Jessica from Beagles & Bargains
I don't know what we would have done without insurance - it made the whole experience a little less stressful.
DeleteGreat news! Barley's never had to be in a cone during our time together, but I can imagine she wouldn't love it either. I'm glad that life is getting back to normal.
ReplyDeleteAll of my dogs have had to wear one at one time or another, but poor Boca definitely holds the record for the longest conehead stint! We are all overjoyed to be done with it. When I picked it up off the table to take it out to my storage shed, Boca slunk away - she thought I was going to put it on again - it was so pitiful! I assured her it was going away for good!
DeleteI'm wondering if you had a chance to read my post about using an Optivisor for Koira rather than a cone? She had to have an eyelid tumor removed and had stitches in for ten days. The optivisor was such a huge, huge improvement over a cone for both her and me. She could move around, chew on things, go through doorways without hitting things, get in the car, etc, all way way easier than with a cone. I'm never going to be using a cone again for anything on her face that the optivisor can protect. You might want to check it out just in case (god forbid) this problem comes back.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I in no way am associated with or compensated by the company that makes optivisors. I just tried one for Koira and loved it. And I'm hugely annoyed that I didn't know such a thing existed sooner, as it would have made the first half of her eyelid stitches so much easier to deal with (we used a cone for about half of the time, waiting for the optivisor to come in the mail after I discovered it existed and ordered one).
Can you direct me to that post? I'm very interested in learning about a cone alternative!
DeleteNo problem! Here is the post. I included one picture of Koira wearing the optivisor and talked a bit more about her surgery and how the visor worked. http://mylifewithflyballdogs.blogspot.com/2015/04/koiras-eyelid-surgery-and-general-update.html
Delete