9:20 A.M.
Hello! Hank is my pet and I'm his momma. He's nearing 14 weeks old, I `spose.
At around 7 weeks old, 5-15-11, His left eye was shut that morning, looked a little inflamed around his brow and he wouldn't open it. When I tried opening it, he would bark from the pain and pull away. From what I could manage to see, there was a white film covering it... I thought he had just scratched it or bumped it while in his kennel on a toy during the night...
So, I contacted the man who I got him from (A very nice guy off craiglist who lives in the same town I do) and I told him my situation. Sent him pictures of the little guy's eye and talked to him over the phone, too. The next day we took him to a Vet. Waited four hours at the walk-in clinic. Missed work.. But Didn't matter too much at the time because of how concerned I was with Hank. Long story short, the vet prescribed just some anti-infection ointment and some liquid. A week later and no change in his eye, plus the right eye starting to look nearly the same, we went to another doctor the next Sunday. That doctor basically did the same thing for us and also said it was an infection, but it was more or less caused by a virus that had gotten into his system and was attacking his eyes. The reason they were so inflamed was because his immune system was fighting the virus behind the eye and causing a build up of liquid.. Two days of his additional perscribed medicine and no change in Hank's eyes, we were referred to an Ophthalmologist who told us it is glaucoma.. There's something wrong with the angles of his eyes so they aren't draining fluid properly... Since his left eye had been like that for so long, the doctor things the lens has detached and fallen, so he could be blind in that eye!
At the visit, his eyes were too cloudy to really see what's going on, so we waited a week and went back. His eyes were looking less cloudy because of the glycerin and drops he gave us, but they were still cloudy enough so that a gionoscopy wouldn't be able to accurately predict what is going on.
It's been nearly two weeks since we first went to that Opthalmaologist (I still can't pronounce is right), and since then, being on about 8 different medications since that original vet visit, and his eyes are FINALLY looking a little better..
But I'm dreading the word "Glaucoma" so badly right now.. He's so young and He doesn't deserve something like this... If I had known when I got him what kind of situation he'd be in right now, I'm not sure I would have gotten him... But now that I have him, I'm in complete love. He is such a wonderful Basset! and so handsome, too!
I'll post more information later... Right now, it's time to get ready for work. I may possibly bring Hank.. Or else, He may have to spend 8-9 hours alone... I can't do that to the lil' guy!
Please stay updated!
It was meant for you and Hank to be together. It's good that he has someone so dedicated to his special needs. My basset Molly has Addison's Disease and will need meds for the rest of her life. I can't imagine not having her and will do whatever she needs to have a long, happy life. Looks like Hank has a momma like that too, lucky boy :)
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