june 2001

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Gabby's birthday was this month.  He is 7 years old.  Gabby's been through a lot these past six months.  He almost lost his eye.  It started when Gabby's eyes became reddened with discharge.  I took Gabby to the vet and without giving him a proper exam she said he needed surgery to correct his ectropion (loose eye lids).  Well Gabby has always had loose eye lids because he is a cocker spaniel.  For seven years Gabby has never had a serious problem with his eyes like he did this spring.  That is the reason I was skeptical of her diagnosis.  I suspected something else was wrong.  His eyes-lids were really sagging and looked awful.  Honestly, Gabby looked like he had pinkeye.  Again, I took him to the vet and she suggested the same thing.  Just as doctors will not perform eye surgery on a person with a serious infection,  I would not allow her to perform surgery.  I believe there would have been complications related to infection (even though she would not admit it).

By this time, I had seen two other vets for second opinions (more details).  Well it got worse!  Gabby ended up with an abrasion on his right cornea.  I believe the infection Gabby had was making his eyes itchy and painful.  He was constantly pawing at his eyes or rubbing his eyes against the furniture.  Until the corneal abrasion, no vet would prescribe any medication for his eyes.  It took a long time for Gabby's eyes to improve.  At one point, I was afraid he was going to loose his eye.  As you can see, Gabby's eyes are back to normal now except for a small scar were the abrasion was.

To help other pet owners with similar problems please visit my pet care page.

My niece did Gabby's first artistic rendering.  She drew a portrait of him and a cat named Eight Ball while Gabby was visiting his grandmother.  I believe she is expressing the eternal conflict between dog and cat.

Gabby is always full of surprises.  When Gabby is in one of his festive moods, he decides to roll around in poop or something dead and rotting, especially after having a haircut and shampoo.  One morning while running late for class, I took Gabby on a quick walk down the block.  Before I had a chance to stop him, he dove into some stinky poop in the grass.  I had to give him an emergency bath before I could let him back in the house.  I told some classmates what he did and they told me that it was instinctual for dogs to try to hide their sent from their prey by rolling around in stinky things.  Well I found this habit is common in dogs.  Here is a webpage of some of the information I picked up:  Why dogs roll in poop.  Bottom line--I don't know why he does it but I think he likes it.

The Great Squirrel Hunter

Gabby spots his prey!	Too bad!  It's gone up the tree.	No squirrel is safe! Gabby learns to climb!