Dog Groomed, Eye wounded

[laura]

I finally took Sophie for a grooming. It was her first time. She is about 2 years. I thought I should do it because she was starting to look a bit unkempt.

Well she came home blinking her eye excessively. We washed it out. She slept and I hoped keeping the eye closed for an extended period of time would help.

It is getting worse. Now there is gunk coming out. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow for a ruling. I am wondering if her eye was scratched with something during the grooming.

I am very upset and I don't really even like the cut. I prefer her crazy hair and feel I made a bad decision based on peer pressure to make my Cairn look presentable.

She is in good spirits. Right now she is happily chewing a bully.

But I'm pissed!

[toomanypaws]

The last time I took Kiara to the groomer, she came home looking like a schnauzer. I have since bought one of the Mars Coat King (hope that's the right name) and have been doing the girls myself.

As for her eye, take her to the vet and get his opinion. If indeed the groomer did it, have the vet make a notation on the bill and hand the bill to the groomer.

[Eliz222]

Laura, I am so sorry this has happened to you! We had some terrible experiences with grooming our dog years ago, so we use the Mars King Coat on our Cairn's right now.

Have you called the groomer? I would let them know as soon as possible so they can't claim that it happened when she was at home.

I hope your puppy is feeling better soon, and let us know the outcome of your problem.

[kayharley]

I had a problem with Winnie, my 11 year old, several months ago with her eye. It started with the same symptons Sophie is experiencing....excessive tearing and hard for her to keep the eye open. Our vet confirmed that Winnie had a scratched cornea. We had to use cortisone ointment and pain relieving drops for a couple weeks. Usually that would do the trick but unfortunately hers was more serious. She had to have surgery, wear a cone during the healing but she's now okay with no problems.

It could have happened by her scratching the eye, by brushing up against shrubbery or even by playing with our 1 year old Cairn.

Because you noticed this right after she came home from the groomer I also would suspect that it was caused by a grooming tool or maybe while being bathed/soap sensitivity??? And I wouldn't hesitate to give them a call and tell what's happening.

Like others have said, I also use the Mars Coat King because I've never been satisfied with what groomers have done to my Cairn...cross between Schnauzers and Cocker Spaniels.

Keep us posted on what your vet says but don't worry. Sophie will be just fine. Give her a hug from all of us here.

Sandy

[Scully'sMom]

Laura, I'm sorry that happened to Sophie. I'm sure she'll be alright, but it's sure tough, isn't it, waiting to go to the vets.

Not to be dumb, but what is the Mars Coat King and is it hard to use? Our groomer charges us about $38.00 for grooming.

[bradl]

Sorry about the bad experience laura. Scully'sMom - the Mars Coat King. You can get them all over the place, from shows, mail order, etc. Would not surprise me to start seeing them in Petco etc.

I think they are easy to use; others may differ. They seem to do a combination of pulling some dead coat, cutting some long coat, and raking some undercoat. Since they cut, they are not "the one true answer" or for the purist, but they are a huge improvement over paying someone else to maul your dog with clippers (*) or doing no hand-stripping at all. Regular light use will keep a coat from turning into a tumbleweed. With the jacket easily and quickly tidied up, you'll have more time, energy, and inclination to do the finer bits (ears and head, legs and feet) by hand.

In my amateur opinion (world's worst groomer) if I only had time to do ONE thing to help a Cairn look like a Cairn, my vote would be to pull the hair off the top third of the ears. Nothing like a little Cairn leather poking out the top of a fuzzy head. If I wanted to do TWO things, my next bet would be to trim around the feet so they don't look like they are standing on platters or wearing slippers - go ahead and use scissors or thinning shears. Nice tidy feet give a surprisingly tidy look to the whole dog. My third 'quickie' tidy-up would be to make sure the tail doesn't have long streamers or feathers. Of the three 'quickie' areas, the Mars is of some use on a wild tail (I hold some hair down with my thumb and 'break' my wrist to force it to cut the longest hairs off) but it's no use on ears and not much use on feet (too big and unwieldy). They are great for sorting out a jacket, though.

(*) Some breeders do indeed clip some of their non-show dogs, usually the old ones. A skilled terrier groomer is not going to maul your dog even with clippers and s/he will give the dog at least the proper shape - not like a Schnauzer.

[Scully'sMom]

Thanks for all the info Brad. I'm definitely going to look into that. Our groomer is good with listening to what we don't want, but it's a hassle making an appointment, getting home in time to bring her, let alone the cost.

I edited the post because I went to look at the link:

How do you know which blade to use? Sorry for the dopey questions. <--dunce cap, not a party hat.

[bradl]

I use a #16. I've seen some recommendations for others but don't recall which ones. I keep meaning to get one of the minis to see if they would be better on legs.

[laura]

Sophie's eye is fine. She woke up the next morning with gunk all around it. I wiped it off and that was the end of it.

I really thought her eye had been scratched. I guess I jump to conclusions quickly.

It must have just been a small piece of hair irritating her eye.

Thanks for all the feedback!

Laura

[grillywarren]

Laura,

Glad to hear that things are better

with Sophie's eye. Grilly's eyes can get irritated

at the groomer too I think it can be from

hair flying around, but I get worried about scratches

too! Take care, and again, I am glad things are better.

Ellie ~~ Grilly's Mom

[Guest posting as: Scully'sMom_*]

Laura, I'm glad that Sophie's doing much better. That's a huge relief for you, I'm sure.