Coop is all better!

As you may or may not know, Cooper has just recently gone through a mini-trauma. This experience has really shown me how much tougher dogs are than humans...if this would have happened to me, I would be sedated in a bed somewhere.

What happened, you ask...

I took Coop for a little haircut/blowout action last Thursday (he had some mats and was in major need of a grooming sesh). Three hours later when the groomer called me to pick him up, his haircut was adorable, but he was acting super strange. We got in he car and he wouldn't open his eyes, and wouldn't for the rest of the night. I figured they were just irritated, so I put a wet washcloth on both eyes, hoping that would open them up overnight.

The next morning I woke up and he was still unable to open his eyes. He was bumping into things, and I was majorly worried by this point. When I got to work on Friday, I called the groomer and asked her what happened. She said she put a super-strong shampoo (flea-preventative) under his eyes, but used an eye wash. She suggested I should hold his head under the faucet. I didn't really like this suggestion, so I called Coop City Dancer's vet and they said to bring him in immediately.

When we got to the vet's office, she took him to the back and put dye in his eyes in order to see if the shampoo damaged his eyes at all. When she came back she said "I have no good news for you, you need to get on the phone with this groomer" and turned the lights out. She shined a light on Coop's eyes and told me a green glow on his eyes would indicate damage. Well...both of his eyes were entirely green. I kind of freaked at that point.

Dr. Anita told me that the shampoo had BURNED THE CORNEA ON EACH OF COOPER'S EYES. I started crying.

Dr. Anita said that the eyes may heal on their own or could require surgery. Coopac Shakur and I left the vet's office with eye drops and a lovely E-Collar (lampshade/cone) in tow. Coop wasn't allowed to be out in the sun and had to wear the lampshade at all times. I immediately called my Mom, and she was ready to kick some grooming butt (she is much better at confrontation than me. Maybe 27 is too old to have your Mom calling and fighting your battles...but it's also a very effective method.)

After talking to both me and my Mom, the groomer agreed to pay all of the bills involving this situation and refunded the money for the grooming with no hesitation. Honestly, this was not about the money at all...I was just upset that this happened to Cooper and asked the groomer to stop using the shampoo on other dogs so this wouldn't happen again.

Anyway...here are some sad (and blurry, Blackberry) photos of Coop during the first 10 hours of his lamp shade period (referred to as L.S.P. from this point forward):

During the L.S.P., Coop became Houdini-like at working his way out of the E-Collar. Eventually, he became accustomed to it and didn't even try to fight wearing it. He actually used it as a tool to run into me sometimes, and it eventually became a carrier for the socks he steals. He also acted like I was trying to kill him the first time I put his eye drops in, but eventually he knew he would get a treat afterward, and would turn his head side-to-side so I could get the drops in each eye. So cute!

The below photo was taken Sunday night. I could tell he was starting to feel much better (notice the sock):

After work today, I took my little Boojie back to see Dr. Anita. She came in and told me that his eyes were basically healed and the progress was great. We were both so happy and the E-Collar came off immediately. I got to take it home in case I ever need it again (let's hope not!)

The photo at the very top and those below are from the A.L. (After Lampshade) period. I just took them a couple of hours ago. As you can see, he is much improved and I'm so happy my little guy is fine and his eyes are almost back to normal.