Ears, eyes and lacerations, oh, my!!

Bodhi's Blog: Life on the Dog Ranch

Ears, eyes and lacerations, oh, my!!

Whew, what a week we had at the Lab Ranch! I hosted the Amplify Austin party on Wednesday where you lovely donors raised over $30,000 for Heart of Texas Lab Rescue! I was able to raise nearly $600 towards this amount.

I raised how much?

Thank you so much to the following amazing people who donated to my campaign to "Save all the damn dogs" (plugging our amazing volgger Rachel here).

• Courtney Dean and Louie
• Chitra and her amazing Dolph and Freeda
• Wendy, Marc and Lucy
• Shelby Rank and her two pups
• Donna Hopson and both labs
• Carton and Sharon Dillard
• Kari Beggs and Toons
• Ashley Feibleman-the very first person to donate to my page!

Check out my video of my reaction when I was told how much I raised!!

https://www.facebook.com/melinda.biggs/videos/10211533119338834/

Again, thank you all!

Now, on to ears, eyes and lacerations! Boy, what in the world am I talking about? Yes, I have eyes and ears but no lacerations, thank goodness. However, the dogs that come to the ranch tend to come with a number of medical issues that have to be treated before they are ready for adoption. This means lots of money spent at the vet trying to figure out what is wrong, getting the medicine to treat the issues and follow up visits to make sure all is good! 

Eyes.....what could be wrong with a dogs eyes? As it turns out, quiet a bit from dry eye to cataracts and corneal ulcers. From drops to surgery, these conditions can require a lot of time and money to correct. Currently, our lovely Nona, a 9 year old yellow female, has dry eye that was left untreated for so long that it has caused a secondary condition that makes it very hard for her to see. "Her vision is as if she is looking through muddy water" according to the vet.

My mom, Stephanie, putting eye drops in Nona's eyes. 

Ears, oh ears! Everyone with a lab understands the ear issues labs live with. Currently, we have three dogs with either yeast, bacteria or both in their ears and need daily medicine. Our shy boy, Timber, is so freaked out about getting his ear meds my mom has to give him a spoonful of peanut butter while giving him the medicine. This is why it is so important to play with your pup's ears all the time! Get them used to it. 

Also, it is essential that you treat the ears as poor Nona, who has spent her life with chronic ear infections that were left untreated, is now nearly deaf due to the scar tissue that has developed in her ears. This poor girl wouldn't be deaf if her ear infections were treated properly.

I am checking Garland's ears. Yep, she has an infection.

Lacerations.....So many dogs come in with random lacerations. Cuts from fences, dog bites, wounds that we can't even imagine how the dog got them, we see it all. Our lovely Libby came in with a gash that starts at neck around her left shoulder and wraps around her chest and back up to the right side of her neck. This massive wound wasn't treated until she showed up at the shelter. Thankfully, the shelter had a vet and started treating the wound immediately (HOTLR can't get a dog out of a shelter until the stray hold of 3 days is over). 

 

Libby's wound on her chest and neck.

Our newest momma Cleo came to the shelter missing part of her foot. 

Maybe from being caught in a trap!

Beyond lacerations, we see many dogs with skin issues. Most recently have had bacteria or yeast infections in their skin requiring two baths a week with a special shampoo. While most labs love water, few want to stand patiently while being bathed. Where is the fun in that? They want to run and play in the water and want nothing to do with keeping the shampoo on their skin for 10 minutes!

JD bathing Nona

Boy, taking care of all of these issues (and more) on the foster pups at the Dog Ranch is exhausting! I better go take a nap!

Phew, life at the Dog Ranch is exhausting!