# My dog was attacked and almost lost his eye



## KintaroLove (May 21, 2008)

early this morning my small dog was attacked by a bigger dog. He clamped onto his face and my dogs eyeball protruded out and was extremley inflamed, red and bloody. It looked like something out of a horror movie. It grew 3x bigger and I saw it grow into a huge opaque red globe in a matter of minutes.

I rushed him to ER and he was wailing. I couldnt sleep at all last night and i was in total disbelief that my sweet little boy was attacked and was about to lose his eye. I couldnt bear to see his pictures, his crate.. other people walking their dogs. It's so painful.

The overnight doctor told me that there was no choice but nucleation, taking out his eye and sewing the empty cavity shut. He said dogs with one eye live full happy lives, regardless of their physical handicap.

It really killed me to see kintaro like that.

This morning at 8am the surgery doctor (different doctor) came in and told me he was moving his eye!!! I could see the red ball (which was his eye) move! it's incredible, the doctor said he was very surprised. Since kintaro is such a young dog, only a year and a half he may have a good chance of keeping his eye since movement means that his muscle tissue is still intact. The doctor decided to push the eyeball back in by cutting the corners of his eyes and then suturing the whole eye back up.

He is in his crate now, on medication and a cone for 2 weeks and is sleeping. I am so relieved he is home.

Is there anyone out there that has been through this? Could you provide me some insight on how to handle this situation. I am so happy hes back in my arms, I couldn't help but think he wouldn't love me anymore, or people would make fun of him because he has one eye. 

The dog that attacked him was my boyfriends moms dog who is extremly jealous. I was petting Max, the other dog, and without warning he snapped on kintaro, my small poodle who came up to cautiously sniff his feet. I feel so guilty and that I could've prevented it just by picking up kintaro or ignoring max or doing something!!!! I had no idea Max was so jealous, no one ever told me anything. every time I came to visit my boyfriend, max would be fine with kintaro and would ignore him. I just stood there in horror and i had to kick max off of kintaro and kintaro ran into the room wailing. everything was so fast, the attack, going to the hospital and him being home with me and I am in disbelief still, sad and happy.

I don't know what happens next. After 2 weeks they will open up the eye and see if it falls out (that's what he literally said). If its still intact they can save it but they dont know how much vision loss he's had since he also has a puncture on his eye as well.

Please keep kintaro in your thoughts. And anything experience, suggestions would be wonderful. Thank you.

-B


----------



## MissMutt (Aug 8, 2008)

I've never been through anything like that and hope I never will have to be. That is just awful. I am glad there was some good news, though. Please keep us updated, Kintaro will be in my thoughts!


----------



## pamperedpups (Dec 7, 2006)

I know exactly what you are going through. Last year my own Toy Poodle, Pood, was accidentally left out of his crate with our big dogs for a few hours and he was bitten in the head by one of them. When I arrived home his right eye was a swollen, bloody mass as you described. I had to rush him to our vet for an emergency appointment after hours where he was looked over, given pain medications and kept overnight for observation. He came home knocked out and wasn't himself for some time.

I was soon refered to a veterinary opthamologist who practices two hours away who we traveled to so she could treat Pood for over 6 months with special examinations and medications. The blood in his eye reabsorbed and the swelling went away. (She did not have to cut the corners of his eye to push the swollen eye back in, nor did she suture the eye shut.) Eventually his eye lost all pressure and it is now a small, cloudy blue orb. When this started to happen my concern was that being so small and mushy (lacking pressure) the eye would fall out, however the specialist told me that would not happen. As the eye is not causing him any discomfort, I opted to not have it enucleated. Know that there are other options after enucleation for some dogs other than having the socket sutured shut, such as having a false eye put in the socket. One eyed dogs should also have regular exams to be sure the remaining eye is not having problems.

Pood is 9 years old and has adjusted to having the use of only one eye just fine. He sometimes bumps into things on his blind side, but now that he's better he still trains in Agility and Rally O. No one makes fun of him, and he still loves everyone he meets (even our dog who bit him). That said, I strongly suggest you to find a veterinary opthamolgist to treat your dog and wish you both the best of luck.


----------



## KintaroLove (May 21, 2008)

thank you miss mutt. I didn't think the eye would be saved, it looked beyond that point. My boyfriend kept hoping and praying and I kept saying whats done was done any higher hopes would crush me if it didn't go through. But he was right.

kintaro is so sweet, he would not hurt anyone or anything. He is my shy little boy who knows his small size and I can't believe that happend to him. It made me angry and frustrated that bad things happen to especially good dogs!!.

He is constantly at my side, under my supervision. He is as cautious as cat and yet this still happened. I cannot blame anything or anyone but myself.



pamperedpups said:


> I know exactly what you are going through. Last year my own Toy Poodle, Pood, was accidentally left out of his crate with our big dogs for a few hours and he was bitten in the head by one of them. When I arrived home his right eye was a swollen, bloody mass as you described. I had to rush him to our vet at 9 pm where he was looked over, given pain medications and kept overnight for observation. He came home knocked out and wasn't himself for some time.
> 
> I was soon refered to a veterinary opthamologist who treated Pood for over 6 months with special examinations and medications. The blood in his eye reabsorbed and the swelling went away. Eventually his eye lost all pressure and it is now a small, cloudy blue orb. When this started to happen my concern was that being so small and mushy (lacking pressure) the eye would fall out, however the specialist told that would not happen. As the eye is not causing him any discomfort, I opted to not have it enucleated.
> 
> Pood is 9 years old and has adjusted to having the use of only one eye just fine. He sometimes bumps into things on his blind side, but now that he's better he still trains in Agility and Rally O. No one makes fun of him, and he still loves everyone he meets (even our dog who bit him). That said, I strongly suggest you to find a veterinary opthamolgist to treat your dog and wish you both the best of luck.


Thank you pampered pups. i am so happy to hear your pood is fine. That really brings up my spirits. 

How does his eye look? Is it smaller than what it was before? Is treatment painful and expensive? does it look like a cataract or completely different? 

I am at tears to know that your dog is still so loving and happy. I am concerned that this memory will be with kintaro forever and i don't want it to change anything. I love him regardless and i hope he lives a full happy life.


----------



## Dogstar (May 11, 2007)

It's called proptusis, IIRC, and here's a good article about a case here - http://vetontheedge.blogspot.com/2008/11/horror-show-eyes.html

All that said, even if he DOES end up losing the eye, he'll cope fine.


----------



## CorgiKarma (Feb 10, 2009)

This happened to my cousin's Treeing Walker puppy when their Chesapeake Bay Retriever attacked him. The walker's eye actually popped out of socket, though, and was unable to be saved.
I hope your little boy heals fast!!! Like others said, if he does lose the eye he should cope just fine.


----------



## Max'sHuman (Oct 6, 2007)

I don't have any useful advice or insight, but I just wanted to say I'm so sorry to hear about your baby. I hope he recovers completely and gets better soon. Poor thing. Don't beat yourself up about it though, all the shoulda-woulda-couldas in the world won't change what happened and you did the best that you could. I'm sure you're a great dog owner and this does not change that. Good luck and keep us updated.


----------



## pamperedpups (Dec 7, 2006)

Pood's treatment cost about $1000. He had several visits with the specialist and was on many pain and eye meds. The eye is smaller now and the entire surface looks similar to a cataract, cloudy blue, but with no pupil or iris visible. The pressure is unreadably low.

Did Kintaro's eye come completely out of the socket? If not, it concerns me that the vet would cut the eye area, force the enlarged eye into the socket and suture it shut. I do hope you can find a veterinary opthamologist to consult with soon.

I would start your search for more information here: http://www.acvo.com


----------



## KintaroLove (May 21, 2008)

Dogstar said:


> It's called proptusis, IIRC, and here's a good article about a case here - http://vetontheedge.blogspot.com/2008/11/horror-show-eyes.html
> 
> All that said, even if he DOES end up losing the eye, he'll cope fine.


Thank u dogstar that was a great article. very well written.

Corgimama and Max's human thank you, it is very difficult. I've read a lot of people go through this...it is just so painful to see it. Max's human, thank you, things especially like this make me feel like a terrible owner.

and pampered pups thank you so much. Yes the eyeball was still intact and they decided to put it back in because the doctor saw major movement in the globe. I will def. be going to an opthamologist. Can you tell me why there is concern for keeping the intact eye back into the socket? are there bad implications to this? How did they save your poods eye?

Is there anything I can do for him? He looks so depressed, he just sits there. he responds to treats very well. Is it okay if I leave him alone at the most 2 hours in his crate? i wish I could stay with him but I am starting class on monday, I will come back in between and my boyfriend can come and watch him too but he will have to be alone 2 hours every other day.

I am afraid to compress his eye with a wash cloth. The vet suggests i do this with cold water, twice a day for 5 minutes and then after 2 days use warm water. But i tried moving some fur form his goopey bruised eye and he really did not like it.


----------



## mostlymutts (Jan 10, 2009)

I haven't been through anything like this either.

I wish you and your pup all the best of luck.


----------



## Blizzard (Jan 18, 2009)

OMG, that's...terrible!
I'll be praying for Kintaro. Hope he'll be okay withone eye.


----------



## ColoradoSooner (Mar 26, 2009)

My sister's dog was blinded in one eye when he was younger. It wasn't from a dog attack...he was running through some brush. But I just wanted you to know that even if your sweet dog loses sight in that eye, he will cope just fine. Bridger acts like any other dog. They're resilient and Kintaro will probably bounce back like nothing ever happened.

And YOU have to forgive yourself. There's nothing you could've done. You can't see into the future and as they say, hindsight is 20/20. 

HUGS!


----------



## Beki659 (Sep 6, 2008)

A similar thing happened to my aunt's cat recently... one of their neighbor's dogs escaped from his pen (again, might I add) and found their poor cat Piggy.
My aunt heard some commotion outside her window, and found Piggy in this dog's mouth, being shaken around like a rag doll.
She managed to get the dog to drop Piggy, and she rushed her to the vet, where they were able to put all of her little organs back into her body and sew her up.
After being on a LOT of medication and rest, piggy is doing fine, but its scary to see the damage that was done.
Fortunately, the owners paid for all the vet bills and were extremely apologetic. Had they not done so, I would have encouraged my Aunt to press charges. That dog has a history of being aggressive and escaping the fence... its a good thing, for the sake of the dog, that he attacked a cat, and not a child. The owners need to work something out in order to keep the dog and those around him safe.

But Im so glad that your dog may have the chance of keeping his eye- good luck!


----------



## melgrj7 (Sep 21, 2007)

Poor Kintaro I hope he recovers well.


----------



## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Do the compresses, I know they will uncomfortable for the dog, but in the long run it will be better for him. Remember that you are helping the dog in the long run, try not to think about the short term pain you may have tp cause him. Be sure you give him lots of loving after so he doesn't associate you with pain all the time.


----------



## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Had that happen to my brother's Cocker. The vet put the eye back and stitched the lid shut for 2 weeks. When stitches came out, dog could see, and appeared to be ok.


----------



## BobSD (Feb 1, 2008)

I can not imagin any one making fun of your dog, if he only had one eye. I know by your writing you and your dog are so very close. My neighbors dog got some kind of infection and had to have one eye removed and they sutured the eye closed. It did not look that noticeable, and the dog took it the best. As long as he got his food and lots of love and play time, it was like it never happened.
Things can happen so fast it was totally out of your control, not to blame yourself!! But I am paranoid now that I have two small dogs, that I will never lets a large dog get any where near my dogs for just that reason.


----------



## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

Oh, how sad! I don't have any insight, but I'm wishing you and Kintaro all the best. Please keep us updated!


----------



## Shaggydog (Mar 4, 2009)

I hope everything goes well for your dog. I think that dogs adjust better to handicaps than humans. My wife told me about her grandparents dog that lost a leg due to a farming acident.He went thru life with three legs as tho he had four.For your sake,I hope your dog will be ok.


----------



## KintaroLove (May 21, 2008)

cshellenberger said:


> Do the compresses, I know they will uncomfortable for the dog, but in the long run it will be better for him. Remember that you are helping the dog in the long run, try not to think about the short term pain you may have tp cause him. Be sure you give him lots of loving after so he doesn't associate you with pain all the time.


I just finished my first compression this morning, he took it a lot better than i expected. He is a little champ. Thank you for your insight schellenberger you are absolutely right I should think about the long run.

Last night i couldn't sleep and just started to cry. nothing really gets to me but when it comes to Kintaro I would stop everything for him.

It took me two days of disbelief and then last night i had to let it all out. I'm glad it is not more severe than this, things could be worse.

After I compressed his eye all the thick bloody goop came off across his eye, although there is still a lot left on the side of his face. I'm so happy I can see his little eyelid and lashes and what made me even happier was feeling his little eyeball move across my fingers when I was lightly pressing the towel on his face. It felt incredible. 

His eye area is a deep purple and still a pretty good sized welt, although nothing compared to what it was when I picked him up from the hospital. The picture is taken with my camera phone and the bad quality really masks how painful it looks in real life.

Thank you Bob, I think I would get in a fist fight if someone made fun of him anyway, I avoid confrontation and keep things to myself. But if someone said anything as a whisper, I'd be throwing hands!!

Yes please be careful around big dogs, they are so strong compared to the little ones. Not to say there aren't gentle ones out there but accidents, like in my case, do happen. Jealousy is a huge issue as well, I went Into the shelter some of the dogs were so deprived of attention that they snapped at other dogs constantly. The dog who attacked mine is very well taken care of and very spoiled. I have been feeding him lately and I think he grew attached to me and very possessive. My boyfriends mom said she wanted to give him away because she couldnt stop thinking about the look on my face of that night when everything occurred and seeing Kintaro's eye swell up like a small balloon. Her husband had to plead her to not get rid of him and I told her she should keep him. I am not mad at anyone, I thought I would be but all I can do is spend as much time with Kintaro and show him how important he is to me. There is no time to be mad.

Thank you everyone for your stories and kind words. It is helping me think positively everyday and I'd be a mess without this board. Thank you


































my little astronaut


----------



## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

That last picture breaks my heart.  Keep doing what you are doing to help him. If he keeps the eye, great. If not, he'll still do all right. We're all pulling for you.

Sending lots of healing thoughts . . .


----------



## BobSD (Feb 1, 2008)

Do I see a bully stick in that one picture When it gets small enough so he can put the whole thing in his mouth, I throw it away and start with a new one.

That is one handsome guy, even in the last picture his good looks, make up for what looks like a black eye. So sorry you had to go through this, but you sound like you have a good head, and you will see yourself passed this, and it is admirable you have no animosity toward the other dog.

Do not know if you noticed, some one just posted intoducing a new dog that can grow to 90lbs to her present dog which is 4lbs an adult.


----------



## CerbiesMom (Jan 30, 2008)

What a sweet little guy you've got there. I just wanted to add my well-wishes to you and your pup. I'm glad you felt movement doing the compress. That's an encouraging sign, I'd think.


----------



## pamperedpups (Dec 7, 2006)

Pood's eye remained in the socket, but swelled, so my concern was pushing a swollen eye like his further back into the socket.

It's unreal how Kintaro looks so much like Pood after his incident. Curiouser still is that I'm almost certain the dog who bit him was our dog, Max. Definitely keep doing what you're doing and be strong, I think he'll be just fine.


----------



## KintaroLove (May 21, 2008)

pamperedpups said:


> It's unreal how Kintaro looks so much like Pood after his incident. Curiouser still is that I'm almost certain the dog who bit him was our dog, Max. Definitely keep doing what you're doing and be strong, I think he'll be just fine.


O.O the dog who bit Kintaro is named Max as well. no joke! how peculiar...
Thank you pampered =) You have helped me so much.

Thank you everyone. I have been babying him a lot. He is such a little champion. This morning he seemed to be a bit more himself. Usually he does this tazmanian spin during meal times. Today he spun around once or twice but it made me so happy. It feels like forever since I've seen that despite it only being 2 days since his accident.

Thracian - I know this might sound weak I had to change my background wallpaper from a picture of Kintaro to something floral. I did this right after I came back from the Vet ER. I couldn't bear to look at the things that remained unchanged, like his crate, his toys and especially his pictures, knowing that he wasn't the same. I kept wishing it was a bad dream. 

When I look at that last picture part of me is so proud of him and part of me can't bear to look at it. I Know hes the one that got into the accident, not me, but I know its time and love that will heal things. 

I love that he still loves his treats and belly rubs. His little tail wags for these two things and the little man is getting chubby... =)

Bob he loves his bully sticks. This kept him from chewing on the furniture when he was younger, little rascal. Thank you, I think he is very handsome. He is studly and will be even more so with some battle scars. 
Thank you everyone, I was feeling so down and kept worrying about his little eye, all of you are helping me keep a positive attitude.


----------



## mamaburr (Jan 8, 2013)

pamperedpups said:


> I know exactly what you are going through. Last year my own Toy Poodle, Pood, was accidentally left out of his crate with our big dogs for a few hours and he was bitten in the head by one of them. When I arrived home his right eye was a swollen, bloody mass as you described. I had to rush him to our vet for an emergency appointment after hours where he was looked over, given pain medications and kept overnight for observation. He came home knocked out and wasn't himself for some time.
> 
> The same thing happened to me! We got a small rescue dog ( w spoiled napolean complex) and he accidentally was put in his place over unsupervised dinner (my fault). Question is; how do you reacquaint the dogs since they live in the same household!? Is it even possible! I'm so sad right now.


----------



## Kayla125 (Feb 23, 2011)

I went through this except in my situation they went ahead and took the eye out. It was my older dog that did this to my pup, she got mad and snapped at her and got her right in the eye. This happend 4 years ago and it does not phase her one bit as far as getting around.


----------



## Ratness (Jan 5, 2013)

He is adorable 
I am sorry that he was attacked, and hope his eye can be kept in his head! 


I know what you mean about even though you should be mad at the dog who did this, you're not.... We had a nice dog dump on us, but then he killed one of our cats. I still liked him but because of his shenanigans, killing chickens, and then the cat, then more chickens. We had to take him to a shelter. I have no idea what happen to him though :/


----------



## Samyc10 (Apr 12, 2021)

This happened to me last night, I’m so heart broken and deviated this happened to my dog as well. It was my husbands brother dog attacked my dog and her eye came out of her eye socket it was so gruesome and horrifying. We took to the emergency ER as soon as it happened but it was too late. She lost so much blood for her eye, there was no blood thru the eye vein. So the had to take it out. Idk how to cope because this feels awful it breaks my heart. Please pray for my dog to have a speedy recovery. 😭🙏🏼


----------



## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

I'm so sorry for your pup, and hope she recovers soon. Many pups live great lives with limited or no vision, so chances are she'll adapt well once she's past the healing phase!

This thread is, however, twelve years old, and the original poster and most of the members responding to it haven't been active on this forum in years. I'm closing it to further replies, but please do feel free to start your own thread about your pup if you want more support and (non-medical) advice about her situation! Current active members are much more likely to see and respond to new threads than they are responses to old ones like this.


----------

