Of gel!
Last week, a day after we returned from camping, Shorty developed a runny eye. We thought maybe he scratched it playing with the four other dogs that were camping with us, but once his eye got redder and he looked more and more pitiful, I made an appointment with the vet.
It turns out he has an eye infection, which the vet determined after putting eye drops into Shorty’s eyes (gah!) and looking at them with a fluorescent light, which made them glow a bright, demon-dog green. It looked like the poor dog was crying radioactive tears.
The vet then told us we could treat it by putting a strip on his eyes 2-6 times a day for 7-10 days. That’s exactly how he put it: “a strip.” And Jason and I are both idiots apparently, because we both assumed that meant we had to put some sort of strip of paper onto our trusting dog’s eyes, the dog who was attempting to conceal himself under one of the small exam room chairs all, “Nothing to see here, folks. I believe there may be a little kitten outside who needs veterinary assistance, but I’m all good here, thank you and goodnight.”
“So…what happens to this…strip?” I asked, wondering if maybe the medicine was on a paper strip that dissolved.
“It just disappears into the eye,” the vet replied, looking at us like we were stupid.
“So how do we put it on the eye?” Jason asked.
“You just place the strip on the eye without touching the surface of it,” the vet said, clearly wondering how we were capable of keeping this dog alive, you know, because of our idiocy.
“Could you show us how to put the strip on the eye?” we asked, clearly not understanding this process at all, and did I mention we were supposed to do this 2-6 times a day for 7-10 days?
So a vet tech came over while we held a scrabbling Shorty in place and put a strip (of gel!) in each eye. Gel, strip of. Do you think they could have mentioned the word “gel” at any time during our conversation? No.
Anyway, because Shorty is a dog made out of obedience, trustfulness and love, he sits calmly in my lap while Jason pries open his eyelids and puts the strip (of gel!) on his eyes three times a day. He doesn’t fight us, he doesn’t move, and the whole thing takes less than 30 seconds.
And then he gets a piece of baked hot dog.
That’s how much Shorty loves hot dogs.
HA! i was trying to figure out what on earth that title could mean.
and for the record, i was equally as stumped as you guys.
poor shorty! what a good, good dog he is. (i say this as the owner of two cats who would claw their OWN eyes out before allowing this.)
Comment by Alice — June 8, 2010 @ 2:47 pm
Aww. Poor Shorty. I would have been super confused too, especially when she said that you were supposed to put something in his eye without touching the eye? I gather she means that you shouldn’t touch the eye with the finger, not the strip, but the way it’s phrased confuses me.
Comment by Jess — June 8, 2010 @ 2:47 pm
Jess – I know! The gel is in a little tube, so we’re not supposed to touch the eye with the tip of the tube.
(By the way, the word “tube” was also not mentioned anytime during “the strip” conversation.)
Comment by Shauna — June 8, 2010 @ 3:15 pm
BAKED hot dog? What is this?
I totally would not have thought gel either, so I don’t think you are completely without merit for your confusion.
Comment by Shelly — June 8, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
Shelly,
We take two regular hot dogs, slice them up into little pieces, and bake them at 400 degrees for about 5-7 minutes, flipping halfway through. We stick them in a plastic baggie when cooled and toss them in the fridge, doling them out a few pieces at a time as a treat. They’re super tasty (I know firsthand) and Shorty will do anything for them.
We used them during training, and had to fight other dogs off with a stick when they smelled them and no longer wanted whatever boring biscuit their owners brought.
Comment by Shauna — June 8, 2010 @ 4:14 pm
Hahaha! And here I was wondering which one of you were gonna “strip” in front of the dog……(at which point he’d probably be poking his own eye out!)
Comment by MYSUESTORIES — June 8, 2010 @ 8:59 pm
I never, EVER, would have thought a strip of gel. I was thinking of some horrible dissolvable cloth thing. ick.
Hot dogs are CRACK. When I need to lay down some serious training, I use hot dogs. New lessons stick JUST. LIKE. THAT. It’s magic!
Comment by Artemisia — June 8, 2010 @ 9:00 pm
Baked, huh? Not grilled or fried?
Comment by Ellie — June 9, 2010 @ 8:03 am
Yeah, I would have missed that one, too. Good thing you asked for clarification. And Shorty is awesome, but we all knew that!
Comment by Shelly — June 9, 2010 @ 8:37 am
Drives me nuts when technical types – be they doctors, vets, mechanics, cable guys, what have you – use jargon and expect their clients to know what they are talking about.
Laymen’s terms, people!
Comment by Life of a Doctor's Wife — June 9, 2010 @ 10:03 am
I TOTALLY was imagining a little dissolving strip of paper. I was like, “EEEK, that won’t be comfortable!”
Comment by Swistle — June 9, 2010 @ 11:12 am