Pug-eyed

Baxter has officially hit old age. Last weekend in Utah, his left eye started to bother him. He has had eye infections before (pugs are prone to them) and we treated them with eye ointment. But this one was different. On Sunday he was squinting and acting like something poked his eye. Monday, it wasn't looking good and slowly got worse. When I woke up this morning, he wouldn't open it at all. So, I phoned the vet right away and got in at 10am. I guess I should have called sooner, but I didn't know how serious it was.

Baxter's eyes on April 10, 2009

Turns out, Baxter has an eye ulcer and can barely see out of that eye. The vet gave a 50% chance of keeping/losing the eye, depending on how you spin it. I don't really know what to write. Lately his hearing has been going. He doesn't bark at the door anymore and won't hear us unless we are right in front of him. That was hard enough to comes to terms with, but to have his eyesight going too is a lot. I know he isn't dying and I keep telling myself that, but I guess it's just facing the fact that someday he won't be here anymore.


Anybody who knows me knows what Baxter means to me. I could never write well enough to express it. If you read this post, you also know what Baxter means to Greg. Baxter is our buddy and we love him so much. When the vet left the room, I completely broke down and just buried my face in Baxter's "mane". The vet must have heard me because he brought in some tissues, but I was so beside myself that I pulled one out and wiped Baxter's little wrinkles with it. It wasn't until he left again that I realized the tissues were probably for me.

This morning - April 16, 2009

As you can tell from the above picture, Baxter's right eye is also becoming infected, however, the vet thinks we caught that one in time. We have a follow-up appointment next Monday and until then, it's a strict 6 times a day regime of eye drops. He can't rub his eyes, or he will get a cone. He is also having ear problems, so we are doing ear drops as well. I will post more on Monday as I know more. I'm just so grateful there are other dog lovers out there who can relate.