Before and After

It has been many weeks since Treasure had her last haircut. Quite honestly, I always think that she's getting her last one, and then she gets her check up with Dr. Earl and we breathe a sigh of relief and settle in like everything is normal.

Then, about eight weeks ago, she developed her eye trouble. It started out looking like an allergy, with goopy stuff appearing throughout the day. Her eye doctor said she had dry eye and gave me some drops for it. Right away Treasure was agitated when I put the drops in her left eye. So after a few days of her rubbing it and pawing at it, I stopped them in that eye but continued to treat the "goopy" one.

BEFORE

At her cancer check up with Dr. Earl, he was as concerned about her eyes as he was with her bladder and set us up with some different drops. (Treasure's Eyes) Again, the drops in her left eye agitated her to the point that she scratched the cornea and developed an ulcer.

I say all this as an explanation for her long, shaggy hair - especially on her face and around her eyes. Our weekly visits to the doctor and the slow progression of healing (Bad News and Good News) has made me hesitant to let the groomer's close to her face. Imagine how happy I was last week when Dr. Earl was encouraged with her healing! I decided it was probably better to risk a little water in her eyes and get a much needed haircut! Sooooo....

I took her to Petsmart on Wednesday, with stern instructions to be very careful around her eyes, and look at this pretty puppy I picked up! What a difference a haircut makes! Of course, the groomer doesn't realize that Treasure is not a fru-fru doggie, so she happily put little pink bows beside her ears! We waited just long enough to get a picture to give her buddy Jefferson before ripping those bows off her head!

AFTER

Isn't she sweet? Getting the hair away from her eyes makes them look so much better. And at our appointment on Thursday, Dr. Earl was encouraged enough to put her on some steroid drops that should bring the rest of the swelling down. She still has dry eye, but I think we've found a way to work with that without causing more problems. And it won't be long - after only a few more walks - until she's gotten rid of the "beauty shop shine" and is back to being her rough and tumble self again! And that's a good thing.

EDITOR'S NOTE: After all the rain from this weekend, I'm happy to report that Treasure's "beauty shop shine" is now gone! And her eyes improve daily, giving her back her Westie confidence and energy that were lacking for a few weeks.