I get a lot of dogs in with eye crust under their eyes.
Most of that eye crust is from the eyes draining.
On 90% of them I am able to soften the crust in the tub during the bath, and can pick all of the softened crust off.
One day I noticed that the eyes of a Maltese I was grooming were infected.
The Vet gave the owners medicine for the eyes.
I do not know what kind of medicine it was, but the stuff was like cement on the dogs hair and skin.
I think that the owners missed getting the medicine in the eyes most of the time.
For the last few months this little Maltese has been coming in with a major amount of cemented medicine a round her eyes.
Believe me, she did not want anyone fooling with her eyes.
A few times, I have had to send her home with some of the cemented medicine still stuck to her eyes.
The stuff was like a scab on her skin that would not soften or pull away enough to get under it, to cut it off.
The last time she was in, I spent 25 minutes letting her eyes soak in medicated shampoo, and trying to get her to trust me enough to fool with her eyes.
It took time for her to realize that I was not going to hurt her.
For the first time since they had been using this eye medicine, I was able to get her eyes 95% clear.
The Maltese's eyes have finally cleared up, but there was still a lot of cemented eye crust a round her eyes.
I have never seen eye crust like this.
It will not soften in the bath no matter how long you let it soak.
It clings to the skin like a tight scab.
Most of the crust that I could not get the last time had grown out with the hair.
Once again, I soaked the crust around the eyes with medicated shampoo.
She was much more excepting about me fooling with her eyes this time.
I let her face soak while I soaped up the rest of her.
I was able to lift most of the cement like crust up and away from her skin just enough to scissor.
I don't usually scissor around the eyes when the dog is in the tub and wet, but I have learned that this stuff, if it dries even a little, becomes rock hard again.
I still had to be very careful that the crust would not pull the skin up into my scissors as I was cutting.
Once I scissored all of the crust I could, safely, I let her face soak in medicated shampoo again.
This is her after the bath.
Once again, I got most of the crust.
She still has a few little pieces of the cement crust here and there around her eyes.
I will have to get that the next time, after her hair grows out more.
The owners are finished with the cement medicine, but now they have to put other drops in her eyes.
I have tried to show them how to work with her eyes several times, but they always say that she fights too much.
Hopefully the drops won't make such a mess of her eyes too.
Happy Grooming, MFF
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