My Sweet Lucy Girl

Now let me start by saying that my darlin' poochy Lucy is a high maintenance cocker spaniel.
I swore that I would never have another dog after we lost our two cocker spaniels in a period of two years. They both lived long and happy lives and we just loved them so much that after they passed away, I couldn't face the heartache again. After a year and a half, I had a weak moment and said maybe we should think about adopting another four leg member to the family and my husband and daughter were out the door like a shot. They brought home a five pound ball of fluff and my love affair with the dog we named Lucille Esmerelda McGillicuddy began.

Meagan and Lou found her at a pet shop inTowson. We never had gotten a puppy at a pet store before and she came with a year warranty...and we had to go to their vet for her to be covered if anything went wrong. At about 6 months she had the lower lid gland on her right eye swell and pop out in what they call cherry eye and although any breed of dog can have this condition, it affects some breeds more than others. The gland then went back to normal. This vet told me that he needed to operate on both eyes and she had the eye surgery on the same day she was spayed. I did not like this man because he didn't seem to like animals...it was just a business to him and before the year was out I decided to not take her there anymore. We found a wonderful, caring vet who now takes care of Lucy. I found out later, when the cherry eye showed up again, that the surgery can't be done successfully unless the gland is actually swollen because when it is the normal size, it is the size of the point of a pin, and can't be seen to be stitched into place. So this "warranty" vet did eye surgery on both of Lucy's eyes when the gland on the affected eye couldn't be seen and on the other eye which never had the problem. She has had reoccurances of the cherry eye several times over the last 4 years and a problem eye infections, but with antibiotic drops we've kept it under control.


Now we come to Sunday morning. I let Lucy out when we got up and she went running through the yard, the same route she takes every morning, and in an area where there were clumps of taller grass, a black and white cat was hiding. I guess he thought if he didn't move, Lucy wouldn't see him and she didn't. She ran right over top of him. He screamed and scrambled...Lucy looked surprised. She doesn't have a nasty bone in her body and didn't even run after the cat. Lucy thinks cats and other dogs should want to play with her. When we came back inside, her right eye had the swollen gland again and I wasn't sure if the cat had clawed her in the eye or if it was cherry eye again. Needed to take her to the vet to be checked out and thank goodness, after having dye put into the eye, there were no stratches to the eye itself. So it will be two weeks of antibiotic drops in the eye and keeping her inside most of the time. She can't come up to the shop with me because of dust from sanding. She looks so sad when I leave her and makes me feel so guilty. I am hoping that this clears up so she won't have to have surgery on that eye again.