101. Domitor vomiting. Left eye ulcer.

Some dogs, despite fasting for over 12 hours, do vomit yellow liquid as in this case.

Old Maltese. "Keeps rubbing the left eye," the owner complained. "What's the problem?"

I showed the owner that there was a corneal ulcer at 4 o'clock by lowering the lower eyelid. It was not obvious as it was a recent injury. The ulcer was 3 mm in diameter and deep.

A 3rd eyelid flap would be the treatment of choice. No point just prescribing eye drops or e-collar to save the owner some veterinary costs as the outcome is unsatisfactory. The dog would continue rubbing his eyes and the owner would just seek another vet for help, while cursing the first vet.

However, the old dog needed to be put under anaesthesia. This would be risky for any old dog (over 5 years). Sedation and isoflurane gas is the safest form of anaesthesia for old dogs in general. This is what I used:


Bodyweight: 5 kg
Domitor 0.1 ml IV.
Waited 5 minutes
Isolfurane gas by mask
Dog started to vomit bright yellow fluid, dirtying his mouth.
Took away the mask. Clear the vomitus from the mouth.
No intubation was necessary in this situation.

The sedation was good after washing. Isoflurane gas by mask for a few seconds. The surgical anaesthesia was excellent. The 3rd eyelid flap was stitched. The dog also had several abscessces below the upper eyelid of the right eye. I used needle to puncture the abscesses.

Some vets prefer to give the Antisedan antidote to Domitor to get the dog to wake up immediately. I do not see the need to use it as the dog would need the sedation to rest after surgery. The dog woke up within 5 minutes anyway. Antisedan does work very well as the dog would wake up immediately when given at same dose, ie. 0.1 ml.

Several abscesses on the upper eyelid do occur in hamsters. This condition is uncommon in dogs.

Pictures taken for record purposes.