Dog can't open one eye

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

... And of course this would have to happen on a Sunday.

A couple of days ago PestDog was occasionally shutting one eye more than the other, and the working theory from the dog walker was that he'd walked into some nettles, but I'm not sure how certain this is.

Yesterday he was absolutely fine - long walk, playing, swimming, rolling... All the usual doggy things

This morning he's woken up and the same eye is refusing to open. I've tried bathing it with a warm wet cotton wool pad, and while he's very happy for me to do it, he still can't open the eye.

Is this an out of hours vet thing, or can it wait until the morning? His PetPlan lifetime policy states they only cover OOH if it's life threatening and I don't think he's at death's door somehow, but a London OOH vet is going to be eye wateringly expensive (pun not intended)

My vet (West Midlands) opens on Sundays and charges the same. Maybe ring around?

I’d also ring around , our usual vet now does Sunday emergencies from 9-4 at reasonable prices , I think it’s due to PAH or similar vets being open on sundays .

Honestly I wouldn't risk eyes and would take him to an out of hours vet. When I have phoned up my usual vets for eye issues that were not urgent they always said if it gets worse and he can't open his eyes phone back straight away.

On the insurance front, I have pet plan life cover and have taken mine to OOHs many times for various reasons and they have never quibbled. Is that something specific on your policy or just general t&cs?

I rang the OOH vet and they don't seem to be overly concerned, and suggested going tomorrow which I will do.

He's his usual self right now apart from the eye and after a warm bath (plus breakfast and a trip into the garden) it doesn't seem to be too bad - opening more even if he is still favouring it. Tellingly, when I bounced a ball both eyes were wide open

Haha well at least you know how to assess both eyes now by bouncing a ball

Our old dog did this his entire life, invariably on a weekend when the vet wasn't going to be properly open till Monday and it invariably always resolved itself about an hour before the vet appointment was due.

We worked out that it seemed to be pollen related and going into long grass chasing squirrels (who'd invariably ran in the opposite direction and were now sat up trees laughing at his utter obliviousness) seemed to set it off and he'd reappear with one eye closed and a huge grin on his face. Once we'd sussed that out we stopped worrying about it - just bathed his face gently and let his eye reopen of its own accord.

I use the biscuit cupboard test for almost every possible diagnostic process needed - if I open the biscuit cupboard and they come running on the paw I'm worried about, or the eye I'm watching out on springs open - I stop being massively concerned about it.