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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

Muzzling to do ear/eye drops

15 replies

Aria20 · 06/09/2021 07:41

Has anyone had to do this?

Pup is nearly 7 months old she's already had one nasty ear infection when she was younger that I ended up having to get the vet to do special long lasting drops as we couldn't get them in her ears properly as she was snapping and biting.

She is fine with me touching and cleaning her ears and eyes when there is no infection but she currently has conjunctivitis and she goes crazy when I try to do drops. I have tried holding her in all sorts of ways, treats etc but she still snaps and bites. I'm not getting the drops in properly and I'm now considering a muzzle purely for administering the drops. Is this a bad idea? She is normally a lovely friendly pup it's just when it comes to eye and ear drops but I'm concerned she will become aggressive and fearful towards me and obviously I want her to be better quickly so I don't need the drops anymore!

Any advice please?

OP posts:

StrongTea · 06/09/2021 08:00

Better than being bitten.

kikipie · 06/09/2021 08:05

Our dog recently had surgery to remove some thankfully benign tumours. We have to clean and apply cream every day and muzzle him to do it. I would have no hesitation

Original poster

Aria20 · 06/09/2021 08:14

Thanks for the non judgemental responses, it's certainly made me feel better about it as was feeling cruel and a failure for having to even consider it.

OP posts:

gogohm · 06/09/2021 08:51

It's a good idea to muzzle train anyway, makes vets visits easier, my ddog has managed to properly bite the vet twice, occupational hazard she said and laughed it off! We muzzle in the car park after the first incident, the second was coming around for anaesthetic

tabulahrasa · 06/09/2021 09:07

Muzzle training is something more people should do anyway, so that if a dog ever needs to wear one it’s not an extra thing to stress them out.

But - it takes a wee while to do, so if she’s on drops now it won’t help you.

Original poster

Aria20 · 06/09/2021 09:30

@tabulahrasa how would you recommend muzzle training? It's arriving tonight and yes she is on eye drops at mo

OP posts:

tabulahrasa · 06/09/2021 09:36

m.youtube.com/watch?v=6BjPpXer8IE

Quickest I’ve ever managed to do it was about 5 days, some it takes more like a couple of weeks.

Happenchance · 07/09/2021 09:10

I wouldn't delay treating her to muzzle train her. Untreated conjunctivitis can cause blindness.

What type of muzzle have you bought? Is it a basket muzzle?

Crisscross283 · 07/09/2021 09:23

No judgement at all. It doesn't make you a bad owner and it doesn't make your dog a bad dog. Some just don't like being poked and prodded. Muzzle training is a great idea. In my experience once our dog had sussed what the vets was about (ie.not just getting weighed and having a treat) he had to be muzzled every time. You might find the same.

Original poster

Aria20 · 07/09/2021 10:19

As it happened the muzzle didn't phase her at all, it was just a soft one so didn't look scary like a basket one. But it was still a nightmare trying to do the eye drops!! She is totally fine letting me wipe her eyes clean but as soon as she sees the drops coming she's snapping at me!

OP posts:

Happenchance · 07/09/2021 10:24

@Aria20

She will quickly learn that muzzle equals eyedrops so will probably start resisting it.

Do you have anyone who can help you when you are putting the drops in?

ClaudiaWankleman · 07/09/2021 10:35

I don't think muzzling is ever cruel if it is done with the intention of keeping everyone safe and happy. I never judge owners who have muzzled their dogs - it is the most responsible thing to do.

icedcoffees · 07/09/2021 15:04

Muzzling is a great thing in the right circumstances but you should really be muzzle training her properly not just putting it on her and medicating her - she'll start resisting the muzzle and you'll need to be very careful that she doesn't start snapping/biting when you put it on or take it off.

Muzzle training isn't immediate and can take a good few weeks. We muzzle trained ours as a puppy (we were taught to do it in puppy class) though we've never had to use one since.

Dipsydoodlenoodle · 10/09/2021 12:12

When my boy first started with eye drops (he has dry eye so has drops 5 x a day now...) I used to sit him on 'his' chair and sit with him (sort of squashing him so he couldn't wiggle away. Now he just waits, bless him.

I lift the top of his eyelid and quickly squirt the drops in then close his eyelid to ensure it's on his eye. We use a variety of creams and drops and do all of them this way.

flowersinthewindow5566 · 10/09/2021 12:24

In the right circumstances a muzzle is great .
My dog has regular ear infections that he won't let us or the vets touch .He's the sweetest boy , but turns into Hannibal Lector when anyone attempts to look into his ears .With a muzzle ,it's much less stressful , muzzle on , drops put in , 30 seconds and it's over and done with . Less stressful for us and our dog .

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