It wasn't me!

Isn't that what you feel like saying every time you find something wrong with a dog that you are grooming?

You know what I mean, when you find a sore, a scratch, a wart that bleeds, or a nail that is cracked.

How many times have you found something the owner did not know about, and see the doubt in their eyes when you tell them what you found.

They just don't seem like they want to believe that you found the sore and didn't put it there.

 Especially like the dog I did today.

When I told the owner what I found, the first thing she said was that the dog had just been to the Vet and "he did not see anything."

If only I had a dollar for everytime over the years that I found something that the Vet never saw.

*Ear infections.

*Over grown nails.

*Rashes.

*Bad skin.

*Ect., ect., ect.

Anyway...

This is 'Oscar'.

We have been grooming 'Oscar' and his brother 'Otis' for a few years now.

'Oscar' and 'Otis' get groomed every 6 weeks.

Today 'Oscar' came in with a very large amount of eye crud under one of his eyes.

The crud went from the corner of the eye down, almost to the corner of his mouth.

There was hardly any crud in the other eye.

This was my first warning that something was not right.

As always I like to let eye crud soak with soap and water while bathing the rest fo the dog.

Usually by the time you finish bathing the body, the eye crud has softened enough to easy pick it away from the eye.

'Oscar's' eye crud was very thick and very hard.

The crud had to soak for a while before I could even start to pick it away from the eye.

I started by trying to pull the crud itself part.

I saw bright red.

Warning number two.

I grabbed my camera, I wasn't being blamed for anything.

Warning: the pictures below may bother some people.

This was my first hint of something more then just eye crud.

Red.

I had the feeling it was more than just raw skin under the crud.

Now, do I stop and send to the Vet., or do I go on.

It's me, of course I go on.

Of course, if blood had started flowing I would have stopped and called the owner.

There was red, but it was not blood.

It helped a lot that 'Oscar was so good about it.

I kept wetting his face down with warm water and rubbing the crud between my fingers till it started breaking up.

This is what I found under the crud.

What is it?

I have no idea.

It was not there 6 weeks ago.

A cyst?

A Boil?

All I know is that it is a good sized puss filled lump.

So I took pictures to show how I found it, and that I did not put it there.

Why did I fool with it?

Because, I have found over the years that Vets don't like doing the dirty work.

They give medication for ear infections but don't clean out the ears.

I have had owners bring in the dogs and tell me that their Vet told them to ask the groomer to pluck the ears, or clip mats away from a sore, clean the crud out of the eyes.

So I cleaned the crud off, scissored around the eye and lump so that the Vet would be able to easily see what the problem is.

I also told the owner to get the dog right to a Vet, because the lump was seeping puss and needed to see the Vet before it got covered up again.

'Oscar' was a sweet heart.

I truly think that dogs understand when you are trying to help them.

'Oscar's' owner had no idea that the lump was there, but she did know that the big piece of crud was there.

I know that I take a chance doing this.

So far, all of the owners have appreciated my finding things like this.

You better believe I cover my butt by taking a lot of pictures.

I hope that what I found is not serious.

I know that I helped 'Oscar' feel a little better.

Happy Grooming, MFF