Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Nothing to Worry About

Our new dog, Lily, is fitting in quite nicely...especially since Sami the Cat has gone to live at the Humane Society. Today we took her to visit our vet for the first time as a general introduction AND to have him check one aspect that Della and I were a bit concerned about.

We hadn't noticed it when we first met her. However, within a day or two of bringing her home, we noted there was some discoloration below her pupil in her left eye. To us, it looked like a cataract and we began to worry that, if we didn't get it looked at, she might lose the sight in that eye.

When we pointed out the cloudy area of her eye to Dr. Olson, he smiled. "That's not a cataract," he intoned. I tensed up, fearing the worst. He went on to explain that the small amount of fur on Lily's head, tail and feet indicated she was a blue merle (called "dapple" for dachshunds). The cloudy-blue area of her eye is a natural feature of some dogs with the merle gene.

We were elated at such news. It meant no injury nor illness...and no highly expense vet bill either!! After the examination was complete, he gave her a clean bill of health. He did note that she seemed to be missing quite a few teeth, but I told him, as part of my own research, the dachshund-xolo (xolo is the shortened form of Xoloitzcuintle, the Mexican Hairless) mix is prone to have several missing teeth.

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