Blindness

[pawsaroundoz]

Last year after having a slightly sore eye around June that healed up nicely with some ointment, just before Christmas the same eye went from fine to causing a lot of pain and clouding over completely in the space of less than 2 days. Result was the eye had to be removed - no obvious sign of any damage caused from the outside but the inner working were not good at all.

This evening I returned home to find same dog with a very sore, weeping remaining eye - obviously he is going to vet tomorrow but I am packing it, scared for my boy and for what is going on....again, no signs of any damage from outside of the eye such as an accident....

If ( and I am really hoping this is not the case) it is something similer and worse case scenario that the other eye has to be removed too.....do people think an 8 yr old Whippet could manage (with much care and attention from me and his Whippet companion)to live a good life without sight or would that just be too cruel for a sight hound?

thanks

annie

[Guest Ams]

I know several dogs who have had both eyes removed and they just adjust extremely well.

This is a DIY bump harness to protect the dogs nose until it gets used to going a little slower than it is used to. http://www.handicapp...op-harness.html

Or if you aren't the handy type, here is one you can purchase already made. http://www.petmd.com...es#.UcOGxDumhO4

http://www.halosforpaws.com/

Edited June 20, 2013 by Ams

[Sandra777]

I'm not sure it's really breed related how a dog will cope.

If he's a very active, zoomy sort of dog then it could be a difficult transition, but most sight hounds I've known have been very keen on their bed (sofa).

I have had a blind dog, she was 8 when her sight started to go and was PTS 2 months short of her 16th birthday when everything else just wore out and life was no longer good for her.

Apart from the obvious such as not moving things around, the main thing we found with our girl was to give her extra time to find her bowl, her way outside, her bed before stepping in and guiding her - it was as if the more we "helped" the less she was prepared to do. She was a VERY smart, bold dog who seemed to want to do stuff for herself. Bit like a stubborn old woman I suppose LOL

Only time she got totally confused and lost was when we took the baby gate down to move furniture - not really thinking that she was using it as a marker - find gate turn left if you're coming inside, turn right if you're going outside, turn hard right to find the kitchen. She went half way down the hallway which the gate blocked off & where she'd never been before, then just stopped and lay down. This was when she was about 15 so a little more easily confused than she was in earlier years.

We moved homes 3 times with her while she was blind, each time to very different house designs and after a couple of days she adjusted to each one. Probably helped that she had other dogs around, including one bitch who was 4 years younger than her and who had always just been there - not sure how much they relied on each other but when the blind girl went the other one seemed unaffected.

[ktn]

Hi Annie,

So sorry to hear your dramas, feeling scared for you too especially having to gothrough the same problem now. I've not had a blind dog yet but I do have an old girl and it seems all very old dogs eventually lose their sight from others i know, where their dogs are otherwise happy. im sure it is possible to let then have quality life despite that missing sight .there seems to be lots of internet links on how to support blind dogs, I hope you'll find some ideas that will work for you.. One thing I learnt from my dogs is that they're very resilient animals and with just a bit of love and care, they'll make the most of life and be grateful for it.gotta love them for their spirit. Hope the Vet visits will go ok.

http://m.dummies.com/how-to/content/living-with-a-blind-dog.html

http://www.blinddogs.net/

[HeelerLove]

.

edited as vet answered questions.

Edited June 26, 2013 by BlueyLove

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Hi Annie,

What was the prognosis? My old dog went blind within around a month. She coped much better than I did and she was an 11.5 year old border collie who was running agility a month before her diagnosis. If you look up some of my threads you'll see some back ground on her and her issues. But I think dogs deal with these things much better than we do. And if you are prepared to put the effort in to making sure she has a good quality of life well, I think that says all that needs to be said!!

I hope it is all working itself out.