Baxlse Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 My Chihuahua, Mick is coming up to his first anniversary as a diabetic & has been blind for nearly 9 months. I can't say I've met any other diabetic dogs nor have I met another blind dog & I was just wondering if anyone else has a diabetic/blind dog & would like to share their story/tips with me? Kate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhoundangel Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 We have a dog that is going blind, I don't know whether that's considered the same or not... She has to have eye drops every day to help stop it from spreading :rolleyes: Her eyes are pretty cloudy but I haven't noticed much difference in her, she still appears to see quite well... Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meganjane Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Kate, my rough collie was born blind, she isn't diabetic tho. Blind dogs can be heaps of fun, do most things that sighted dogs can do, and it's sooooo much easier to hide things from them I got so used to taking something off Kel and just being very quiet, she'd never know i had it, that when I got my lab x pup I thought I could do the same but the bugger kept catching me out Does your little guy go ape over toys with bells and squeaks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxlse Posted July 15, 2005 Author Share Posted July 15, 2005 You're right, it is easier to hide things from him He's not much of a player, likes his stuffed toy (in a girlfried sort of way ) but that's about it, he used to chase balls but has slowed down a bit lately & sleeps a lot. He hears EVERYTHING, so you have to be very sneaky to get anything past him, like food packets! I have little bells that I use when we're out & he just follows the sound around the park, he goes nuts when he hears me pick them up because he knows we're going out. It's strange how quickly you get used to them being blind, I found myself having to adjust back to having a sighted dog when my female chi came along. Mel, what eye disease does your girl have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coop&mango Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 I don't know any diabetic dogs, but my neighbors cat is diabetic. They went away for a week and we had to give it injections twice a day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mersonmalinois Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 We have a blind dog with hypertension, but he is not diabetic. He was diagnosed a year ago June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meganjane Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 My poor lass loves her toys with bells so much that whenever we pick up the budge cage she goes ape thinking it's one of her toys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhoundangel Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Mel, what eye disease does your girl have? My girl has Pannus... Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divine Angel Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Last weekend my partner and I were installing some skylights... one house we went to, the doggie there was diabetic and blind. Poor thing, he looked so pathetic! He had no fur halfway up all his legs, and he was on injections twice a day as well as eating regularly. He found his way round quite well, and if he got stuck somewhere, someone would have to call him and he would follow your voice. Poor little thing got scared half to death when my partner accidently dropped a skylight part... But he seemed well adjusted, I think the owner said he'd been blind for about a year, year and a half? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffiend42 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 where's whitewolf? Haven't seen her around for a while...she'd have loads of advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy's mum Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Until recently, mum had a blind chi - Pixie. Pixie started to get the cloudy eyes at 7 or so, gradually started in 1 eye then the other. She went to the specialist eye vet and was on drops for the rest of her life. Never did define what it was but I wish I knew. Definitely not cataracts, something 'rare' he said. Best tip was the specialists were ripping us off $37 a tube for the eyedrops when 1 day the label peeled off the tube and revealed they were buying it from the local chemist @$10 a tube. So we got our friendly usual vet to write us a prescription and only paid the reduced chemist price after that! Unfortunately, Pixie's bad eye got an ulcer and had to be removed - we took her to the specialist in a rush and he sent us back to our usual vet (because they would be cheaper which we thought was an insult and unnecessarily prolonging Pixie's discomfort). Pixie managed very well blind - she jumped on and off chairs and the bed, even when she had little or no peripheral vision left. Went up and down stairs. I have a feeling the drops destroyed her sense of smell because she couldn't smell food right in front of her and lost a bit of her appetite. At about 14 she lost her bearings, started knocking into things and seemed to go a bit senile and was PTS. We were very sad because otherwise she had been quite a strong healthy dog. It is important never to change around the furniture or the routine if at all avoidable. I wish you all the best - how do you manage with the injections? or does he have tablets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chi'ma Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 how funny - i was just about to reply saying " blindCh has a blind chi, ask her" then, i realised it was YOU who started the thread...silly me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mum 2 Bailey n Chelsea Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 I had a blind border collie. She got poisened and went blind because of it. She lived a fabulous life though! We were just always careful not to move furniture as she knew her way around and she was fine! We lived on acerage so she still always went romping through the bush even though she couldn't see Mel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Shepherd mom Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Kate, I was looking up something and came across these links. I have not looked through them but remembered seeing the heading on this thread and thought I'd post them here: http://www.petdiabetes.org/resources_index.htm http://www.petdiabetes.com/ http://pub141.ezboard.com/fpetswithdiabetescaninediabetes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerJack Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Hello My tiniest dog Irial has only got one eye. She is a mini foxie (and probably has some chihuahua in her as she is only 2kg). She was a rescue and was found with an ulcerated eye that must have been injured by her getting kicked or something similar. Her eye was removed and being without it hasn't ever seemed to bother her. She had a lot of initial problems adjusting to her new home but that was all due to being scared of everything after living on the streets for ages, not her lack of vision. She is now a complete fool who races around just as much as my other dogs and she has no problems leaping from sofa to sofa and up and down stairs. She doesn't like it if someone suddenly appears on her blind side but otherwise she has adapted very well. (She was estimated to be about 3 when the eye was removed.) Good Luck Jo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baxlse Posted July 29, 2005 Author Share Posted July 29, 2005 Ginger's mum, he has injections every 12 hours & is as good as gold with them. No fuss, just sits & waits for me to do it & then opens his mouth like PacMan waiting for me to drop his treat into it! Been on a few US websites & they were very helpful, I was just wondering if there were any/many DOL owners with diabetic/blind dogs & there's a few of us with optically challenged dogs it seems. Mick had a infected corneal ulcer once & it cost me hundreds, animal specialists are quite the opportunists aren't they!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy's mum Posted July 29, 2005 Share Posted July 29, 2005 Yes, you were lucky - it was the corneal ulcer that cost Pixie her eye and we were very attentive going to the vets etc, drops every few hours etc not at all neglecting it, it was very sad she still lost it. I am glad he manages well and doesn't mind the shots. Animals are very tolerant!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_PL_ Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 "No fuss, just sits & waits for me to do it & then opens his mouth like PacMan waiting for me to drop his treat into it!" hehehe love it! he's got his priorities right! my tiny little oldie is not diabetic but is pretty much all blind now -the vet insisted it wouldn't bother her and he was right. as long as i remember not to leave stuff for her to bump into, and to have doors either all the way open or all the way closed (she'll crash head-on into a half open door every time). and i grow her fringe to keep the sun out. bright glarey sun seems to upset her. if i couldn't grow her hair i guess one of those little doggie sun-visors would be the go. she follows sound really well. and scent is a big one. when i mop the floors -like an ant, she can smell where her regular paths are- she gets a bit lost but quickly makes a new path. the house is only small and she remembers her way around anyway but i think her 'paw path' is helpful. not long ago i heard that dogs can be scent trained e.g. a few drops of lemon oil in a spray bottle of water, it doesn't have to be strong enough for you to smell it, and you can mark walking paths, food areas, beds and stairs with scent so the dog learns safe familiar spots. or even use different oils for different areas. don't know if it works but it sounded good at the time and reassuring for newly blind dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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