NJTman

Hoping others who have experienced this could give me some insight...

Over the last several years, my wife and I knew our little beagle had cataracts in her eyes, but even after a visit to the vet a few weeks back for a routine exam, we never thought too much about it, nor did the veterinarian. Although we mentioned it to him, he never really seemed to be too concerned.

Over the last few days, we noticed that Lady seemed to be having difficulty seeing her cookies on the floor, when we treated her for being a "good dog", which if you've owned a beagle.... is such a joyous occasion

So, the other day, I noticed her not being able to find her snacks on the floor, and I mentioned it to my wife, who at the time, saw similar behavior.

Well, last night, about dinner time, I was eating a few tortilla chips, in the kitchen, and for "ha-ha's " I threw a couple on the blanket she was sitting on (the dog and not the wife). She didn't even see me throw the chips on the ground. It took her a few seconds to "sniff" that they were there, and she scoffed them up as usual...

I knew she had gone blind.

My wife began sobbing terribly. Our Lady was blind, and we were both a little freaked out, although I was a little more optimistic about it. We took her to the emergency center, and after ruling out "high blood pressure" and "diabetes" it was determined that her cataracts have solidified to the point where she's about 99% blind in both eyes. She can see a few shadows directly overhead, but that's about it. We scheduled an appt. with the specialist (eye surgeon) for Monday and I guess I'm on "blind dog duty" .... or dootie this weekend.... as my wife is working her second job...

Anyone here have an experience they'd like to share about their poochie and eye surgery for cataracts ??? Feeling a little bummed right now....



Here's her picture if you're interested :


https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...8&postcount=55

Thanks

T.

chaikwa

I've never had a dog that went totally blind, so I can't speak from 1st hand experience, but I can tell you this; dogs adapt amazingly well to things like this. I have seen blind dogs that you'd never know were blind, they get around just like any other dog once they acclimate themselves to their condition.

I can well imagine this is an upsetting situation for you, but I can assure you it's more upsetting to you than the dog!

kthiemann

We've had both dogs and cats that went blind and after a period of adjustment they got along just fine and lived long full lives, the one dog lived until he was 16 and the cat lived until she was 19

j_martin

I'm living with a deaf cat. Oh wait, that might be selective deafness.

Seriously, I've had many dogs and cats over the years, and they adapt quite well to whatever befalls them as they age. They still are a lot of fun.

For instance, the above said cat got curious about a mousetrap, and it snapped him on the nose. That 14 year old became a kitten for about 45 seconds, tearing around the house and hiding under the furniture. Then he found his warm spot by the heat register and slept it off for about 6 hours.

SIXSLUG

They are very good at adapting. My sis's chihuahua gets along pretty well.

They find the stairs and avoid them pretty well and bump into stuff at first, but really don't ever know its not part of their lives and just go with it. It'll be harder on your wife than the dog.

Keep her away from traffic and drop offs with no railings and she'll go a few more years.

cougar

The wife brought home a kitten that was born blind. The owner was going to kill it. Well, our old cat (female) instantly adopted him and taught him the ropes as it where. Unless you knew, you couldn't tell. We kept him indoors and he learned every inch of the 35' fifth wheel we lived in. Can a blind cat catch a mouse? Oh ya.

madhat

Very sorry to hear that, buddy. My heart goes out to your 'kid'...

ktpauley

Have some friends that had 2 Rotties. 1 was blind and would follow the other 1 around the yard. Like others said she will adapt.

Fronty Owner

My terrier is almost 10 and has cataracts. I think she is starting to have problems seeing at night, she wont jump in bed when its dark.
Good luck with your dog

carl48

there is eye dog doctors, i had a German Shepard that i had his cataract's removed worked very well

Bark

Sorry to hear about it. As others have said, the dog will adapt.

whiskers

Sorry for your dog's problem. You will have to just give her time to adjust and see what happens. Our Min Pin of 14 yrs went blind from Diabetes. His kidneys went also and we had to put him down. It was hard to let him go, but harder to watch him suffer, If her sight is the only problem she'll probably adapt just fine.

Blueboy

I had a afghan hound, at 5 she went blind.
Because grew up in the same house from pup,
never had any problems.

Tallguy67

NJTman,
As others have told you, your dog will adapt just fine. Our dog lost 1 eye to corneal ulcers 2 yrs ago and nearly lost the other eye to ulcers this year. It is a chronic problem with low tear production causing the ulcers. When we thought he was going to lose his second eye we were distraught. Our vet is one of our best friends and she told us not to be stressed at all. Dogs adapt to blindness, even sudden blindness, very well. Just don't move the furniture around much.
As for surgery, I would trust a good expert like your vet about whether it is a good option or not.

NJTman

Thank you for all the responses. It truly means a lot.

My dog is ~9 years old. The process wasn't immediate like we had originally thought, as the original cataract in her one eye was there around a year. The second one is not that old, but I guess it just finally closed or opaqued out. It appears that the vision is impaired in the center of the eye, but not extreme top and bottom. This is common, from what I've researched, and will over time completely opaque to where no vision will be left, without doing something.

We have her an appt for the first consult @ the vet specialist this week. With his guidance, we're hopeful that her eyesight can be returned so she can make the most of the rest of her life. I agree with all of you that say she will do fine, and I believe that either way, with or without eyesight, she's going to have a good life. It just changes our behavior as to protecting her or not having to, dependent on how it all turns out. I'm just going to do what I can to hopefully make it include seeing... if that's indeed possible.

Yesterday, she was (along with my wife) hysterical. Shaking like a leaf, barking and extremely distressed. Today, it's not so bad, as she's actually coping quite well. It's amazing that she can get around as good as she does. If you didn't see her bump into things that are unfamiliar in her surroundings, you wouldn't think that she was blind at all. My wife has calmed down, and that really helps. We're both hopeful, and we'll know more this week.

Some people think that dogs are just a dog, but for myself, my wife, and some of my family members, it's more than that. It's a being whom you kiss, hug, and get unending devotion from, and we feel it's our obligation to do whatever it is to make her life as best as we can. Not saying that I'd go through extreme measures if she was diagnosed with some "terminal" issue, as I'm more of a realist that we can only do so much, and anything beyond that is actually selfism, and not in the interest of pet.

Thanks again. Good to hear that there are more positive experiences out there, than not.

BTW,

I had someone say to me the other day that "all of this" has something to do with the way things all work out for some of us. Some believe (and I'm sure some do not) that there's a reason for the way things happen beyond what anyone would perceive as events in the life of an individual. In other words, for some people, things happen because if they happened to other people in the same manner, with respect to the same circumstances, the response to the situation would be completely different. I really can't tell you just how many different types of crazy things have come about to present themselves to us over the years, but for the most part, it hasn't been a dull or boring existence.


T.