Dog Blog II

My dog suddenly went completely blind on Tuesday.

He only has one eye - the other one had to be removed last year, the sight was completely gone and he had glaucoma, which was causing him intense pain.  He also had the lens removed from the 'good' eye, his left eye, to retain what little sight he had and prevent glaucoma occurring in that eye too, so he has long been used to limited vision and no close-up vision.  The pressure in the remaining eye has remained normal since the operation and his check-ups are now only every 6 months.

Over the weekend I suspected that his sight was gradually getting worse and wondered if I should bring forward his next check-up with the ophthalmologist, but on Tuesday the decision was made for me.  I got him ready for his evening walk, and he didn't want to leave the house.  It was raining slightly, and he is a bit of a baby about going out in the rain, so I assumed it was just that.  However, when we got outside the house, he just stood in the street trembling.  I still wasn't aware it was total blindness.  He seemed healthy and there was nothing wrong with his appetite.

Eventually I coaxed him up the road and it became obvious there was something wrong, he stayed much closer to me, almost under my feet and he kept on falling off the pavement.  In the woods he walked right through the middle of the large puddles.  Gordon has 'sugar paws', he can't stand wet grass or puddles, he skirts round them, no matter how awkward it is to do so, so tramping right through a large puddle was a sure sign he couldn't see.  When we got home, he didn't flinch when I flicked my hand towards his eye, suggesting there was no vision.  The next day I got him an emergency appointment with the ophthalmologist.  He struggled down the steps to the vet's, and it took three of us to get him into their door.  When we took him into the surgery, he was even worse, just refusing to move, we virtually had to carry him in, his terror was heart-wrenching.  He was good, as ever, when the vet examined his eye, but terrified when he was taken away for the ultra-sound scan.

We now know his retina has detached - which caused the sudden blindness.  He has steroid drops along with his normal eye drops and I regular trips back  to the vet to check progress.  They will know in two weeks how permanent the damage is and whether the retina can be reattached.

In the meantime, he gets very confused and anxious.  When he wakes up from a snooze he has had panic attacks and pawed frantically at his eye, in an attempt to clear it.  But he is also very brave.  For two days I have been coaxing him round the house, banging the wall, doorways and the floor so he can hear where everything is, because he didn't want to leave his bed, and he has been trusting enough to follow me.  In the park,  I keep him on a shorter lead to guide him away from any objects he might bump into and I spent ages coaxing him to go down and then up a set of stairs.  He has never gone up and down stairs inside the house or anywhere we have visited, but has been good with steps outside.  If he loses that, it really restricts where we can go, I don't have a car, so trains are our main form of transport.

Even though, this only happened a few days ago, Gordon is less anxious, braver on walks and in the house.  For two days he wouldn't step down into the utility room without me helping him.  This morning he has quite happily gone up and down that step a few times - stumbling every time, but he did it.  I realise I had under-estimated how much vision he must have had before the retina became detached.  He doesn't go straight to his food and water bowls or to his bed.  He knows the area they are, but he has to feel and sniff his way cautiously.

He is a very brave and trusting dog and very resilient.  He had a rough few years before he was re-homed.  He overcame that and if he is blind, he will adapt and overcome that as well.  In the meantime, I will continue crawling round the house and crouching/walking with him in the park until he is accustomed to his own habitat and all his favourite haunts on our walks.  I don't care how stupid I may look to others, Gordon, who can no longer see me, thinks I look amazing.

Another bonus has been the number of friends who have contacted me offering to help with the vets bills.  The charity I adopted him from had vowed to always pay for his eye treatment, however this now appears not to be the case, so just the detached retina diagnosis and ultra-sound cost £180.  My dad immediately sent me the money, insisting I allow him to help if the charity won't.  But it does make me realise just how fortunate I am with the support I get from my dad and from friends at times like this.  I am overwhelmed with such offers, so a huge thank you to those who so generously came to my rescue.