Our 8 year old Shih Tzu Chase Alan started his blindness in his left eye. The vet noticed this four months ago. We found a wonderful dog ophthalmologist a week later. We found Chase had glaucoma in both eyes. We started with four eye drops three times daily. The pressure was able to be lowered between 12-19 for a few weeks. It is now September 6th and his right eye now little to no vision. His pressure is now 30-44 in both eyes. We continue the drops and he doesn’t seem in any pain. We watch closely for any changes.
We found a two year old Shih Tzu Annie a month ago to be a companion dog. She to was a rescue as Chase. She is a very sweet dog and both have adjusted well being best friends. Chase is getting around well and learning very fast commands like step down and step up. We have a large home and also a lake condo. He is adjusting to both locations.
Our vet is suggesting removal of both eyes and this makes us nervous! My research says that it is more of a problem for humans and not the dog. I would like to hear from others. I am very close with my dogs and seem to be over protective.
My dog had the same thing happen. First one eye, them the other about three months later plus lens luxation. Where the lens falls, so she was almost completely blind in both eyes. So she had two separate surgeries because we didn’t know the other eye would be affected when the first one went bad. But she has done Amazingly well ! And she was a 7 year old at the time. It happens more often than you think. She was also in pain, so it’s better to remove them, and let them be pain free, ,and happy than in pain.. I would adopt another blind dog in a heartbeat ! She’s a happy, big retriever , that can find her way around almost anyplace ! 🙂
I dont believe vets when they say dogs express pain in ways different than humans. How the hell do they know that lol?
I jad a rescue totally blind from retinal damage with glaucoma as well. They said his pressure was similar to your dogs.
He was happy all the time no way was he in excruciating pain. It also costs a ton of money to have them removed.
We have a beagle with a similar story. Glaucoma in both eyes, used 3 or 4 drops 3 or 4 times a day for over a year. Went blind in both eyes at different times. We had them removed one at a time when he became totally blind in each one. For a while the drops kept the pressure in the teens, but over time, they quit working, and the pressure got as high as in the 40’s. The vet said we could keep using drops if we wanted, but we would eventually be applying them every 4 hrs or so, and eventually the drops wouldn’t do much good. I am glad we had them removed. It was difficult to administer the drops every 6 hrs. We were glad to have that responsibility gone. It is expensive to have them removed, but cheaper in the long run. The drops are not cheap. The dog has had both eyes gone for a couple of years now, and he has adjusted very well. I am glad we had them removed, it has made life more comfy for all concerned. It has done a lot for us knowing that we did everything we could to keep the dog comfortable. He used to rub his eyes a lot with his paws when he still had them, and I could tell he was in discomfort. Now he is not.
Thank you for your information stories. Chase is doing so well and walks around our home and also our condo without problems. We are still using several eye drops daily. I keep watching for signs of pain. I just hesitate thinking of having his eyes removed!
As it turns out, it’s not a hard decision to make (having a dog’s eyes out) when you factor in the biggest concern … their pain. I, too, hesitated to have my dog’s eye removed even though his eye was blind and painful. After awhile the drops didn’t work. What was I doing, putting it off? I cried a river and then, duh, realised I would be doing him a favor. Done. What I regret is that he developed glaucoma, not that I relieved him of it. When the time comes for Chase to have surgery, I am sure you will step up for your little buddy. With best regards, Floppy’s momma