My oldest chi is 14 years old. He is the best most loving dog I have ever had(although I have 2 more that are spoiled also). Pico started eye problems in Oct 2016. He is being treated but my vet says we need to remove his eye and in time his other eye will go. It breaks my heart, he is so loving and I know understands everything I say. I have 2 grown children. One says to have the surgery and pray he gets through it. The other says not to put him through that at his age of 14 yrs and to go ahead and put him down. I don’t want him to suffer. What would you do?
I hope you have seen an eye specialist. My dog has a multitude of eye problems and lots of times a regular vet may suggest something that seems more efficient without taking into consideration your willingness to help and the dog’s resiliency to being treated and waiting. I was initially told that with our dog’s high pressure, we will face eye removal. This has not happened and in fact, her eye just started shrinking and she is on a very low dose of latanaprost now.
Whatever your decision, God bless you and your dog. Do what is right for your dog without listening to people who don’t “know” your dog. Only you can really communicate with your dog and know what it thinks and wants.
Hi, my dog Scamper is 14-1/2 lab/border collie mix. She is my constant companion and I raised her to be a certified Therapy Dog because she was so intelligent. About a yr ago, we noticed cloudiness in her right eye, which we discovered from the vet to be glaucoma, eventually we realized that eye was totally blind. We went through the drops 4times a day and even a set that had to be administered every 2 hrs, I would do whatever my girl needed. In September of 2016, the other eye began having trouble and got her on the drops, but by November 2016 Scamper was totally in the dark. We were devestated but completely committed, she still was very active, walked several miles a day with me, kayaked with us, and wasn’t in pain.
One month ago she wasn’t acting like herself on a Sunday night, crying, not eating, we knew something was wrong so first thing Monday we were at her vet where we discovered the right eye had blown and needed immediate enucleation surgery to stop the pain. She would most likely be ther overnight due to her age for observation and IV antibiotics and pain Meds. By 4 that afternoon the Dr called saying she had done well, but needed to get picked up, she was so stressed out by being away from me he was afraid of a stroke.
The first 2 nights were awful, she’s not a large dog and not used to Meds so the medicines were making her anxious and she just cried. It was hard enough making the decision, but now thinking you put her thru this pain at her age ripped us apart.
The dr was incredible and kept in constant contact, by day 5 things were still very slow, but a touch better. Fast forward to 3 weeks post surgery, she’s back to dong walks, a bit slower though, she regularly uses the stairs inside our house from floor to floor, she still sleeps a bit more, but every day seems to be a little more like my Scamper. I
We were horribly afraid we made the wrong decision at first given her age,, but knowing the spirit , personality and commitment our dog had, we felt justified in our choice, we are pleased to say we stand by that choice today.. Please contact me if you would like more info on Scamper’s story