My dog Maisie 2 and half years old


MaisieLast Tuesday I took my dog Maisie – a springer spaniel who is 2 and a half to the vets as I noticed all of a sudden her eye didn’t look right. Her right eye was cloudy, both eyes look slightly swollen and uncomfortable. The vet checked her over and said she has uveitis and conjunctivitis. We left the vets thinking it was a simple infection that would clear up.

By Thursday I noticed she really wasn’t her normal self. She’s always been so happy and bouncy. So again we went back to the vets, they gave her more antibiotics and metacam. They wanted to see her again Monday.

Monday came, took her in, the vet said there was no improvement in her bad eye and we needed to see an opthalmologist. I felt panicked, everything was happening so quick. We saw the opthalmologist on Tuesday.

This is where our little world got turned upside down. We were told after all the testing she had a genetic fault with the makeup of her eyes. They didn’t drain properly like they should. This has lead to glaucoma in her right eye. The pressure should have been 14/15 hers was 75. I was devastated. Just as I got my head around her loosing her right eye he dealt the second blow – her other eye would eventually go the same way. I was gutted. As it stands at the moment the pressure in her right eye is what it should be.

She had her right eye removed yesterday (Wednesday) and we picked her up today. She seems to be doing really well but the thought of her being completely blind terrifies me. What if she doesn’t cope? What if she ends up depressed? Or becomes agreesive? She’s so young I never thought we would be going through this. I thought we would have so many years of a healthy dog. I’m finding the whole thing very daunting, constantly checking for signs of the other eye becoming inflamed. I’m driving myself and everyone around me mad! I just want the best for my dog and know we are making the right decisions. Any happy stories and advice would be amazing!

6 thoughts on “My dog Maisie 2 and half years old

  1. Hi Emma,

    I just registered tonight and happened to read your blog. I feel in many ways that I could have written those words myself. Believe me when I tell you that I understand EXACTLY what you’re going through. My dog was diagnosed with glaucoma 7 months ago, and I have become a different person since that day. I, too, was panicked and felt like my world was crashing in on me. Every day, multiple times a day, I gave him drops and checked his eyes for any changes, to the point of making myself sick. Last month, he needed his left eye removed, and I felt defeated, that all I had done in the past 6 months was still not enough. And now more than ever, I continue to watch his other eye constantly, knowing that one day it too will spike.

    It’s easy to sink into a state of depression and hopelessness when going through this, so I am also looking for happy stories and advice. I feel I need to get past the negativity and anxiety I’ve been feeling for months, and try to reach toward a positive plan that will ensure my dog feels safe and happy when he can no longer see. I’ve had more time for it to sink in and so I’m getting to a point of acceptance, but if I were to give you any advice right now, it would be to try to be positive. Many others have dealt with this, and you can, too. (This is what I’ve been telling myself!) From everything I have read and what my veterinary ophthalmologist has told me, our dogs DO adjust, and much more quickly and easily than we expect. In fact, my vet said that the pet owner has a harder time adjusting than the pet.

    It’s scary because it’s the unknown for us, and we will hold our breaths until we actually see it happen, but the odds are good that they WILL adjust and be happy if and when they become blind. It is a devastating experience for us in the meantime, though. I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone, and I can relate to you 100%. Hopefully this site will help both of us, and we can possibly help each other, too.

    All the best,
    Caren

    1. Hi Emma and Caren i can relate to both of your stories but in my case my 2year 9month chihuahua is going blind through Kerato conjunctivitis Sicca. Her story is posted on hear so i won’t go into great detail but on friday 11/12 i have to make the worst decision of my life. Like you i don’t know if i can say the words to the optomologist to remove her eyes even though i know in my heart it is the right decision. Every time i look at her i can’t imagine her without eyes and it upsets me and yes i have been told by her specialist that it’s worse for us and she will cope very well but i can’t get it out of my mind her going to sleep with sight and waking up blind.
      I’m hopeing that the gel he is trialing on her will at least save her left eye for the moment and like you Emma i know that this is short term as her eyes rejects medication within months.
      I hope both you (Emma) and Caren keep intouch with me and let me know how you and your dogs are coping and with help we’ll all get through this.
      I’ll post what happens when we’ve had Penny at specialists on Friday.

      Best wishes
      Janice

  2. Hi, I’m so glad theres people in the same situation except my little boy has a hereditary disease that deteriorates the fibres that hold the lens in place. We tried to save the left eye last year and knew eventually the other one would go. Unfortunately we are now at the ophthalmologist next week as he is showing symptoms in the remaining eye. I want to make the right decision for him. We do have another dog but she I only a puppy. Hopefully she will help guide him as she’s a gentle giant. I’m so scared about what will happen. I want to make the right decision, it might be selfish but ill miss him putting his nose against mine looking me in the eyes and giving me kisses. And how when I look at him and smile he always wags his tail. When I got him as a rescue that had been in a cage for 5 months and i had to teach him not to bang his heads against walls or soil on himself. I thought id give him the perfect life and make up for the mistreatment but now he’s not even 4 and I feel like I’m trying to give him everything and I can’t.

  3. Hi everyone, I wanted to tell you a happy story. I adopted Zelda a blind border collie when she was only 4.3 months old from a shelter. She is 2 now. She had severe glaucoma in both eyes and had already gone thru a lot. She is completely blind and one eye the lens has recently luxated. When I read her bio that said she needed a home with a companion dog I knew we could help. I fell in love the day we met and have been bless every day since.

    Blind dogs are amazing!!! They don’t let human limitation get in their way. A dogs nose is so much more important. Your dogs will be the happy loving dogs they always were.

    My dog can run thru our house, back yard, climb stairs up and down, jump on and off beds. She plas fetch. She’s amazing. You just will learn a new way to teach your dog. Instead of teaching by sight everything has to be taught by hearing and smell. I talk to my dog all the time I’ll tell her what certain noises are if she seems unsure. Like “it’s just the vacuum me your ok”. You’ll learn to become very verbal with your dog. Use essential oils on rugs to mark doors that you use to go out so they know what do to go to when they need to do their business. Rub lemon around the rim of the water bowl till they figure out where the water bowl is. Keep your furniture In the same place because they make a mental map of the house. And most of all stay calm because a dog can read when your nervous and that will make them nervous. Just give them the love and support you always have and they will do AMANZING!!!!

  4. Thankyou all for your posts on this. Reading my original post, I can’t believe the state I got myself into! So Maisie is 2 and a half months post op now. Her left eye at the moment is still ok. She had another check next month but from what I can tell there isn’t signs of deterioration yet. Maisie has been amazing! Her sense of smell and hearing has kicked in more than ever. She’s more settled, she sleeps deeper and snores like a trooper now! It makes me wonder how long she was in pain for. The idea of having her go completely blind is still scary but if there’s one thing Iv noticed, as long as we are there she’s happy. She’s the best she’s ever been and when that time comes and she’s in pain again I know she will be better off for having the eye removed. Her opthalmologist is amazing, compassionate and completely understands the motions we go through, he’s a massive support. He said we would notice blind dogs everywhere and he wasn’t wrong! Seeing all these dogs lead normal lives and hearing positive stories gives u the confidence to take this head on. I guess our story so far even with ups and downs and the inevitable going to happen it does show u get used to the idea and prepare for it. Things get easier. Shock wears off. We’re joining agility next month to improve her confidence, I’m hoping it will be the start of new positive things 🙂

    1. Thanks so much for your update Emma. I’m so glad that Maisie is doing so well.

      We all go through the same process. It’s so distressing at the start and then we realise it isn’t all as bad as we thought it was going to be. These dogs cope beautifully.

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