The day i brought my little shih tzu home Rod Stewart’s Maggie Mae was playing on the radio, and thus her name. Maggie is a little 10 lb. girl, with the sweetest disposion ever. Maggie will be having both of her eyes removed on July 21, 2014.
She developed PRA(progressive retinal atrophy) first in her left eye and later in her right. During her life she has had several surgeries to remove eyelashes that were growing into her eyes and causing abrasions, and a few other eye infections that were treated. She was also diagnosed with mild hip dysplasia. We took Maggie to Virginia Tech to their school of opthamology to seek advice about her situation. There is no treatment for PRA and is was probably caused by genetic inbreeding. Maggie was an AKC registered little girl. She has adjusted to blindness, going up and down stairs, out in the yard, and still plays with Otis our other shih tzu(he’s a bit of an imposter weighing 17 lbs, 11 years old, and no health issues or papers), and our little Manx cat, Molly. Maggie has cataracts on both eyes now, and has developed glaucoma. Only ayear ago wehad an opthmologist who wanted to perform cataract surgery on her right eye, we said no. She has PRA what would that accomplish. I want my girl to be pain free, and eye removal will do that.
The poor little thing has been through a lot. If she is in pain, then eye removal is going to make her life a lot better.
Thanks Paula, it has been a tough decision to make, but I know it’s the right one.
I’m curious how she, and you, are handling both eyes being removed? My Elly had her eye removed last year and I think she may need the remaining eye removed soon and I’m just terrified for her.
Very late in replying! Hope your dog is doing well. Maggie is doing great, still gets around well in the house, with a few bumps here and there. As hard as this procedure was for me to wrap my head around, it was the right decision. Our best to you and Elly!
Thank you so much for replying. I haven’t been able to log in in a long time. Elly did great with the removal of both eyes. Unfortunately she passed away back in October of 2016. I hope you and your baby are doing well.