I work for a vet and one day a woman came in to ask if we knew of any shelters that would take her 11 yr old rat terrier. She told me that her house had been foreclosed on and her new apartment would not allow pets. I asked what she was doing with the dog in the meantime and she said he was still living at the house all alone. I have a chihuahua mix at home and thought this would be a great buddy for him. I agreed to take him and met her the next night. She had mentioned Jack had a small cataract but was ok. After she had left I started walking him inside. He bumped into everything. I remember thinking to myself, I think he is blind. One of his eyes was slightly protruded and discolored. The other one was fine. We were confused.
Sure enough, after my vet took a look at him we realized he was completely blind in both eyes. He didn’t seem to be in any pain but we needed to go to a specialist for a complete examination. We had discussed getting Jack the gentimicin injection but after much research I decided removal of the eye was for the best. I was told if he were to hit his eye just right It could burst. That scared me. I wanted this done asap.
I had been to a wonderful place to get my chihuahua mix Emma spayed and contacted them to see if they knew of any hospital or specialist that they would recommend for this . They told me that In special cases they could do the surgery. We went in three days later.
I was at work after I dropped Jack off when I got a call from the hospital. Both his eyes were very sick and both needed to be removed. I was a little bit in shock. I gave the ok and prepared myself for picking him up. I was a little taken a back when I first saw him but he seemed the same so I was more at ease. By the time we got home he was back to himself. He took his medicine fine and ate. Slept through the night without a peep. By the next morning you would never had known he just had surgery the day before.
It’s day 4 now and everything is back to it was. Emma tries to kiss his eyes and play a little rough but we tell her in time he will be back to normal. He wants to play but I want him to stay calm while his eyes heal. I am amazed at how quickly he recovered and how it doesn’t even faze him. I’m a little embarrassed at how nervous I was. I have never had a “handicapped” dog before and really didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Especially where I thought it was a small cataract and not complete blindness. We’ve only had him 2 months now but couldn’t imagine life without him. Emma and Jack are best buds and my daughter absolutely loves him. We are so lucky to have this guy in our lives. Makes you appreciate the little things.
God bless you! Having a seeing impaired dog is not easy, but I have to say mine adjusted well before I did. My dog had her second eye removed a week after my honeymoon and I have to say as much as I thought having a completely blind eye dog would be a huge adjustment, it’s really not. She goes up and down the stairs, she knows where the edge of our bed is (she sleeps with us) and she can jump up and down from the couch. We are looking at buying a new house so that’s my biggest concern. I wish I could find a better place to talk and discuss how to deal with blind pets.