How our human lives changed on Wednesday, Jan 21, 2015. Tasha our 9 yr old Akita has just been diagnosed with glaucoma with blindness (totally blind in right eye) and left eye 22mmHg pressure and looking crappy. Anyway, my husband came home from work Wednesday, Tasha not being herself. Face swollen and acting like she didn’t know who was there. Husband called her, staggered towards him and immediately knew something wasn’t right.
Trip to Vet (just down 1 mile from house). Physician examined her, did eye exam and found 60mmHg pressure in right and 22mmHg in left eye. Discussed this whole thing with my husband and advised to see eye specialist.
Following day, we say Eye specialist. She confirmed what our vet said, and prescribed more eye drops. Have to follow up in 5-7 days. So, the bottom line is Tasha is currently blind in her right eye and most likely will be blind in left eye here shortly.
It’s not about her being blind that is hard; it’s torturing her to get the darn eye drops in the eyes. Muzzling her and holding her down is not how we want to remember our girl when the end of life comes. Bottom line; any advice on easing this process. We can live with her blindness but can’t deal with torturing her with these eye drops if the end is still her being blind.
This has to be one of the hardest moments in our lives; she’s not just a dog but she’s our family companion and sister to our kitty cat, Gretta.
God love her.
I really feel for you right now. Not only do you have the problem of the glaucoma but the added issue of not being able to get the drops into her eyes. My blind dog was great with the drops, never had a problem and would sit there beautifully when I put the drops in. But I know if it were my other dog that had the glaucoma, I would never have been able to get the drops in. When she had an ear problem we had a terrible time trying to get the drops in her ears. She just wouldn’t be in it. We pretty much had to strap her down almost and it’s not a fun experience for all concerned.
I’ve found a couple of pages that may be helpful.
http://ask.metafilter.com/231243/Please-help-me-administer-eye-drops-three-times-a-day-to-a-very-skittish-little-dog
http://drsophiayin.com/resources/newsletters/newsletter-vol-5-summer-2011
i know how hard it all is we treated my dog for years with the drops. We were lucky she did not mind them. Eventually the eye disease won and we had to have her eyes both removed because the pressures could not be controlled any longer. Making that decision was pure hell! Your mind just can not make peace with removing the eyes. But we did it.
Let me tell you it has turned out just fine! Our little girl is just fantastic! No more pain! She adjusted very quickly, most people don’t even know her eyes are missing because she moves in her world with confidence and ease. The process and healing are very difficult to watch and deal with from a human perspective. You will question yourself, but it seems from the dog perspective they adapt so quickly. Good luck with your buddy!
We had difficulty with our Husky at first. We kept encouraging him with a treat. He finally let us put the drop in. That has been almost 3 years ago. We still give him a treat after his drop. But, all we have to say is “drop time”. He jumps up on the couch and lays his head back. It is amazing. But, believe me we struggled just like you at the beginning. My heart goes out to you. I know exactly what you are feeling. Our husky has had one eye removed. We are putting drops in the remaining eye twice a day. So far it is holding up. Good luck!!!