My dog Harley is a Yorkshire terrier. He is 6 years old and I have been his mama since he was 6 weeks old. I paid my hard earned money to buy this dog to be my buddy, companion, best friend…you get the idea. Well, it turns out he took to my husband. (Who didn’t want a dog in the first place). Harley wasn’t a cuddler, lap dog. He chases squirrels in our large backyard. He digs holes trying to catch chipmunks. He’s more an outside hunting dog than a pretty little show dog that I envisioned! So after having Harley for a year I rescued a shi tzu mix and names him Benji. After the adjustment period everything was going really well. Harley is definitely the alpha male.
In April 2015 I had knee replacement surgery. During my recovery I noticed Harley’s right eye looked Amber colored. The vet said he had a scratch. That he got hit with something and it didn’t look good at all. I was with him 24/7 so I never missed a dose of his antibiotic. We took him back for a recheck a week or so later and the vet was very happy. He told me then he had been very worried.
So sometime before Christmas, Harley attacked Benji just out of the blue. Anytime they have had tiffs it was just a lot of noise and I could separate them easily. Well the last time I could not separate them easily at all. I finally got Benji and threw him away from Harley but Harley was going after him. I put my hand in front of him to block him and he bit me. He had a clamp on my little finger with a force that was scary. It took a few seconds for him to realize that he had me. Then he let me go. I thought he had broke my finger. He broke skin, it bled and swelled to the point that I couldn’t bend it. Benji was shook up pretty bad. I realized that this was no ordinary fight. Harley was in a rage and I do believe that he wanted to kill Benji. Long story short. Harley did injure Benji.
Vet visits. Separating them and giving Harley an anti anxiety drug seemed to be working but then I noticed Harley doing strange things. I also noticed that his eye was once again that amber color. I began his treatment again but then I realized that both his eyes were Amber color. I got him to the vet as soon as they opened Monday. Of course it started over the Christmas weekend while everything was closed!
After a lengthy exam he diagnosed him with retinal atrophy. He advised us to see a specialist just to confirm his diagnosis. Harley has only gotten worse and upon his last exam my vet said there is no sense to see the specialist now. His disease has progressed a lot faster than we hoped. He can see shapes. Old shapes that he is used to. New toys freak him out. He has started to let Benji take the lead on our walks. That has never happened before. He is running into things and this morning he fell off the bed. He sleeps next to me, touching me. When I realized he was not touching me I felt around and petted him to let him know where I was……it didn’t help. I’m just trying to cope . I’m trying to think of everything to help him and keep him safe but this falling off the bed stumps me.
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