My Buddy is blind!

[lolli94]

On Friday I noticed him run head-first into several things. I took him to the vet this evening and he is completely blind. She said it is likely hereditary,and that he has likely been blind for 3 months,but she did a few tests to make sure. I'm still waiting for the results of them. But if it is neither of the things she tested for, he is permanently blind :( and he is only 2 years old... I'm still in shock. Please pray for us. Thank you!

[cassiesmom]

Wow, I am not sure what to say. I am so sorry. Here is a candle for Buddy.
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/message.cfm?l=eng&cid=18753639

Thinking of you,
Elyse

[chocolatepuppy]

I'm so sorry! Blind dogs can adjust very well. My neighbors dog went blind and did well getting around.

[Karen]

He'll be in our prayers, I know some spaniels are prone to this. Just keep your furniture in the same places, or lead him around if you decide to move things, and he should adjust just fine!

[lolli94]

Thank you all! Yes he does very well already...it's only if something is out of place that he runs into it. The vet called me last night and said he tested negative for diabetes and whatever the other test was...I can't remember the name, so it's probably Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), which is a hereditary problem in Springers. I'm going to talk to a specialist, but it's probably permanent, and I probably couln't afford to fix it even if it was fixable, so I guess he'll just always be blind. He is still a sweet, happy boy though :)

[Karen]

He is still a sweet, happy boy though :)

And that is what matters! Balls that make noise when they bounce, and life will be good! :)

[Taz_Zoee]

I am so sorry to hear about Buddy. Glad to hear he is still the happy dog he always has been. That means he will continue to lead a happy healthy life regardless of his sight. :)

[lolli94]

Thank you all for the encouragement! I found this article online...

"It is also important to realize that it is OK to grieve about your pet's vision loss, but you must not put your sad feelings in your dog's head—they aren't really there! Your dog is not suffering. They adjust well to their vision loss, and it is by far hardest to deal with on the owner's side. Your dog's job description has not changed. Your blind dog is happy as long as its routine is stable. From your dog's point of view, life continues to be great-- you are there as always, and they just need to use their other keen senses a bit more to get the same information they used to view."

And I think that describes the situation perfectly. He will still always be my beloved silly boy... but I do miss those hi-fives he used to give me. He always obeyed me because of the hand signal, not my voice command. Hi-five was our favorite trick. And looking back, I remember how in the last several months he started sitting up on his hind legs and using both front paws...maybe because he couldn't see my hand very well? Now he completely ignores my hand. Anyway...enough of my rambling; I'm thankful I still have him. :)

[Freedom]

I'm just seeing this now. I'm sure this is a shock for you. I'm glad you got him right in to the vet.

Blind dogs learn to navigate from the water bowl. So you should try to never move that. Then, moving furniture will take him time to adapt to. Most folks move furniture at Christmas time, to make room for a tree, so you may need to reconsider what you want to do, in December. And any holidays where they host a big dinner, often furniture gets moved around then, as well.

If you have a fenced in yard, and you are confident there are no holes from ground hogs and such, you can buy a ball with a bell in it. Buddy can still hear fine, and will quickly catch on to the new game of 'fetch.' Of course, it helps if he USED to play fetch, one of my dogs just watches the ball, then looks at me: you threw it, you go get it.

If you took him for walks around the neighborhood, you can also still do that. You need to watch for the sewer grates, a dog normally will walk around those, you will want to be sure you move the ensure his feet don't fall in the holes.

[lolli94]

Thank you! I'm going to start a new thread for ideas for helping him.