Originally posted by Uabassoon
I told my best friend about how I found out Tibby was partially blind and she said "that's why Corkscrew helps her so much." I never really thought about it, but I think that he does. Everytime she meows he always stops what he's doing to go check on her and most of the time she'll start to follow him after that. Do you think that he was able to know that she couldn't see and needs his help or is it just coincidental?
Wow, I can't believe this - what a coincidence. It's a long story, but I was at a friends this weekend. They had two dogs - Zoe, a big old rottweiler softy about 10/11 years old, and Sadie, a chocolate lab mix about 11/12 years old. They just recently had to put Zoe down because they found she had an aggressive cancer and the vet didn't even think she would make it through the weekend which they were hoping she would so they could bring her home and say good bye to her. Well, after Zoe was gone, Sadie was totally confused. Seems she took all her cues from Zoe - when Zoe went out, Sadie went out. Zoe would pee and Sadie would pee in the same spot, Zoe would run around the yard and Sadie would follow. Zoe would bark at the neighbors and Sadie would follow suit - but not usually bark on her own. They had the hardest time getting her to go out once Zoe didn't come home to lead the way, and when they did finally get her out she didn't know what to do out there. Now I guess they've gotten her into a routine that she is comfortable with, but if you break from the routine she gets all confused and doesn't have a clue what is expected of her. She seems to be completely healthy, so the vet said it was just doggy alzheimers. But maybe she can't see that well either - and the more I think about her actions, the more I think this might be it! When she comes upon stairs, she kind of stumbles until she gets a feel for them which would indicate to me that she didn't know the stairs were there because she couldn't see them, not that she forgot how to use them. I'll have to give them a call tonight and see what they think about this theory. They love Sadie dearly since she is the last living link to my friend's sister who died of a brain aneurism 5 years ago.

If it turns out she is partially blind, it would explain so much - just like with Tibby. Thanks so much Uabassoon for bringing this lightening bolt idea to me!