What the vet didn't tell us when she had her eye removed was that it was almost a 100% chance that the same thing would happen with the second eye, or that drops in the remaining eye would protect her from getting the glaucoma in the second eye.
It was almost exactly 6 months later when I was outside playing ball and she started missing the ball more than catching it. I told my husband I thought something was wrong because she wouldn't catch the ball. We agreed to take her to the emergency room for pets. I drove her the 50 miles to the recommended urgent care veterinarian office. The Doctor we saw was livid when I told he we were not warned about the glaucoma returning. He said it was malpractice. I was upset, and just wanted Ginger better. He called the Opthomologist veterinarian office that was near the ER room. It was a Sunday, so we weren't sure anyone would be able to help us, but the doctor answered and told us to meet here at the office in 45 minutes. (It would take her that long to get there from her home.)
We drove to the office and waited. When she got there, she looked at Ginger and checked the pressure in her eye. She said it was very high, but if it would come down after a does of steroids, she may regain some vision.
The pressure came down enough to make her feel that Ginger was a candidate for laser surgery. It would be expensive, and there was no gaurantee that she would see again, but it was worth concidering.
After a call to my husband, and discussing the options, we decided if there was a chance she would get the vision back, it was worth it. She was a young dog, and had a lot of years to live. What kind of life could she lead blind? We gave consent for the surgery and sat down to wait. I don't remember if we had to leave her overnight, or if we waited while the surgery was done and then went home. She came through the surgery healthy, but her eye was still swollen, and she couldn't see. We were told it could take up to 6 weeks to regain the vision.
We returned home with her with all sorts of medication, and a cone for her head again. She didn't like getting the eye drops, but looked forward to the pills. I would put peanut better all over the pill and then stick a cherrio on each side. She loved the treats!
When we left the office, we were told to make sure all of our furniture stayed in the same place, so she could memorize where things were and not be suprised. We laughted at that. We were in the middle of remodeling the house, and things changed daily. She surprised us with her agility, and ability to find her way through our maze of furniture and construction that was ever changing. She rarely bumped in to anything, and remained happy and loving.
Week after week we were told that she could not see anything. One day upon returning home, she was sitting on the couch looking out the window when we pulled in the driveway. She hadn't done this since she lost her sight. We were encouraged by the sign. She also loved to look out the window as we drove. Still, after 8 weeks, the doctor said there was no change in her vision. We contnued with the drops to keep the glacoma from coming back, but we had to accept the fact that we had a blind dog.
After another 2 months of the drops, and another bout with the glaucoma causing her pain, we decided to take her back to our regular vet and have him remove the eye. It broke my heart to make that decision, but she couldn't see, and she was in pain. If the eye was removed, the pain wouldn't come back. Another $800, but we were spending close to $100 a month on the drops that wern't doing anything.
Again, we brought her home with the cone on her head. We didn't think she would have any trouble getting around since she had already lost her sight, but when I let her out of the kennel, she started bumping into things more than she ever had before.
Had we done the wrong thing? Could she really see and we took it away from her? We were sick. She learned her way around again, and we found that the cone was what was making her run into things again. She couldn't use all of her senses with her ears covered.
It has been more than a year since we removed the eye. She is doing really well. When people come to visit, they don't notice right away that she has no eyes. They think she is just blinking or something. She gets around so well, know one guesses she is blind. I always say she is blind and doesn't know it. Actually, she is beyond blind. She has no eyes.
She can't catch the ball in the air anymore. Sometimes I wonder if she remembers what she used to do. Sometimes, if I bounce the ball, she will listen to the bounces and retrieve the ball. She doesn't like to do it as much as she liked to catch the ball before. The other thing she likes to do is tug of war. We had a hard time finding a tug that she couldn't chew through in a day, but we finally found one.
I worry that she doesn't get enough exercise, and that she is bored. I think she is okay, she still looks happy anytime anyone calls her name, or she hears our car pull up. She jumps up on everyone in a friendly greeting. I constantly ask myself if I made the right decision. Is she better off as she is know, our should we just have had her put down. The very thought brings tears to my eyes.
We love our Ginger!
It was almost exactly 6 months later when I was outside playing ball and she started missing the ball more than catching it. I told my husband I thought something was wrong because she wouldn't catch the ball. We agreed to take her to the emergency room for pets. I drove her the 50 miles to the recommended urgent care veterinarian office. The Doctor we saw was livid when I told he we were not warned about the glaucoma returning. He said it was malpractice. I was upset, and just wanted Ginger better. He called the Opthomologist veterinarian office that was near the ER room. It was a Sunday, so we weren't sure anyone would be able to help us, but the doctor answered and told us to meet here at the office in 45 minutes. (It would take her that long to get there from her home.)
We drove to the office and waited. When she got there, she looked at Ginger and checked the pressure in her eye. She said it was very high, but if it would come down after a does of steroids, she may regain some vision.
The pressure came down enough to make her feel that Ginger was a candidate for laser surgery. It would be expensive, and there was no gaurantee that she would see again, but it was worth concidering.
After a call to my husband, and discussing the options, we decided if there was a chance she would get the vision back, it was worth it. She was a young dog, and had a lot of years to live. What kind of life could she lead blind? We gave consent for the surgery and sat down to wait. I don't remember if we had to leave her overnight, or if we waited while the surgery was done and then went home. She came through the surgery healthy, but her eye was still swollen, and she couldn't see. We were told it could take up to 6 weeks to regain the vision.
We returned home with her with all sorts of medication, and a cone for her head again. She didn't like getting the eye drops, but looked forward to the pills. I would put peanut better all over the pill and then stick a cherrio on each side. She loved the treats!
When we left the office, we were told to make sure all of our furniture stayed in the same place, so she could memorize where things were and not be suprised. We laughted at that. We were in the middle of remodeling the house, and things changed daily. She surprised us with her agility, and ability to find her way through our maze of furniture and construction that was ever changing. She rarely bumped in to anything, and remained happy and loving.
Week after week we were told that she could not see anything. One day upon returning home, she was sitting on the couch looking out the window when we pulled in the driveway. She hadn't done this since she lost her sight. We were encouraged by the sign. She also loved to look out the window as we drove. Still, after 8 weeks, the doctor said there was no change in her vision. We contnued with the drops to keep the glacoma from coming back, but we had to accept the fact that we had a blind dog.
After another 2 months of the drops, and another bout with the glaucoma causing her pain, we decided to take her back to our regular vet and have him remove the eye. It broke my heart to make that decision, but she couldn't see, and she was in pain. If the eye was removed, the pain wouldn't come back. Another $800, but we were spending close to $100 a month on the drops that wern't doing anything.
Again, we brought her home with the cone on her head. We didn't think she would have any trouble getting around since she had already lost her sight, but when I let her out of the kennel, she started bumping into things more than she ever had before.
Had we done the wrong thing? Could she really see and we took it away from her? We were sick. She learned her way around again, and we found that the cone was what was making her run into things again. She couldn't use all of her senses with her ears covered.
It has been more than a year since we removed the eye. She is doing really well. When people come to visit, they don't notice right away that she has no eyes. They think she is just blinking or something. She gets around so well, know one guesses she is blind. I always say she is blind and doesn't know it. Actually, she is beyond blind. She has no eyes.
She can't catch the ball in the air anymore. Sometimes I wonder if she remembers what she used to do. Sometimes, if I bounce the ball, she will listen to the bounces and retrieve the ball. She doesn't like to do it as much as she liked to catch the ball before. The other thing she likes to do is tug of war. We had a hard time finding a tug that she couldn't chew through in a day, but we finally found one.
I worry that she doesn't get enough exercise, and that she is bored. I think she is okay, she still looks happy anytime anyone calls her name, or she hears our car pull up. She jumps up on everyone in a friendly greeting. I constantly ask myself if I made the right decision. Is she better off as she is know, our should we just have had her put down. The very thought brings tears to my eyes.
We love our Ginger!
4 comments:
If her tail is wagging, and she seems content, then she is. Would you consider putting down a blind child, rather than letting them live life slightly differently than you? Don't ever doubt your decision to keep her and let her live. Sounds like you are the best things that ever happened to Ginger.
Thank you Lisa, I feel we made the right decision too. I often wonder if the people who dropped her off in our neighborhood knew she had health problems,and didn't have the resources to do anything for her. She got sick the first time not too long after we got her. I don't know, maybe it was a coincidence, but we are happy to have her. I am putting up a new picture of her, to show her as a blind dog with no eyes.
We think she is very cute :-)
Nice photo!
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