 Barked: Mon Mar 10, '08 5:59am PST |
 | |  | | Unfortunately, we have/are going through the exact same thing with Miss Copper. In October (three weeks after my daughter was born), Copper lost vision in her right eye due to acute onset glaucoma. It happened so fast, I couldn't believe it! One evening I noticed her third eyelid was up-- I assumed that she had gotten something in it, and I would take her in the next day if it wasn't any better. We couldn't get an appointment until the next afternoon (I didn't know it was an emergency problem, or I would have pushed harder), and our local vet said the pressure was way up. She gave us a script and made us an appt with the opthamologists at the U of MN. Over the next few weeks Copper was on anywhere from 4 to 16 eyedrops a day, in an attempt to save her vision, but it had gone.
We elected to do a ciliary body ablation (sp?-- basically the laser treatment to shut off the tear ducts so that the pressure could remain normal in her right eye. We decided to have that done because it was the cheapest and least invasive option.
In retrospect, I would have just had them remove the orb completely. That eye is vision-less, but she still tends to scratch it (causing corneal ulcers) if I'm not watching her when she's sniffing around the wooded area near our house. The lens in that eye has also recently luxated--- because the whole eye kind of shrinks, the lens became partially detached, and is just kind of floating around. If it detaches entirely, we will have to have that eye removed ANYWAY because it will be extremely painful for her. You're making the right decison to just have it removed at the onset. Your pup will be so much more comfortable in the long run!
The vet tells us that Copper will most likely lose vision in her left eye due to glaucoma within the year (just because this happens to Bassets). Right now her pressures are good, and we're doing a Betaxolol drop to maintain them twice a day. But, still NOT something we're looking forward to.
I'm commited to helping her transition with the least amount of stress involved (you'd NEVER know she only had vision in one eye right now-- she adapted beautifully). We've 'belled' the cats, and I've started teaching her 'wait' and 'step' commands so that it won't be such a learning curve when she goes blind. I read online that using aromatherapy oils to anoint doorways works, but I'm not doing it because Copper's nose is so sensitive, I'm afraid it would just be confusing.
Copper is slinging TONS of healing drool Emma's way. It's VERY hard to go through this, but know that you have to be strong for her. If she has stability in her little doggy world, the transition will be so much easier for her. Good luck, and if you ever need anyone to cry/vent/complain/brag to, just give us a shout on Dogster. |  |  | |  |
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