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Originally Posted by tritsy  Sammy suddenly lost the remaining vision in the eye that had some sight left. (cataracts) we will go to the vet next week to determine if he is a candidate for eye surgery (veterinarian eye specialist). meanwhile.. my poor baby is soo scared! He runs into walls, so he has decided that standing still is the safest thing. If I set him down near his litter box, he will usually use it, but he can no longer get off the couch safely by himself (he misses he steps by a foot). I'm wondering if any of you have any ideas? I'm talking to him as much as possible so he can follow my voice. I say "oops" when he is going to walk into something, and I have removed everything but basic furniture. I have an area rug in one room, floor grates he can feetl with his paws (he can tell when to turn to go into his area). I did get him to follow my voice once today, (he is still a fairly recent puppy mill escapee, so no obedience training yet), and he will walk around upstairs fairly well, as he has not run into anything major up there, so he's not afraid... yet.
HELP! My baby is scared (and I am grieving, but trying not to, 'cuz the dog whisperer says it makes things worse). |
Tritsy,
If your baby cannot see, please make sure you don't put him on the sofa or any other elevated surface. If you feel you must, close off other rooms to him so he doesn't have as far to roam. If he has problems finding his pee pad, further restrict him to a smaller area. I have an X=pen set up on a 5'x7' rug right here in my living room. The rug only costs about $20 at WalMart. Under the rug, I spread a shower curtain liner to protect my tile. This way, my dogs who can see, can see me and the ones who can't see can at least hear me and/or the TV so they know they are not alone. Please don't feel too bad if you find out he is not a good candidate for surgery for the cataracts. I've had a lot of blind Yorkies and you will soon become amazed at how well they can cope with it. I actually think they can cope with it better than we can. Just last month, I drove to California and picked up 10 month old Kirby who was born without eyes. He truly is a remarkable little dog. Since he has never had vision, he doesn't really understand what he's missing. He's a lively boy who jumps up and down to show me how excited he is that I'm home. I've also got an older dog who used to have vision but lost it as he aged. Since he lost his vision slowly over a period of a couple of years, he learned to adapt as the blindness advanced. He's still with me and he still loves to go outside. He has learned to move slowly to keep from running into things. He does that outside as well as inside. Kirby on the other hand is still a lively puppy and would charge into things 'full speed ahead'. Eventually, he learned not to go into certain areas of inside the house as well as in the yard. Just love that dog, keep him safe, but it's not necessary to coddle him although I know from experience that you will. LOL He'll be fine, believe me. You'll be amazed to see what he is capable of doing all by himself. If you need more help, please write to me privately at
richere@yahoo.com
I will also be able to send you photos of Kirby or Timmy as well. While still livng in CA, I also adopted Miss Wuzie out of a shelter when she was 17 years of age and already deaf and blind. (she was an owner turn in and I still curse them for dumping her at the shelter) I had her for another wonderful 2 years before I had to help her to Rainbow Bridge. My Mr. Jones was found wandering the highway in the high desert North of Los Angeles. Fortunately, he was picked up by Animal Control and taken to the safety of the shelter. I picked him up the next day and brought him home with me. He was the sickest little dog I've ever had to get well. He had a really bad case of Kennel Cough that I had to treat. He was also old as dirt, deaf and blind. I had to hydrate him subcutaneously for about 2 weeks before the 3 antibiotics he was prescribed began taking effect. I was also able to have him with me for another 2 years before he finally decided to go off food. All these dogs showed me how well blind dogs can cope to new surroundings and new people and new dogs.
Ric