Need help...Blind Dog

[Tom Schindler]

My brother has one of the pups my dog had. He is a white male Poodle and he is just over two years old. Larry, my brother and friend, took Pete to the vet saturday. (yesterday) Pete was walking into walls friday morning and when Larry got home from work, it was too late to take him to the vet so he went first thing saturday morning. The vet told him that they have never seen a dog that young just go blind like he did.



He is getting refered to a vet that specializes in animal eyes to do further diagnosis. I am almost in tears. Larry said putting him down is not an option and if he has to carry him outside to to use the bathroom for the rest of his life, he will do so.



Does anyone know or has even heard of such a thing? This just breaks my heart. I helped deliver this little guy and I spent alot of time with him before my brother took him. Larry has always treated that dog well. Feeds him good food, takes him places like boating, off-roading in his Explorer, and those two are best buds.



here is what we know. He eyes work. They respond to light because his pupils adjust to the ambient light. They get big when it is dark and get small when it gets bright. The eyes are clear with not even a hint of being cloudy. It might be more nurological then anything. We, hopefully, are going to get to the bottom of it.



Here is a picture of this little guy about a year ago. He is a little sweatheart. It is breaking my heart. I just want to cry about it.

[Broken External Image]:



I am going to do a google search to see if I can find any information on what could be the problem. I am hopeing this is only temporary and nothing serious, but I don't know.



Thanks for listening and any information or experiences anyone has will be greatly appreciated.





Tom

 

[Greg Zeleniak]

Tom



Sorry to hear about your situation. We do get attached to our " best friends". I don't have any input as to the reason for the blindness, maybe it will clear up. I do know of several blind dogs that get by very well with the help of their masters, so I think the dog could have a good life.



Good Luck



Greg

 

[JohnnyB]

I'm sorry to hear that Tom. I also dont know what could cause that. Maybe a growth or tumor on the optic nerve?

 

[Richard Kolb]

Are you sure he's blind and it's not a balance issue? My wife mentioned that she's seen stuff like that were the animal seemed blind because it would walk into things and act like it couldn't tell where it was going but it was an ear thing that messed up their balance.

 

[Tom Schindler]

No, he is blind. If you swing your hand at him like you are going to hit him, he doesn't flinch one bit.





Tom

 

[Dale Paris]

Tom,

It is sad that the pup is so young when it happened. But he can live a long and heathly life other then that.

He will get used to where the chairs are, the walls, and stuff. Then he will be able to get around just fine inside the house. You said he maybe needed to be carried down stairs to go out? If so, you can make up a potty box for him. He wil be able to find it within a few tries.



We have a 15 yr old girl that lost hereyes do to age, and she is an outside only dog. She loves the back yard, plays ball, knows whereeverything is, and the only time she runs into anything, is while I am mowing the yard, and move the stuff. I have to remember to put it back where it was.



Good luck on being a temporary thing, I hope it is.

 

[James FreemanJr]

My girlfriend (she is a vet tech at an animal hospital) said it could be alot of things but without her being able to see the dog upclose might wanna check its blood pressure or maybe he even has a detached retnia. Good luck tho. Blind dogs can live a very happy life. She is pet sitting a dog thats been blind since birth and is now 15yrs old and she does great around the house and she never pee's inside.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

In-bred animals commonly have genetic defects. Blindness is one of the most common problems in pure-bred dogs. As others here have stated, a blind dog will have an almost normal life. Dogs do not have a highly developed sense of sight like birds and humans, and they only see black and white. They don't rely as heavily on eye sight as they do their sense of smell and hearing.

 

[Rose Medlin]

Tom, our Timmy had cataracts, we took him to a specialist in Charlotte NC back in 1998 (not cheap about $2,500 per eye). After the surgery his sight was okay for about 3 years. In 2001 he became completely blind, he got along well since he already knew the lay out of the furniture placement. Even out doors he did very well, we had to watch him to make sure he didn't fall into the pool (he did on a couple of occassions). Since we only used one door to let him out, he knew exactly where to go when he needed to go potty, we'd open the door, he would do his business and come back to the door. The last few months we kept his food & water within a foot of him, he didn't move much because of the arthiritis and other medical conditions. All in all, you won't even notice he is blind. Just remember not to move stuff around on him in the house where he could injure himself.

 

[Frank Marano]

I own a rabbit that is blind in one eye....

 

[Paul Maurer 2]

Sorry Tom- I would guess glaucoma- painless progressive vision loss due to high eye pressure. Very hard to detect as there are really no symptons other than vision loss, and in a dog that wouldn't be noticed until both eyes are blind. I see the occasional human who has had undiagnosed glaucoma for years and finally loses sight in one eye.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Paul,



I have been doing some research. There is a condition called SARDS that will cause a dog to go permanently blind in just a few hours. From perfect vision to complete blindness. There is nothing you can do about SARDS.



If it is glaucoma, is there anything to reverse it? Would there be some way to give him a little sight?





Tom



p.s. Theresa is geting Wave Front LASIK done on 7/27/2006.

 

[Paul Maurer 2]

Tom- I agree- certainly could be SARDS, I had never heard of it. Unfortunately, SARDS or glaucoma, its permanent and can't be improved. Once the neurons are gone, its too late. Fortunately, the dog is young so adapting to blindness will be easier.

I'm glad Theresa is having custom LASIK and I'm sure she will be pleased with the result. She may realize, however, that your resemblance to Patrick Swayze really isn't that close.....

 

[Tom Schindler]

Her pupils are too large for regular LASIK. They are 8MM.





Tom

 

[Jason McKinnon]

Is there a chance that the pup might have gotten into some chemical or something that might cause (hopefully temporary) blindness? While I don't know any specific examples, there are some out there. This could especially be the case if the dog got into the garage, under sinks, or other areas like that where cleaners and other chemicals are stored.

 

[TracN Jack]

I belive ingestion of wood alcohol could cause this and kidney problems .... just a thought

 

[Richard Kolb]

Hmm, grapes or raisins cause the same thing I believe.