Dogs with disabilities
 

Just returned from a trip to Margaret River, only to come back home to hear news of one of my dogs (possibly) going blind. The vet explained that its possibly due to his old age (11years) and the breed (Lahasa Apso). Very distressing watching him bump into objects. Was told there is a possible chance he may regain vision, but from the looks of it he's going to go permanently blind. Every morning and night i have to put him on a leash and guide him to the lawn to do his rituals. Had a chat to the family and explained to them that we may have to possibly put him down. I honestly can't do it as i've had this boy since he was a pup. Just want to know of any owners who have dogs with disabilities and how it has changed their lifestyle.

[QUOTE=SpitShine]Just returned from a trip to Margaret River, only to come back home to hear news of one of my dogs (possibly) going blind. The vet explained that its possibly due to his old age (11years) and the breed (Lahasa Apso). Very distressing watching him bump into objects. Was told there is a possible chance he may regain vision, but from the looks of it he's going to go permanently blind. Every morning and night i have to put him on a leash and guide him to the lawn to do his rituals. Had a chat to the family and explained to them that we may have to possibly put him down. I honestly can't do it as i've had this boy since he was a pup. Just want to know of any owners who have dogs with disabilities and how it has changed their lifestyle.[/QUOTE]

My last dog went about 95% blind (least the vet guessed she had like 5% of her vision), as well, as my mums dog she has now is almost blind. While at first they walk into things, they do learn the layout of your house, and where furniture is etc. (so dont move furniture around lol) They always still walk into things, but they wont do it quite as much, and learn not to wake up and run (they learn it results in a headache :p )
If it was me, I wouldnt put a dog down just because it was blind, but yeah, everyones circumstances / opinion is different on that.

aww, dont have any advice but sorry to hear dude :(
I def wouldnt be able to put a dog i had down, unless it was in bulk pain and going to die soon kind of thing (i.e cancer etc)

err get him a guide dog?



sorry insensitive joke, seriously good on you for not taking the easy way out by getting him put down

So sorry to hear about your dog... :(

My Husky is about 16months old and she has just be diagnosed with Cataracts in both her eyes :( . She sees just fine at the moment, however the specialist said to take into account her breed etc... So we have another appointment in 2 months to see if the Cataracts have progressed/grown. So we are keeping our fingers crossed, if they haven't then happy days, if they have then we will just have to take our time in training her more around the house as she starts bumping into things.

Specialist did say they could operate with a 85% success rate but, she may contract Glaucoma after which will also send her blind. $3K+ for the op on both eyes.

a friend of ours had a dog that was quite old.. but was blind in both eyes and had diabetes. Needed an injection every day for the diabetes.

Managed pretty good while totally blind,, they do learn the layout of the place.. and just put rubber on anything sharp around the house i guess.

I wouldnt get the dog put down unless it was absolutely necessary and they were in pain.

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Took a picture last night while the boy(Pepsi) was asleep. Hav to put the dogs in separate enclosures to void any fighting, as Pepsi is blind he may run into the other dog and start something. Other dog is 3 yrs old. Twice a day have to give him special eye-drops, but is having a reaction to it as his shit isn't solid, just brown water. From close examination he has gone deaf as well as he's not responding to anything:(
Fed him all by hand this morning. Will try and train him to have a sense of direction when it comes to location of his food/water.

Hopefully all goes well:(

What are the drops suppose to do??

It's too late now Daren, but pet insurance would have covered the op price. I have pet insurance for my 2 huskies and the mainecoon. It's pretty expensive, but you never know whats around the corner.....

just be thankful you dont have paralysis ticks in WA to content with. little bastards can kill a small dog if not found in time. got to do tick checks every single night with our rat bag !