Post by reuben on Oct 11, 2015 5:26:17 GMT -8
Our dog is going blind, very rapidly. She's only 5 years old and loves two things in this world - lying on the couch next to my wife and running around in the woods for hours, often staying out all night when the weather is cool. So half of her life is being taken away.
She recently put on a lot of weight from 50/55 lbs to 70 lbs, began drinking a lot of water, and peeing all over the place, both in the house and outside. We suspected diabetes, but the tests came back negative. The next most likely reason is Cushing's Disease. Tests also ruled this out. Then she started walking into walls, walking into us. Back we go to the best vet around. The vet was stymied. She consulted with other vets and then finally remember a similar case a few years ago. SARDS - Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome.
Basically, there's nothing that can be done. I found a few articles where a few treatments had some success, but the data was incomplete.
I've been taking her for walks rather than letting her run around for hours as she likes to do (this is her favorite time of year, when the weather is cool). She loves the walks, but yesterday we came back via our neighbor's welding business instead of our usual route. She used to love going by the welding shop. Suddenly she became scared. She lowered her posture, her tail dropped, and she didn't want to move. It was obvious - she was lost, and scared. It took a lot of coaxing and quite a while to get her moving, and even then she balked many times.
I can't describe how sad I am for her.
The good news is that dogs apparently adjust to blindness much better than humans. So far she's doing a lot better than I am.
If your dog ever exhibits such symptoms, keep this in mind. Maybe by then there will be some better treatment, especially if caught early. They go blind within a few days or a couple of weeks, so there's no time to spare.
She recently put on a lot of weight from 50/55 lbs to 70 lbs, began drinking a lot of water, and peeing all over the place, both in the house and outside. We suspected diabetes, but the tests came back negative. The next most likely reason is Cushing's Disease. Tests also ruled this out. Then she started walking into walls, walking into us. Back we go to the best vet around. The vet was stymied. She consulted with other vets and then finally remember a similar case a few years ago. SARDS - Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome.
Basically, there's nothing that can be done. I found a few articles where a few treatments had some success, but the data was incomplete.
I've been taking her for walks rather than letting her run around for hours as she likes to do (this is her favorite time of year, when the weather is cool). She loves the walks, but yesterday we came back via our neighbor's welding business instead of our usual route. She used to love going by the welding shop. Suddenly she became scared. She lowered her posture, her tail dropped, and she didn't want to move. It was obvious - she was lost, and scared. It took a lot of coaxing and quite a while to get her moving, and even then she balked many times.
I can't describe how sad I am for her.
The good news is that dogs apparently adjust to blindness much better than humans. So far she's doing a lot better than I am.
If your dog ever exhibits such symptoms, keep this in mind. Maybe by then there will be some better treatment, especially if caught early. They go blind within a few days or a couple of weeks, so there's no time to spare.