When love is blind - adopting a blind dog

Animals, Winter, 2001 by Pamela H. Sacks

Ed and Sue McDonough were thrilled when they learned they'd passed muster with the adoption coordinators at Yankee Golden Retriever rescue, a Massachusetts organization dedicated to helping the dogs for which it is named. There was just one catch: they would be 90th on Yankee's waiting list if they insisted on having a golden in perfect health. The McDonoughs soon learned, however, that there was a way around the delay. If they were willing to accept a disabled pet, they were told, the adoption process would speed right along. In fact, a blind dog named Alex had been writing for a home for more than three months.

The McDonoughs consulted with their veterinarian, who advised them that they were too busy to cope with the challenges posed by a sightless canine.

But wily shelter workers had seized the moment, dispatching a photo of Alex to the couple's home in Natick, Massachusetts. The McDonoughs and their daughter, Tracey, could not resist paying the five-year-old orphan a visit. "They trotted Alex out, and it was an instant love affair for all of us," Sue remembers.

Her family's handicapped pet is among tens of thousands of dogs that suffer from severely limited sight or total blindness, which pose challenges for breeders, pet owners, shelters, and others. Moreover, veterinary ophthalmologists say that the numbers are on the rise, due mainly to the soaring popularity of purebred dogs, which are more prone to genetic problems. The most common causes of canine blindness--cataracts and glaucoma--are often hereditary. And several degenerative conditions--including progressive retinal atrophy, which caused Alex's blindness--are likewise passed along through breeding lines.

Loss of sight is not always linked to faulty genes, of course. Injuries and tumors can end in blindness, and cataracts are common in diabetic dogs, sometimes leading to secondary glaucoma. Another disease, suddenly acquired retinal-degeneration syndrome, results in rapid, irreversible blindness; its cause is not known, and it is found in all breeds. A condition called dry eye, if left untreated, results in an invasion of brown pigment and blood vessels into the cornea and produces a field of view that is much like the one seen through a muddy windshield. Old age can also lead to loss of sight, though it is not a natural occurrence in advancing years.

Almost without fail, the news that a pet faces permanent blindness comes as a blow to an owner. Yet veterinarians say that an afflicted dog generally makes a good adjustment and can go on to have a long and enjoyable life. "Dogs do not generally sit around and feel sorry for themselves," says Noelle McNabb, a veterinary ophthalmologist on staff at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, a division of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals/American Humane Education Society (MSPCA/AHES). "They think, `Well, I want to go outside. How's the best way to do that?' They just strategize and facilitate how to get what they want." A bit of retraining, McNabb and others point out, can make a world of difference.

Take Alex, for instance. When he joined their household, the McDonoughs quickly realized that he did not behave with a sense of loss. "He's taught us there's nothing he can't do," remarks Sue. In unfamiliar territory, Alex tends to lower his head and walk gently and slowly. At the beach, Ed attaches a long lead to his collar, and he swims with abandon. Alex enjoys playing ball, thanks to his keen sense of smell and his acute hearing.

Nowadays it is not unusual to find owners like the McDonoughs--animal lovers who are devoted to pets with a wide range of health complications. Many people treat dogs as members of the family and tend to be attuned to physical changes in their companions. This is fortunate because a number of breeds--poodles, cocker spaniels, huskies, and schnauzers, to name a few--are prone to eye disease and should be carefully watched. The pug, which has protruding eyes, is at risk of developing cataracts, glaucoma, corneal ulcers, and other problems. "This is a dog that, along with vaccines and a general physical examination, always, always should have an eye exam every year," says McNabb. She goes on to suggest that every owner pay particular attention to the following warning signs:

An increase in discharge from one or both eyes

Abnormal squinting or blinking

Pawing or rubbing at the eyes

An appearance of whiteness, opacity, or redness in the eyes

While nothing can be done for the kind of degeneration that thins the eye's retina, many dogs respond well to the latest medications and surgical techniques for cataracts and glaucoma. But successful treatment often depends on catching the problem at the onset, says Nancy B. Cottrill, a veterinary ophthalmologist at Rowley Memorial Animal Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts, an MSPCA/AHES facility.

Unfortunately, dogs don't exactly dedicate themselves to making early detection easy. In fact, they can be experts at hiding what is wrong. Cottrill recalls one particularly upbeat patient cheerfully wagging his tail while being examined for an agonizing laceration of the cornea in one eye.