When love is blind - adopting a blind dog

Animals, Winter, 2001 by Pamela H. Sacks

To buttress their call for careful eye monitoring, the experts warn that a delay in proper treatment of cataracts or glaucoma frequently results in near or total blindness. And there are plenty of cases out there to bring the point home.

Karen Secular, who lives in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has traveled a winding road in an effort to save at least some sight in her black-and-white cocker spaniel, Oreo, who suffers from inherited cataracts. The six-year battle, she says, offers a cautionary tale.

Oreo was four when cataracts developed in his left eye. Secular noticed a bluish white cast. The protein of the lens had changed, making it opaque and preventing light from reaching the retina. Her veterinarian referred her to a colleague with an interest in eye diseases.

It turned out that, as is common with the condition, Oreo's eye was inflamed because protein from the lens had leaked into the eye. Secular was misinformed that surgery for cataracts was not successful in dogs. Instead she was directed to put a topical medication into Oreo's eye, which she did off and on for the next four years. Nevertheless, he was losing sight in the eye. Then, a year and a half ago, cataracts began to develop in his right eye, and his vision declined markedly. More recently, Secular and her family took a trip and left Oreo at a kennel for a week. When they returned, she was horrified to see that her dog's left eye was enlarged and covered with a blue film. Her veterinarian advised her to take her pet to Cottrill immediately.

The ophthalmologist delivered the bad news chronic inflammation in Oreo's left eye had led to glaucoma. The buildup of fluids had raised pressure, caused intense pain, and damaged the optic nerve; the eye would have to be removed. Cottrill was somewhat more optimistic about the right eye. So long as tests showed that the retina was still attached and the optic nerve was not damaged, she would be able to remove the cataract and implant an intraocular lens, which would preserve some of Oreo's sight.

Secular has moments of anger at herself for failing to take Oreo to a veterinary ophthalmologist sooner. Cottrill told her that, over the years, the dog had lost nearly all of his sight; Secular had simply adjusted to the gradual decline, warning him of a step or a closed door, and had not realized how serious the problem had become. "You ask yourself the `what ifs,' but it's useless to go down that path," Secular says. "You have to move on."

Veterinarians say that feelings of guilt, sadness, and helplessness are common among people whose dogs go blind. Some, she says, grapple with the difficult question of whether it would be kinder to euthanize a pet than ask it to go on under such difficult circumstances. Cottrill and McNabb advise their clients to take time to mourn the loss of the animal's sight and then review their options. They also point out that information on the subject is available on the Internet, and they urge owners to buy Caroline D. Levin's Living with Blind Dogs. A Resource Book and Training Guide for the Owners of Blind and Low Vision Dogs, which offers a variety of coping techniques.