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| Louie, 6 months old. Christmas 2006 |
As time went on and Louie and I developed our routine I started to notice some silly behavior. Louie liked to watch TV, for instance. When I would turn the TV on he would immediately stare and tilt his head. Tilt to the right, pause. Tilt to the left, pause and repeat. How cute that was! I've seen pets be curious about the TV before but not like Louie. It seemed like he loved to stare at the TV and was trying to figure out what it was telling him.
Other times it was like Louie had seen a ghost. His eyes would follow something I could not see. They usually ended up focused on the ceiling. Sometimes this would scare the little guy. He would hunch down like whatever he could see was about to fall on him. I would talk to him and pet him gently and redirect his attention. "Are you being a weirdo again?" I'd say lovingly.
Growing Like a Weed
He was getting so big so quick! He went from an eight pound pup to a fifty pounder in no time. His legs were gangly and too big for his body. It seemed he was constantly tripping over himself and bumping into things. You couldn't set a glass down on any coffee table or floor or Louie would find it with his nose and knock it over.
Time for Shots
Louie's first vet appointment I brought up the subject of Louie's eyes to a new veterinarian I was meeting for the first time. I mentioned they looked 'funny' and that he stared off into space sometimes. She gave him a quick look and said he was young so his eyes were still developing. Mix breed dogs almost never have eye problems, especially when they are puppies. He seemed to follow her hand when she waived it in front of him.
I tried to believe her but something was just gnawing at me.
Louie started to whine one night shortly after and kept pawing at his face and rubbing his head up against things. I pet him as he whimpered. I fell asleep spooning him, he was fully under the covers. He stayed there all night. The next morning I noticed a small white spot on one of his eyes. It's almost like a tiny bubble. This was more alarming and I began to really worry.
I asked the vet again on our next visit for round two of Louie's shots. He was only about four months old at the time. Growing quickly, learning, running, playing, an active little guy. The same vet looked at his eye and said it looked like he had bumped it and I should just keep my eye on it. I knew Louie hadn't bumped his eye on anything, he hadn't been our of my sight.
It Hit Me Like a Ton of Bricks
I went over to my parents house to use the internet. I searched for information on eye health in dogs and puppies. There was absolutely no information on puppies and just minimal basic stuff about dogs. I did find a veterinary website that had information on different diseases of the eye. Reading along I came upon a page about glaucoma. Everything I read was text book Louie. When I got to the photo of the eye itself I knew Louie had glaucoma and he was probably already blind in one eye. I also learned that it was most certain he would go blind in the other eye and I had been doing things, like simply using a collar and leash, that could cause his pressure to spike. On top off all of that, I found out that Louie was suffering through tremendous pain. This tiny adorable puppy. My heart broke. I cried and cried. Louie licked my face and tried to tell me it was no big deal, but I didn't listen yet.
More Info on Glaucoma
For those of you who don't know what glaucoma is, here is a link to that exact sight I stumbled upon that day: Glaucoma - Animal Eye Care
By This Time, Louie Was Only Six Months Old
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| Snow Day! Louie December 2006 |
I went to see a different vet after finding more information online. I requested a pressure test for glaucoma that I had read about. (More info on Tonometer Tests)
The vet gave Louie the test and confirmed my fears. Louie had glaucoma in both eyes and it was pretty advanced in the eye I had noticed the white spot in. The vet had never seen glaucoma in a dog so young. It was almost unheard of in a mix breed dog. He figured that is why the other vet didn't think anything could be wrong with his eyes, there wasn't supposed to be.
Our new vet referred us to a animal eye clinic in our area. I made an appointment for the next day. I walked out of the specialists office with a hole burned in my pocket and not a whole lot of answers, just options without reassurance of success. I also had three different kinds eye drops to give Louie. One drop of each kind in each eye, three times a day. Each bottle was over $100 dollars. This was the same medicine people use to control glaucoma. I picked it up from my local pharmacy, too bad Louie didn't share my medical insurance.
This medicine did not cure glaucoma, it only kept the pressure down which would keep him from having more injury to his eye, keeping complete blindness at bay and controlling the pain. Louie definitely felt relief right away. He didn't cry so much and he wasn't always rubbing his eyes. We continued on with eye drops and just tried to enjoy the day to day. This changed the plan I had to play catch with the frizbee at the park. I had to rethink everything I knew about training a dog. I couldn't point to the ground for him to sit, he wouldn't see me.
Can you see me now?
I tried a few test I learned about to determine how much vision he had. I held a cotton ball at my eye level. I snapped my fingers to get his attention directed to the cotton ball. When I let go of the cotton ball, Louie did not follow it with his eyes. He only moved when it hit the ground. "Wow, he can't really see." I thought. That was quickly followed by "Holy shit he just heard a cotton ball hit the ground! That's amazing!" I didn't even know it made a noise. I tried again and again with the same results. I did that same trick but with a dog treat. This time Louie did follow it to the ground when I let go. This showed me that he could follow the smell. Again, I was amazed beyond belief.
It finally dawned on me: Louie didn't watch TV, he could see a bright flashing light! He would only follow my hand if I passed it in front of the TV or in front of a lamp. I realized he could probably only tell changes in light. The ghosts Louie would see were just floaters in his eye. He would follow them and they would move with his eye. This increased daily. This was ridiculous! How could he be doing everything he was without really being able to see? This couldn't be right, or could it? The doctors said he had more sight than that, no one believed me when they met him that he was different at all. Louie had been keeping this secret since birth, but really, he didn't even know he had a secret. He is just Louie.
Little did I know this diagnosis was just the beginning.
Next Installment: Training a Blind Dog
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