Meet Barb & Tina!

Hello Life with Blind Louie fans! This is Barb and her dog Tina. Tina has cataracts and is blind.

Please introduce yourself and your Tina. 

My name is Barb and I would like to tell about my sweet Tina girl. We live in a suburb out side of Pittsburgh PA. I am recently disabled after 30yrs as an RN. Tina and I now have a lot of time to work on quality life together. We share our life with my husband and a chihuahua rescue named Ike. In fact he came from a puppy mill and due to poor nutrition and care, he too is developing age related cataracts. Ike is Tina's "guide dog" as she uses him as a reference point when outside for a walk. We also have a cat, Lucy, who rounds out our family. They all interact well but honor each others boundaries. Tina likes to be "alpha" in the house but has been hanging more with Ike as she follows his scent to find her way at times.

That's great. Louie has his reference point at home too, our other dog 'Snorp'. The sound of his collar keeps Louie close by. So, how did you and Tina find each other?

I adopted Tina from a local rescue. She was just over a year old but had endured a life of abuse before I came along. We bonded immediately and I as a nurse saw that Tina needed love and compassion to get over her traumatic beginnings.

How did you discover Tina was different?

Tina started with a cataract formation in her left eye. We just noticed that the pupil of her eye looked opaque inside. We took her to our vet for a checkup and she tested her for glaucoma, retinal problems but could only find a dense cataract. Knowing her abuse history, which involved some head trauma, she said that the quick formation of the cataract usually meant there was scar tissue that led to her left eye becoming blind. Nothing to do unless she was in pain, which she hadn't shown signs of. So we took her home to love. She was getting around without problems. But about 8 months later, I noticed her bumping into things and missing the mark when jumping up onto furniture. Then I saw that the right eye had changed- looking just like the left. But it happened quickly. Took Tina to the vet and when checking her out, I mentioned that she had recently had a seizure, longer than the infrequent ones in the past. Vet thought that was probably what brought this cataract on so quickly

Was there anything you could do for her?

We tried some oral vitamins like OcuVite that people take. But really since my vet and an ophthalmic vet she conferred with, felt this was due to neurological causes, there wasn't much to try. Plus Tina had a severe case of pancreatitis a few years ago and almost died so they felt it was better not to add meds to her system.

Since Tina's condition wasn't causing pain and there weren't other side effects besides vision loss, it actually isn't TOO bad of a senario considering. Most dogs can adapt quiet well when the lights get turned out on them. How did Tina dog deal with blindness?

She seemed fearful at first, when bumping into things. but once we got some verbal cues down pat, she actually seems happier and "proud" when she makes it outside and back in without a problem!

How does Tiny get around?

Tina uses her ears and nose a lot more. She has learned also to proceed slowly when she senses she is near an object, and gently uses her nose to "discover" it. She still has her excited moments that she forgets she is blind and bumps into things more, but that too has improved- she has learned to "put the brakes on" while still enjoying the moment she is in! Her biggest challenge is going into a full tirade of barking when my hub or a visiting friend moves from a chair or makes a noise. He is trying to tell her "it's ok" before he moves but not consistently, So this continues to be a trial and error thing.

Can you tell us one story of a time you were really impressed with Tina's navigation ability?
Tina used to come and sleep in our bed each night, but she wouldn't let us bring her to bed. She would wait until we shut the lights out before she would come in. When Tina lost her sight, she still didn't want us to bring her to bed, and she could not longer see if we shut the lights out, I figured that she would no longer be sleeping with us. One morning I awoke to her wiggling body and her in my face! She had found not only her way to the bedroom but jumped into the bed without even being shown where and how! My guess memory and scent played a big part in her finding us, oh and maybe a snoring husband! Also Tina surprised me with how quickly she learned verbal commands"step up/down". It was like a light bulb came on for her! And an added plus is that she would use "pee pads" more before her blindness, fearful to go outside at times. Now she insists on going out to do her business!

I love watching Louie figure things out on his own, I do sense some pride when he gets it and watch out for that swinging tail! I know you are currently still dealing with medical issues. Are the risks and struggles, both emotional and financial, worth enduring? What are some things that make it worth the struggle?

Tina, as each dog or cat that has been part of the family, has more than made up any financial cost of her health by the love and devotion she shares with us. You can't really put a price on "family"! Emotionally, I may feel sad that she is blind and feel pity for her, given her abuse history as well. But I am learning so much by her resilience and continued adjustment to her new world.

That is it Barb! Resilience. That is why I started to write about Louie, I am learning so much I just had to share! Humans can fly into a panic like the world is ending at the simplest of things, myself included sometimes. We can feel sorry for ourselves and indulge our pain, or we can choose to persevere, be happy and live in the moment if we want to. Dogs don't have to choose, they just do. Louie is just here now, he doesn't think about how he used to be able to see and now he can't and he doesn't worry about what is going to happen tomorrow. He just deals with it and gets along just fine. If we could all hope to be a little like Tina and Louie.

Tell us about your site and where we can contact you and follow your story?

---right now I am telling Tina's story at www.blinddogsupport.com

Thanks to Barb for sharing her story!