There is a picture below but it isn’t gross but if you don’t want to see her . . don’t look! I dreaded seeing her and when I did, I was taken aback but within half an hour or so, I was fine. I’m more worried about her hurting herself now. It all has to be terribly tender.
We picked her up at the vet, came home, took her out, then fed her, then she played a bit and has seen sleeping. I doubt she slept well at the vet last night. The vet said he sat with her for a while and she got used to him and seemed to feel more comfortable but nothing like being in her own little bassinet right next to our bed I’m sure.
History:
It was three years ago almost to the day when Rita was diagnosed with glaucoma. I had taken her to our regular vet several times because her eyes were watering and she seemed to be keeping them shut. Every time, he told me it was allergies, to buy OTC allergy drops and use those. After the third time, I went to a different vet. He gave me an ointment and told me to come back in a week (I think it was a week) so I did. At that time, he told me he was afraid she had glaucoma and we needed to take her to a pet ophthalmologist. We went to one in Austin, they checked her pressure and it was over 100. I can’t remember what it’s supposed to be but I’m thinking 18 is getting way too high. They also confirmed that she had already lost the sight in both eyes and suggested removing her eyes. Of course . . you know what I did – stood there and cried like a baby.
They did give us drops to use to control the pain/pressure and wanted to have the pressure re-checked once a month. No way were we going back to Austin once a month! There are several vets in the Dallas area who can check pressure but we weren’t going there either. I called around and found one in Abilene who could do it. We’ve tweaked her meds, added a third drop and religiously gone to Abilene once a month for her eye check, coordinating our doctor appointments on the same day as Rita’s appointments but since COVID we have not been to Abilene. We had plenty of drops and have continued to use them but, even the last few times we had gone to Abilene, here eyes had started to look crusty and we had been told they could rupture from the pressure getting too high or because of deterioration of the eye over time.
Eye Removal:
Removing her eyes was the only sure fix and, even though she was blind, I just couldn’t bring myself to do that. I liked the vet in Abilene ok but the vet I liked the most in that office had left and I never felt right about getting them to remove her eyes. I’m not sure if it’s because of how I felt about the vet or the fact that we’d be two hours away if something happened after we brought her home and we had to race back over there.
I called the larger vets in our town to see if any of them would do it and none of them would.
Then I remembered that Nicole’s mom’s dog was injured and needed her eye removed. I couldn’t remember if it happened or if it healed without being removed so I called them, they gave me the name of the vet who was going to remove, called them and them and they said they could do it so we had planned to go there, spend a couple of weeks, get Rita’s eyes removed there.
When we had the cats at the vet, I asked the vet we have been using here in town, who is the same guy who thought Rita had glaucoma and sent us to Austin with her, if he does it and he does!
The Price:
Here’s the really weird part and I guess a lot of it has to do with living in the city or in the country. The Austin vet . . Vince and I disagree on the cost there. I think they quoted $6,000 to remove her eyes, Vince thinks it was $8,000. The vet in Abilene – it was either $2,000 or $2,500. The vet here . . $500. The cost was not an issue, though $500 was way better than $6,000. If we had not felt the vet here was competent, we would not have let him do it but we like him a lot. He is old school (he’s an old guy!) and he has been good with Boots, Rita and Cat so we didn’t hesitate to have him do the surgery.
She doesn’t seem to be in distress and has been up, ate again since I started this post and seems fine. She’ll get her stitches out in about 10 days.
Pat says
God bless sweet little girl.
Elle says
You made a humane decision and I salute you as hard as it was to do. We put one of our sweet Bengal cats to sleep last week. He was diagnosed with Lyphoma (already a huge tumor) 4 weeks prior. When he began wincing at our attempts to pet him lightly, we decided it was time. No animal deserves pain.
Well wishes for your sweet Rita to recover well and quickly!
Judy Laquidara says
That has to be the hardest thing to do. We love our pets so much and it’s so hard to let them go but you did right. If gently touching her caused pain, movement and even sleeping may have been painful also. I wish our pets would live as long as we do so we’d never have to go through this.
Diana Rose says
Bless u for taking such good care of Rita, she found the right home.
Nelle Coursey says
I am sure the pressure being removed has been wonderful for her! I bet she was hurting so bad even with the drops that she is really relieved. I am glad you went ahead and did it. I know it was hard on you. But at least she seems to be coping well.
Valerie Zagami says
Rita came into your lives to love and be loved! She is adorable and happy. Good job..
Elizabeth Rodgers says
I am so glad that Rita found you and Vince. You are a very special family with lots of love.
Sandi B says
Sweet Rita! We had an old time country vet do our last dog’s knee surgery for $1200 vs the $6000 the specialist orthopedic vet would have charged. She healed fine, and we made sure to take her to him 95% of the time after that. (The vet who lives nearby had referred us to two vets: the ortho and a non-specialist who was about $3800.)
He is the same vet who agreed it was time to put her down, that there really wasn’t anything else he could do for her.
You all are good for one another. I wonder…will she like to cuddle a little more now that she’s not in pain? We can only hope!
Marsha says
I am surprised that she is not wearing a cone. Hope she doesn’t scratch her head
Judy Laquidara says
The vet doesn’t like cones. I was dreading the cone. When we had her spayed, she wasn’t blind yet and she was so afraid of the cone that she kept having accidents in the house. I think she’d see it out the corner of her eye and it would scare her or she’d run into something and think it was a giant fixing to eat her and pee on the floor. I thought I heard the vet telling someone else one day that he didn’t use the cones so I was very happy that she didn’t come home with one. We’re with her 24/7 so we’ll keep a close watch on her to make sure she isn’t sratching.
Susan Nixon says
That’s quite a bit of cost difference! I’m glad you were able to get it done for a reasonable price. It doesn’t look bad at all. I presume the eyes are sewn closed? That’s what I wasn’t sure about after the eyeball was gone. I don’t think they make eye patches for dogs!
Judy Laquidara says
You’re right – sew closed. They do make “Goggles” that are like sunglasses for dogs that you strap on and I might do that if we ever take her out. She’s so nervous around people that we don’t take her out much. I just don’t want to put some mom in the position of having to explain why their child saw a dog with no eyes.
Rebecca in SoCal says
Poor little girl. At least you KNOW that her eyes won’t bother her anymore. Without chickens or Rita’s eye drops, you may lose all track of time!
Judy Laquidara says
I am so bad anyway. I keep an alarm on my phone set to 3 p.m. when she’d get her drops but she quickly learned the tone that meant drops were coming and she’d run from me so I was constantly changing the alarm tone or alternating between that and the Google reminder. I can remember first thing in the morning and last thing before bed but those 3 p.m. drops . . I almost never remembered them on time. So, without those, all that will matter is getting up and going to bed! 🙂
Rebecca in SoCal says
Also…astounded at the price differences! I don’t have hope of lower prices, being in a major metropolitan area.
I have seen pictures of dogs with something like a travel pillow instead of a cone. It seems maybe we’re moving away from those? I remember when our big old cat had a cone. He went into the bedroom closet which had a regular door with hinges, not a slider. He got stuck inside…he must have bumped the door with the cone, and then couldn’t open it or get through! We came home to find him lying in the closet, facing out. Poor, sweet, dumb guy.
Judy Laquidara says
The prices in your area probably triple what the prices in Austin were!
Poor kitty. Can you imagine how scared he was . . or maybe not. Cat seems to get worked up if a rock in the driveway gets moved. Nothing seems to phase Boots much but I am anxious to see how Boots is going to react to the move and having us all living under the same roof. He may handle it better than we do.
Jane Sn says
Is cat moving with you or just Boots
Judy Laquidara says
Just Boots. There’s a road on the side of our house that has a bit more traffic and we’re in a neighborhood. I don’t think Cat would be very happy there.
Twyla says
It is a good thing you were able to get this done before the move. I know she is precious to you and Vince. And obviously well taken care of. Best wishes to you three during this recuperation. The differences in charges is irritating and it is called greed. And just a note for those on medicare. When you go in for the yearly medicare wellness check if you talk about anything else you might get charged for a second office visit for the same 15 minutes. Sad times.
Judy Laquidara says
Isn’t that the craziest thing and you have to make a second appointment to talk about anything else. I no longer even do the annual wellness exam. It’s a total waste of time.
Kathleen says
I can’t remember: how did Rita become a member of your family? I vaguely think she was a stray?
Judy Laquidara says
Yes. She showed up. I came home from town one day and she was trying to find food around our smoker. I was leaving in a few days to go to MO so Vince tried to befriend her but ended up catching her in a trap, then when he opened the latch to get her out, she escaped so it took another couple of days before he caught her. We had the vet check her for a microchip, sent pictures to several groups, posted on FB and no one claimed her. She had TERRIBLE bathroom manners for quite a while and she is so tenderhearted that we can never scold her so for quite a while, I told her “I know why you got dumped!” If we had carpet in this house, I doubt she would have stayed here long! But, she’s good now, never has accidents has been spayed, glaucoma is resolved. I would never have chosen a chihuahua but she’s a great little pet.