My Facebook memory tells me it was a year ago today that we had Rita’s eyes removed. We knew we would be leaving Texas and wanted the vet we were comfortable with to do the surgery. It was the best thing we did! I struggled so much to make the decision – it’s hard to have your dog’s eyes removed, even though we knew she was already blind. That just seemed terribly cruel but even with drops, she was probably somewhat uncomfortable and once her eyes started degrading to the point that it wasn’t safe to leave them, we had no choice.
She’s a much happier, more energetic dog now and it’s so nice not having to use all those drops.
When I take Rita out, I usually carry her to the spot where I want her to do her business. She’s always on a leash outside. She goes to the bathroom then like a streak of lightning, she turns and heads for the house. She goes around trees, around Vince’s truck that’s parked in the driveway, right to the walk thru garage door, that I left open, inside and she stops when she gets to the steps that lead from the garage to the house. I pick her up and carry her up those. She makes that trip with me probably 10 times a day. I always keep the leash to where I can steer her away from obstacles but I never have to do it. It’s amazing. It doesn’t matter if I go to the left side of the driveway or to the right side of the driveway – she always goes the right direction. When Vince moves his pickup, it’s sometimes a little closer to the house or a little closer to the left or right and she always goes around things. Say we move a recliner from against the wall to right next to the sofa, she’s going to run into that for a few days because the smell is familiar to her but it was 3′ to the left and now it’s been moved but if we brought a totally new recliner in, she would sense that before she ran into it. Oh, my goodness, I’m writing this and Vince just came from down the hall and ran smack dab into the stair railing and he isn’t blind.
The vets we talked to about her eyes, and it was at least four, all told us that she would use her sense of smell and we’d hardly know she was blind and that was so true.
vivoaks says
Hahaha!! I laughed out loud when you mentioned Vince running into the stair railing!! 🙂 Dogs are so much more aware and smarter than we usually give them credit for. I’m so happy that things have worked out so well for Rita. :–) Having a pet or pets is a great thing for all involved.
Cindy F says
It’s so good to hear how well she is doing. My lab has an amazing nose and it’s fascinating to see his actions when he smells something unexpected. Rita must have an amazing nose as well and a great memory..
Dottie Newkirk says
That’s such GREAT news!!!
Rebecca says
I follow several rescue cats and kittens on Instagram that had their eyes removed, and they’re all fine with it. There is a pair that you could swear can see, until you remember they don’t have eyes! They are all inside exclusively, of course.
Judy Laquidara says
I think it would be worse with a cat because they jump. I could see a cat jumping into a sink of dishwater or jumping off the bed onto something when they thought they were jumping onto the floor. It truly is amazing what Rita can do and like you, there are days when I’m sure she’s somehow seeing but she has no eyes so I know she isn’t.
Nelle Coursey says
She is amazing! It is wonderful how we use our other senses more when we lose one. I have a friend who is legally blind since she was about 20 or 21. She has 2 kids she has never seen and married twice. She also got her masters degree in psychology after being blind! She is an amazing person and I never even think of her as blind, just as a good friend!