I had to write something about what my family is going through. You see, our 10-year-old puppy, Maggie, is sick!
She was diagnosed with glaucoma on Monday. Glaucoma an eye disease dogs are susceptible to that eventually leads to blindness. It's when the fluid in the eyes is produced at such a high rate that it raises the pressure in the eyeballs and damages the optic nerves.
Primary glaucoma is inherited and especially prevalent in some breeds. Secondary glaucoma on the other hand is caused from another eye disease, such as a tumor. We still don't know what type of glaucoma Maggie has.
The onset of the disease has been rapid. Maggie started blinking her left eye constantly a couple weeks ago, but just last week no longer could hold it open. We took her in to see the vet and they told her it would be 6 months until she's completely blind in that eye. We can't really do anything besides giving her four different types of eyedrops (yes, four) and painkillers to relieve the discomfort. The other eye probably has a year until it's blind as well.
(My sister's friend captioned this photo, haha!)
I'm writing this to warn all dog owners: always check your dogs' eyes for signs of discomfort or pain! Maggie's probably had this disease for a while, and if we caught it early on we could've stopped it. Dogs can get this disease at any age, not just when they're old.
Here are some symptoms we initially noticed up to a year ago but didn't think anything of them:
--pawing at the eye
--excessive groaning
--fatigue/lethargy
--rapid blinking of one eye
--terror of being left alone outside
--excessive drainage of eyes
If you see any of these signs, get your dog to the vet right away! The eyes themselves were actually pretty unchanged, though they did seem to get a little red before we took Maggie into the vet.
Maggie's going to be fine--she's just undergoing a change we have to get used to. It's really upsetting that she's becoming blind, but she could've had something much worse.
--Becky
Becky,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing what is happening to your beautiful Maggie. The post was written very well and was straight forward to understand.
Pets hide their illnesses very well, so it can be hard to notice any pain or discomfort they are feeling without a careful watch. You all did the right thing by taking Maggie in, and deciding it is the best option to ease her discomfort, and love her as much as you can.
Wishing you all the best right now. Maggie has very loving owners because you're all doing a great job.
Good luck with exams!
<3 xoxo
Hey Becky! Awesome information.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY FRIDAY!!! You're super awesome and I've nominated you for an award. Stop by and check it out!
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awww..poor Maggie! sending best wishes to her! Glucoma in adult humans is also very common, hope she gets better soon! Hope you are having a wonderful day!
ReplyDelete-Jyoti from Style Delights Blog
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So sad for Maggie.....keep giving her the drops!
ReplyDeleteI pray for Maggie, and hope the best for her
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry! My husband does eyes and actually did surgery on some seals a few years ago. I hope she is ok soon
ReplyDeletexoxo
SC
Hey Becky!
ReplyDeleteI replied back to your message you left yesterday, but I wanted to stop by your blog and say hello since it's been awhile.
I am so sorry to hear about Maggie being sick. Me and my family are huge animal lovers-- we have a 3 year old German Shepherd named Ruh, a cat named Zoe, and 2 cockatiels, one of which whistles Spanish songs! Before Ruh entered our lives, we had a 14 year old Shepherd named Mack. He was my mom's baby. I mean he loved all of us, but as he got older, he became my mom's shadow. His passing was probably the hardest thing we've ever had to go through-- I know that probably sounds crazy because trust me, we've had our fair share of hardships-- but losing him was like losing a part of the family. I actually took a couple days off of work to stay home with my mom because she was taking it so hard. But now we have Ruh, who is the complete opposite of Mack. Same breed, but let me tell you, the dog is crazy lol. My mom said she thinks Mack brought Ruh into her life to challenge her, to keep her mind off of the sadness of his passing, ya know? And let me just say Ruh is every bit of a challenge, but we love him to death. And people say dogs have no souls. How could they not when they are so very different from each other?
Anyway! Wow, I didn't want this message to be depressing! Maggie has a lot of life to live yet! And I think she will do just fine because she has great people that love and support her! I send her a doggie high five!
Hope all is well with final exams!
Best Wishes,
Mia @ The Muses Circle
P.S. I just posted a review for the movie The Dark Knight Rises. My guest blogger Frank Venuto wrote the review. Feel free to check it out in your spare time :)