New complicationwith my diabetic dog

[alfie]

Unhappy event on Mondy. Over the course of a few hours Flopsy became blind. She had been her normal self all morning. By afternoon she seemed different, restless, swapping napping places every few minutes, just walking around aimlessly bIut dodging obstacles in her way. Then she went in the backyard for a bit, when she barked to come back in and I opened the door for her she bumped into the wall beside the door, then seemed hesitant to jump up the one step into the house. I worried that she had ddropped her glucose level, but it was supper time so I fed her. She peed and I used a urine dip stick and it was mid range for glucose level..no problem. I took her out for her walk and she was all over the place, just couldn't seem to stay in our usual route. When we started to come in she again ran into the wall beside the door. Later she really started banging into things. Took her to the vet......glaucoma in her left eye, cataracts in both eyes and conjunctivitis in both eyes. I have her on some meds now for the glaucoma and the conjunctivitis. The vet couldn't exlain why she couldn't see out of the other eye, so I am hopping when the conjunctivitis clears up that she can see with that one and maybe later can regain at least some vision in the other eye. Vet says eventually the glaucoma will have to be removed.

We are slowly adjusting. I talk to her if she is trying to walk towards me. When she starts to run into something I tell her "watch out" and she seems to be picking up on that and stops.
I am also trying to teach her "left" and "right" to help guide her, outside especially.

I think we will make it fine, but it sure wasn't good news.

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Blessings be to you and Flopsy...my 3 dogs and I are praying/barking for you all! nt

[shenmue]

2. Sorry

[Stonepounder]

3. Diabetes is not a whole lot of fun.

We have two diabetic dogs and so far they are doing OK. Our Bosley, who has been diabetic for 7 years just turned 15 and is getting hard of hearing and is developing cataracts. We also have an senior rescue who is blind and deaf. The main thing with sight impaired dogs is not to rearrange things in your home. It is amazing how well dogs adjust to losing their vision, so long as things remain in their proper place.

You are doing everything right and I'll keep my fingers crossed that as the conjunctivitis clears up and she regains some sight.

[duforsure]

4. So sorry to hear this

My sister's little dog was also diagnosed with diabetes too just the other day.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. So sorry. I went through some of the same with my diabetic/Cushings dog

a decade ago. She went blind with diabetic cataracts, two years after diagnosis. We did cataract surgery in fall of 2004. About a week later glaucoma hit one of her eyes with a pressure of 91. I had that eye removed and she was on human glaucoma drops for the remaining eye. She lost sight in it in 2006. I had that eye removed as well. She did have prothesic eyes with the surgeries. It was all done at Oklahoma State Vet School. They claimed she set a record for the most major eye surgeries in 20 months.
Criss was a large Samoyed with 2 major medical conditions, yet she died naturally in 2009 at 13 plus years.

She did very well being blind. She would go up and down my 19 stairs with me just telling her to 'step. You can find help and Criss' story at this wonderful site:
http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/

[peacebuzzard]

6. Sorry about little Flopsy. I had a deaf little dog that went blind,

Luckily she was an inside dog, and used pee pads, and knew where everything was.
Sweetest little dog in the world.

I hope you get good news about Flopsy's condition and she recovers vision.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. Are you sure cataracts formed that quickly?

My Jack was dx'd with type 1 diabetes a year ago last May. His Dr said he would go blind within a year. He went blind in 3 months, unfortunately. However, early on before he went blind, I noticed him bumping into things and thought, "jeez, that didn't take long..."

Come to find out, my other dog, Logan, was eating Jack's food when I wasn't looking, and Jack was actually becoming hypoglycemic (and staggering / bumping into things) because he was getting his insulin but not eating. Once I corrected the situation (much to Logan's chagrin ), Jack was no longer bumping into things, at least for another 2 months until the cataracts *did* form.

That said, Jack's been without sight for over a year and you wouldn't even notice! He has every step around the house mapped out so he knows exactly where the couch, recliner and beds (his, mine and Logan's) are. I call him my Jedi since he uses the force...

Good luck with Flopsy!

[alfie]

8. Thanks or your story of Jack's adventures

Flopsy is my only dog and eats her food within about a minute of when I put it down. She hasn't shown any other signs of hypoglycemia since she became diabetic. I spot check her urine and it is always positivve for a moderate amount of glucose.

What developed so quickly was the glaucoma and that is what caused the blindness. It is only in one eye but she does have cataracts in both eyes. One vet thinks the cataracts are too immature to be causing a problem, a second vet thinks it is the cataract that is causing the blindness in he eye not affected by the glaucoma. Flopsy is 11 and I wonder if she was already developing cataracts just due to old age and the diabetes accelerated their rate of growth...just me musing, though.

Poor Jack getting insulin and no food! Glad you figured it out. He has obviously adapted well. I think Flopsy is going to do so as well. She is doing fairly well indoors but outside is still a bad situation. She has learned to stop when I say "watch out", knowing she is going to smash her face if she doesn't. However she wants to wander aimlessly instead of following our usual route outside. I hope that will clear up eventually.