My Eyes Are Okay

Among the dogs I took to Peak Veterinary Referral Center in Burlington recently was Bobby, who arrived a couple of months ago from California. We had been told he was blind, which is why we agreed to take him, and a vet tech at the California clinic where we boarded him for a few weeks had also told us he was blind. But we immediately noticed when he first arrived that he could at least see shapes and shadows, and I mentioned in the initial blog post that he “does really well navigating around.” Indeed, as the weeks went by here, we realized he never bumped into anything, and he just didn’t move or act like a blind dog.

We knew he had dry eye, which is what the California clinic had diagnosed him with, and we were treating him for it; without the daily drops and ointment, his eyes quickly crusted over with thick, green gunk. This is what had happened at the rescue facility he was in for many years, which is why they thought he was blind (and he never received any veterinary care there at all). But with daily treatment here, his eyes were clear, and he navigated around inside and outside like a normal sighted dog.

So it was no surprise to me when our veterinary ophthalmologist, Dr. Sarah Hoy, examined him and confirmed that he is, in fact, visual. Here she is using a slit-lamp to look into the back of his eyes:

Even better, as long as we continue the daily treatment, he should be able to maintain his eyesight as long as he doesn’t develop other problems later.

So even though he isn’t actually blind, we’re still glad we took the little guy. He was in pretty bad shape at the rescue, and is now enjoying his new life here. He’s just a lucky boy all the way around!