Quote:
Originally Posted by animalmommie1
looking for answers. my sweet girl Greta has also got blind. complications from diabetes, I am thinking about cataract surgery for her,it is expensive and 3 hours from are town, I am afraid she will feel abandon if I leave her there 3 days. I m afraid it wont work, I m just plain afraid of it all. have any of you tried the surgery?
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I haven't done cataract surgery, but wanted to mention a couple of things.
Dogs don't have the same understanding of blindness that we do, especially when it happens slowly as in cataracts- they adapt, and are able to live full happy lives. In all likelihood she has already adapted to her loss of vision. This is more difficult for you than for her.
Their sense of smell provides them with cues to the environment and you can also use their sense of touch to cue them- for instance put down a unique feeling area carpet at the top of the stairs.
Don't change your furniture layout.
Use smell- their strongest sense- to help her find her way around and teach her where things are- e.g. her bed, the main walkway between the kitchen and her crate, etc.
In my opinion- don't know that I would do the cataract surgery personally. How old is she? How is she getting around? Is it worth putting her through the surgery if her blindness doesn't appear to bother HER? Remember, you are reacting to it differently than she is, so if she gets around well and is otherwise content, I would be tempted to leave it be. Also, I would have different considerations if she were a 5 year old border collie than if she were a 5 year old pug.
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