Two weeks ago he went blind, apparently due to high blood pressure which caused his retinas to detach suddenly. He's on medication now but needs more tests to determine the cause of his high blood pressure. Unfortunately these tests are not within my budget at this time. More unfortunate is that barring a miracle, Jonah will not get his sight back.
This is the unfairness of life. That a dog like Jonah, who is the most easy going, friendly, good natured dog you can imagine to suddenly not be able to see his ball or the water he so loved to swim in or his beloved dish (yes, he's a lab so he loves his dish because that holds the beloved food) just about kills me. He has no idea why his world suddenly went dark.
The stairs are hard. He isn't a young dog any more so I have to hold him back to make sure he doesn't fall if he missteps. I have to make sure the cellar door is shut when he's downstairs. I have to find new words to help him understand how to navigate, and he has to try to learn them.
And Jonah? Still just as good natured as ever. Gobbles up his food (and his medicine hidden in a lump of peanut butter) as fast as ever, follows his nose around the yard, and still manages to find the litter box occasionally and help himself to the treats. Honestly, it's probably more sad for me watching how well he takes this new life he's been given, a life that will be perpetually in darkness.
This is the unfariness of life and why I haven't been around much. Now excuse me while I go fill a Kong with peanut butter and dog kibble to entertain the best blind dog in the whole world.
Life is unfair but Johah still loves it and lives it with zest. Good doggy! Give him a skritch behind the ears for me!
ReplyDeleteI will!
DeleteVery sad. But it's amazing how well animals adapt. He's going to keep on keeping on.
ReplyDeleteIt IS amazing and Jonah is adapting, slowly, being not the brightest star in the sky, tho he is the brightest star in my sky :)
DeletePoor dog, but he's probably handling it better than a person would. My dog went blind slowly and had almost not trouble navigating as long as he was in familiar space.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely handling it better than a person. And yes, we're trying to keep everything the same - No re-arranging the furniture!
DeleteIt is indeed unfair. Our last German Shepherd went blind. It bothered us a LOT more than it did her. Though to the end of her days she just barrelled through screen doors - we gave up fixing them.
ReplyDeleteGive Jonah a pat from me - and a cyber hug for you.
Thank you, and yes, definitely bothers me more than him.
DeleteI'm so sorry. At least he seems to be taking it in stride.
ReplyDeleteHe is, and thank you.
DeleteI know. It's horrible. I once had two dogs who had one good eye between them. My late great smooth collie Faulkner went deaf a couple of years before he died. I know he was mystified by it. I was glad I taught him hand signals when he came to me.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
I wish I could explain it to him *sigh*
DeletePoor Jonah! :(
ReplyDeleteYou must get him a guide dog! Imagine the fun of having a new friend!
lol, but I think that's more than I can handle right now!
DeleteI am so sorry for Jonah (and you). Last fall, our 17 1/2 year old Aussie/collie mix finally had to be put down. He was mostly blind, but could see shadows the last two years. It was sad that he could no longer catch popcorn out of the air (his former favorite game).
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, Jonah loved that game. Now he has trouble finding his dish :(
DeletePoor guy. Glad to know he’s keeping in good spirits anyway.
ReplyDeleteHe is. Such a good dog.
DeleteIt is... a dog's gift. We have so much to learn from our four-legged friends.
DeleteHaving a mom who loves him and who will help him adjust makes all the difference. A worse unfairness would be if he didn't have you.
ReplyDeleteTrue.
DeletePoor, sweet doggy. Of course, this brings me to the focus that he's living life just as enthusiastically, regardless of a loss. He's a good example, eh?
ReplyDeleteA very good example!
DeleteAww, so sorry to read this. But I'm glad he is still enjoying life and that he has you to take care of him. Give him a hug from me.
ReplyDeleteI will!
DeleteOh, bless his soul. What a difficult thing to witness. I agree with Julie, including another hug for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet looking boy! Life certainly can be unfair. When things happen to our long time furry friends, it sometimes feels worse than if it happens to a person. They really do find that spot in our hearts than humans have no access to.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've read things I've written about my granny before. Here comes another. When my brother and I were young, we had a boxer that was a major part of the family. "Duke" had been around for most of our young lives. When he was getting pretty old (for a big boxer), he started getting tumors (as boxers frequently do) and we could see him deteriorating, and knew that the end was probably coming soon. Eventually the Vet couldn't do anything more for him, but he wasn't suffering yet and still had some time with us. He said Duke will let us know when it's time. I was more upset than my older brother because Duke was a part of my entire life. Heck I was closer to him than to my brother. I felt so very bad for Duke and myself. Every time I thought about it (like right now), I'd tear up and try to comfort him. This is when granny introduced me to D.H. Lawrence. She wrote something he said down on a piece of paper and gave it to me. She told me not to just "read," but to "feel" and think about the meaning of it. This following is what she had written.
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.
Well, I tried and tried and didn't get what it meant. She explained to me that Duke and all other animals don't have time to feel sorry, or to have most of the emotions that we do. While we are busy worrying about things, animals are busy living their lives. She asked if Duke seemed sad at all, or sorry for himself. Of course the answer was no. The more I thought about it, the better I felt. She convinced me to enjoy whatever time we had left with him. When the time came, we'd do what we had to do, but we could at least feel good about not letting him suffer. We could and would do that for him.
Although you feel bad for your Jonah, you know that sweet boy doesn't give it a thought. He's too busy enjoying that food he loves, and the attention and love you give him.
I hope this helps a bit. It sure helped me back then, and still does today. We've had a lot of long time pets come and go. I sure am getting melancholy in my old age...
I'm sorry, I didn't realize how long that was until it posted.
ReplyDeleteSo Sorry to read about your lovely sweet boy. One of my dogs was blind and she was just fine. I never moved anything.
ReplyDeleteMy last two Gud Dugs had so many health problems also. Loss of hearing, eye surgery, lens replacement diabetes... you name it. I know they were happy.
Big hug from Tucson.
cheers, parsnip and badger