Saturday, June 19, 2010

My Shih Tsu dog is now blind!

Three days ago my wife noticed some blood on our veranda and remarked that our Shih Tsu bitch could be on heat. I went around the house to look for her so that I can isolate her from the other dogs.When I found her to my horror I saw her eyes dangling out of the socket! I yelled to my wife to call our vet immediately to do whatever I can to save her sight. There had been a similar incident like this a few months back when I was away in East Timor. I felt very sad and helpless!This Shih Tsu was purchased by my wife last year and when she came home i noticed that it had weak sights and also bad hearing. Googling on the Internet shows that this breed of dog tends to have bad sights and hearing. As a result of its bad hearing I nicknamed the dog "STUPIT" because it does not respond unless we shouted. Over the months STUPIT grew very attached to me and my daughter Alicia. Although it was their dog, I was the one doing the feeding and trimming to make her look pretty.


Seven months after the arrival of STUPIT to our family I decided that we needed another guard dog as our Alsation bitch CIKU seemed a bit lonely and needed a mate. So MATA, an Alsatian puppy was bought. STUPIT was the elder sister to MATA and they get along fine, always involved in some dog plays. They were just like brother and sister.

MATA grew fast and in no time it became a huge dog . The doggy plays continued. One of their favorite plays was STUPIT trying to bite MATA's mouth. Very often the whole of STUPIT's small head was inside MATA's head. They can play like that for hours and kept each other entertained. My other Alsation bitch CIKU would never join in their doggie play. On the night of the incident I believed MATA could have applied a little bit of extra force and it s teeth could have bit the eyes. I believe this is how my STUPIT sees the world now.......Dark. We have to cage her so that she does not get sand into her eyes . The first two days she would be still wondering around and bumping into obstructions but today she just sits when she is out of the cage. Poor thing!
As the head of my family I had to gather everybody together and talk about responsibility. During this period we have to show extra love and affection to the poor dog. Are we going to abandon one of our family members just because he/she becomes disabled in an accident? Th e answer is NO. Alicia is trying her best to cheer the dog. Right now she is playing the piano with the dog underneath. But as I had mentioned earlier her hearing is not too good as well but she does seem to treasure the moments under the piano. I can see her limp ears tweaking a little at a time What a dog's life she had. I am very disappointed. I hope STUPIT recovers and be happy again even though I know it may be impossible.

She may never be able to be accompanying me like she used to but I hope her other senses will grow stronger.
Question: What would you readers have done in a situation like this? Please comment generously!

5 comments:

  1. I suppose she could smell food! Even without sight and hearing, she will survive though she might miss out the fun to play with your the other dog!

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  2. What a terrible shock for you and the family. She is such a lovely little dog. You have done the right thing, for while she has health otherwise and can give and receive the family love she will be content. Its only when health goes and pain takes over does it become necessary to put a pet down.

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  3. I'm sorry to hear this. I wonder how did the vet help the dog. Did he stitch up the eye hole? Things could enter the hole if not closed. Speaking generally, pedigree dogs with a degree of in breeding is always liable to have congenital weaknesses. This is my fear when looking to own a new dog.

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  4. Hey , Capt.
    Do the right thing, la.
    When diabled quality of life, even for a bitch, is not there any more. Only left sufferings for the poor girl.
    There is not much point, when all she sees is darkness.
    Put her away, swift and painlessly.
    No point torture her with long mundane suffering life. She would be thankful for the quick pass, I believe.
    Its not that you're being cruel. see video.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecPhF57BQH8

    regards
    fti

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  5. i beg to disagree,
    a blind dog can lead a good life if well taken care of, have a lots of love from family, etc,
    it is not like she is suffering from cancer n in pain.
    u want to put away blind people, just because they are blind? or just because it is a dog and animal... u can simply decide to put it down...
    u think dogs are expendable?

    such an irresponsible comment.

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