It's a dog's life
Poor Smokey. As though it wasn't hard enough to be diabetic, he's now blind, too. He's had cataracts for a long time (since he was a pup, likely due to poor genetics), and the diabetes exasperated them. We went to the canine opthalmologist last week, as his eyesight had degraded rather quickly to the point that he's been running into furniture, open doors, and us. The diagnosis came as a shock -- complete retinal detachment in one eye, meaning he doesn't see anything, and a 100% cataract in the other, meaning that he can see some light and dark and movement. The retina is inoperable, the cataract could be removed but it'd be risky. Injections and eyedrops are now part of his daily regimen. Poor guy. Everything I've read says that dogs can not only survive but actually thrive without eyesight, I can't help but feel sorry for the fuzzy one. He's a trouper, and is handling everything better than I would be.