Hello all, I live in Belgium (originally from Florida) and I'm lucky to share my life with my husband, two grown sons and a beautiful 6 y/o Chocolate Lab named Roxy. Yesterday Roxy and I learned that she has PRA. I noticed she had trouble seeing in the dark so I took her to a specialist vet. Roxy and I are an active team. We enjoy our exercise and often jog on our daily trips out together. She does everything with gusto and she is a very confident girl. I want to help her keep her bright, happy go lucky, attitude and her confidence while her sight diminishes and eventually goes altogether. I've just joined the forum here and hope to find some information or meet others who have helped their dog get through this in a positive way. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. I've done a search for blindness and PRA but didn't find much I can use.....maybe I'm not looking in the right way so seasoned forum members might be able to point me in the right direction. Thanks for your time and input. I know she'll handle this fine....not so sure about me though. Best, Delana
Hi Delana, Lovely to meet you here,although I'm sorry to read about Roxy's diagnosis.You sound very committed and positive about helping her deal with it I hope we can support you as you support her.Dexter is our first dog so I don't have any experience to share with you. There's a lady in our neighbourhood who's elderly lab has gone blind over time ,I can remember once talking to her and she said that they really try to keep everything the same in the layout at home,no unexpected changes to confuse or injure her. We have a huge amount of knowledge within the Forum ,I hope we can help you as you process the diagnosis and help Roxy face her future,Whatever happens I can tell she will be safe and very loved x
Hi Delana and welcome to forum to you and Roxy. So sorry to hear about your diagnosis; that must be pretty gutting for you. When I was a child we had a jack russell terrier who slowly lost his sight. He relied mightily on our yellow labrador as his sight diminished, as he could still see his shape I guess, and followed him around a lot. Good luck, and we'd love to see some photos of Roxy
Thanks Dexter (Angela) and Karen for your posts! Interesting you mentioned your jack russell following your yellow lab around....Yesterday the vet did mention having another dog might help. She did say that if we were going to do that then it would be best to get the other dog now. Roxy and I are a team and hubby n I feel one dog is enough but we aren't writing the idea off completely.
So sorry to read that Roxy has PRA. I have not owned a 'blind' dog but have known a blind Poodle who was able to go for dog walks off lead and appeared to be coping well. You could perhaps have a small bell you carry so that she learns where you are and can follow it when she does have more difficulty in seeing.
What about a cat? I've always had only one dog but at least one cat with the dog. To my mind there are several advantages. Dogs and cats can be great friends so company for each other in the house. Mine will play but when the dog gets too rough the cat quits and so my house isn't wrecked when I'm away. I don't think a cat will lead a blind dog around but the presence of another creature she knows in the house might comfort Roxy. If I was to introduce a cat I'd make sure it was a young kitten. In my experience a kitten around 6 weeks old can leave it's mother but is often fearless, a bit lonely, and will very possibly bond to the dog. Kittens love dogs, most of mine have. You can go away for a short weekend and leave a cat with food and water, or longer if a friend comes in a couple of times a day to play, feed and clean litter. Of course then you need two cats as the dog will be away and the cat will be lonely.
Hi Delana & Roxy. Is that Roxy in your Avatar? She looks fantastic. Sorry to hear of her diagnosis, she's lucky to have you to care for her.
Hi and welcome to the forum, really sorry to hear about Roxy's diagnosis. I've meet three blind dogs recently while away in Wales and I was so impressed at how they coped. I was also astonished at how gentle and calm my choccie girl was with them. Wishing you all the best. X
