Question:
Hey everyone...

I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I could really use some advice..or just some support.

I went to visit my parents today and found out my dog is blind. Mum went to England the second week of May and came home last week. When she left, Zoe was fine...but by the time she got back, Zoe was blind. I have no idea what happened. She's a black lab and is only 8 years old. She hadn't been sick, that I know of...although when my brother lived there with his dog, Zoe was afraid of Lumpy and stayed in the basement a lot and put on some weight. So I don't know if that contributed to it. Does anyone know of any diseases that could cause such sudden blindness? Her eyes aren't cloudy, so I don't think it's cataracts.

My parents aren't the best pet owners...like, they love Zoe, but they have the attitude that "Well, she's already blind so why get the vet out to see her if there's nothing he can do?" So Ed and I are going to see if we can come up with the money to get her checked out to make sure it's not something really bad, but that might take a few weeks cause we have to take Winky to the vet this week. So right now all I can do is look stuff up and pray for Zoe.

I was in tears all day. I was fine when I first found out and was sitting with her and petting her, but as soon as she got up and started bumping into chairs it just broke my heart. My poor little girl


Answer:
I'm very sorry to hear abotu Zoe The first thing that came to mind was diabetes. That's the only disease I know that has blindness as a possible side affect. I'm sure there are others but that's the only one I could think of.


Answer:
Diabetes can cause blindness. A blood test could confirm this. Other symptoms are large volumes of urine, increased appetite, increased thirst. If she is bumping into things, she is likely blind in both eyes which would probably rule out a retinal detachment.

I'm sorry about Zoe. I hope that you can figure out what it is.


Answer:
Some poisonings can cause sudden blindness as well. Anything she could have gotten into?


Answer:
I thought about diabetes too, because of the weight gain. As for the other symptoms, I only saw her pee once and it seemed normal, although admittedly I wasn't really watching to see. I'll call mum tomorrow and ask her to keep an eye out for those symptoms.

I'm not sure about the poisoning. I don't think there's anything she could have gotten into. My parents don't use any sprays for the grass or garden and oil and things for the cars and boat are kept on a high shelf in the garage. They're really good about not leaving things lying around...not just because of Zoe, but because of my nephew. So I don't *think* it was a poisoning.

Ed said that if he gets his bonus from work he can probably afford to pay for the vet, so hopefully he'll be able to tell us more. The great thing about my parents' vet is that he makes house calls, so we won't have to stress Zoe out by taking her in when she can't see.

Keep your fingers crossed that it isn't *too* serious.


Answer:
My fingers are crossed


Answer:
Oh Nikki I'm so sorry to hear about Zoe I will kepp her in my thoughts