Blind overnight

[itchybum]

Well not overnight, but over a few days to a week at most.

She had a liver infection and I read this can lead to blindness.

The vets here have no idea, took her to 3 out of 4 vets in this town, useless.

While we managed to save her from the liver issue, she was on deaths door and the vets all said she looked like she will croak and that very few dogs with liver disease live, but now she is blind and wondering if anyone has experienced this and what to do.

Unfortunately I think it is permanent as now going on over a week with it and no improvement.

She had a course of injections and drips and eyedrops and such, but no improvement.

ANy ??

[cooked]

I had a blind dog for a year or two, her quality of life was diminished but she bseemed happy as long as we were nearby.

[Sheryl]

Would be worth taking her to a University Vetinary Hospital if you haven't already.

[Cuban]

Local vets (generally) have the experience and skills to deal with run of the mill issues that they see day in day out.

For anything exotic the diagnosis can be "the dog will die" as there can be an element of not wanting to appear ignorant about the case or the assumption from the vet that the owner will not want to spend any significant money or time on the case. The local vet in the nearest to to us is like this - he is a person with a fondness for spirits of the high proof variety and will not do anything other than antibiotic injections for dogs with broken limbs. I'm sure he is not unique in Thailand rural or otherwise.

You will need a regional animal hospital to get any meaningful dialogue about the cause and prognosis for your dog. I have direct experience of the one on the Dark Side of Pattaya off Soi Muslim and in Khon Kaen, both are good.

Dogs that have become blind cope very well in my second-hand experience and observation.

The key things that you need to do is not rearrange furniture or create unexpected obstacles, dogs will create a mental map and navigate by sound, memory and smell. To this end having a particular flooring or room smell can help a dog instantly recognise which room she is in or has woken up in without panic. Try it yourself with eyes closed, the family room will have a particular sound compared to the kitchen etc.

Being vocal around the dog will be wise so as not to startle her unexpectedly - an important factor if there are kids in the house.

There have been many cases of dog vs child attacks in Thailand where the child has played a game or stirred a sleeping dog in the dark at night where the dog's primary fright & fight reaction has been to bite first and "see" who it is afterwards. I am always reminding the kids at night to speak the dog's name softly when moving about outside so the dogs know that the sound of movement is family.

Particularity for a blind dog this simple action will reassure and re-enforce the dog's own understanding of the noise of movement that you make is you, compared to the noise that your partner makes. Even when I've tried creeping up on my dogs from an up-wind direction they know it's me because of the sound I make.

Walking and exploring will still probably be a thing that the dog wants to do but going off lead might be unwise? A body harness might be better than just a collar in this situations - I'm speculating I have no direct experience.

Good luck - I would be interested to hear how your situation develops.

------------------------------edit----------------------------------

Sudden blindness - not caused by a spitting cobra ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spitting_cobra

Edited September 8, 2013 by Cuban

[itchybum]

Thanks.

No. not cobra as she has had this liver disease, she was very anaemic, very sick fro several days. I gave her drips and injections at home as we did not want her left at the vets, she is a very sensitive dog and gets upset when left elsewhere, she likes home and us, so we hoped the settled environment would help. maybe it did because she survived that.

Thinking to take her down to Bangkok and I believe it is the chula uni vet hospital...if any better, please me know....not going to Thonglor as their priority is $$ first.

Read a lot about quality of life etc for a blind dog, but unfortunately it will never be as good as before, she was very active, loved our 2-3k bike rides, chasing rats and fighting for hours with her mate. She is now basically house bound as she cannot be left outside alone for too long, we live on a property with no fences, they usually never have to be tide up except at night and they did not roam away.

[chiang mai]

I can't help with this but I hope it all turns out well and wish you lots of luck.

[Somchai Mao]

I wish you and your dog all the best. I had dogs all my life until about 15 years ago and prefer them in many ways to humans. I hope you find some comfort.

[ETatBKK]

sorry to hear this. itchybum, where you are ? if you are in North East, try Khon Kaen U vet hospital first; if you are in the west, approach Kasetsart University vet hospital in Kamphaen Saen, Nakhon Pathom. otherwise, Kasetsart University and Mahidol University both have well established Vet Hospitals in Bangkok.

Kasetsart University
Veterinary Hospital Bang Khen, best knowledge, most equipped ( Mon-Thu 08.30h-16.30h, + emergency )
Veterinary Hospital Kamphaeng Saen, for large animal, yet a lot of dogs there
Veterinary Hospital Hua Hin
http://vet.ku.ac.th/vetenglish/index.php/veterinary-hospital/bangkhen

Mahidol University
vet clinic, Mon-Thu 08.30h-15.30h, Fri 08.30h-11.30h
emergency clinic, daily 08.30h-20.00h
call +66 2 441 5245-6
www.vs.mahidol.ac.th/hospital/ ( Thai )

Khon Kaen University
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
Veterinary Teaching Hospital
call +66 43 36 4494, +66 43 343081
http://hospitalvet.kku.ac.th/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=2

Chulalongkorn University
Faculty of Veterinary Science, not sure they have Vet Hospital as service

[Arkady]

Thanks.

No. not cobra as she has had this liver disease, she was very anaemic, very sick fro several days. I gave her drips and injections at home as we did not want her left at the vets, she is a very sensitive dog and gets upset when left elsewhere, she likes home and us, so we hoped the settled environment would help. maybe it did because she survived that.

Thinking to take her down to Bangkok and I believe it is the chula uni vet hospital...if any better, please me know....not going to Thonglor as their priority is $$ first.

Read a lot about quality of life etc for a blind dog, but unfortunately it will never be as good as before, she was very active, loved our 2-3k bike rides, chasing rats and fighting for hours with her mate. She is now basically house bound as she cannot be left outside alone for too long, we live on a property with no fences, they usually never have to be tide up except at night and they did not roam away.

Very sorry to hear about this. Chula has a great reputation. Only downside is long queues. Thonglor is indeed expensive but they are generally pretty good and quick. Try to take her to one or other as soon as possible for evaluation. Other clinics even in Bkk and even Thonglor's branches are pretty piss poor in my experience with 3 canines.

[jmccarty]

Poor doggy! So sorry to hear and wish you luck with the poor thing!

[itchybum]

Thanks, shall give Chula a go and a call today to see what they say.

[Nienke]

Do you know what caused the liver problem? Was the onset sudden or was it there already for a while?

When did your dog receive the last vaccination/booster? Liver problems and sudden blindness (as well as seizures and sudden death) have been associated with vaccinations/booster shots. Also tick/flea drop-on/sprays/powders, and some other seemingly innocent veterinary procedures have been associated with liver problems and sudden blindness. These problems can occur anywhere from within hours of a vaccination or tick/flea treatment to several days/weeks/months afterward.
Vets often do not associate vaccination and/or tick/flea treatment with the symptoms when there is a time-lap of longer than 3 days between it. Nonetheless, the toxins coming from the vaccination and/or tick/flea treatment were the cause of the liver problem.

[itchybum]

It could have been the tick drop on stuff, we use that with the dogs.

Shame if it was, as have never had issues with it before.

Also never had a lot of ticks around, but vet mentioned it could have been from them as we seem to have had an influx in last 2 months or so, way more than anytime before for whatever reason.

[chiang mai]

I don't mean to create suspicion where it's not needed but it's not unusual for neighbours and/or would be burglars to poison/attempt to poison dogs, typically the method is poisoned meat or similar, anti-freeze is a popular DIY posion - just a thought that can hopefully be dismissed quickly.

[Nienke]

It could have been the tick drop on stuff, we use that with the dogs.

Shame if it was, as have never had issues with it before.

Also never had a lot of ticks around, but vet mentioned it could have been from them as we seem to have had an influx in last 2 months or so, way more than anytime before for whatever reason.

If it was the tick drop-on stuff, is it possible that the eye-sight returns once the liver has recovered? Sheryl, mangotogo, do you know anything about that?

This is such a sad case.

[BookMan]

Sad news Itchy. Hope the Vets in Bangkok can help you out

[itchybum]

It could have been the tick drop on stuff, we use that with the dogs.

Shame if it was, as have never had issues with it before.

Also never had a lot of ticks around, but vet mentioned it could have been from them as we seem to have had an influx in last 2 months or so, way more than anytime before for whatever reason.

If it was the tick drop-on stuff, is it possible that the eye-sight returns once the liver has recovered? Sheryl, mangotogo, do you know anything about that?

This is such a sad case.

The last vet that we went to and the one that did the most and helped pull her through, said the eyesight would/should come back. But its going on 2 weeks now and I am not so sure. Liver disease is stated as being the cause of many permanent eye loss cases....so chances not good.

[itchybum]

I don't mean to create suspicion where it's not needed but it's not unusual for neighbours and/or would be burglars to poison/attempt to poison dogs, typically the method is poisoned meat or similar, anti-freeze is a popular DIY posion - just a thought that can hopefully be dismissed quickly.

Anything is possible and it could have been done while we were away, but we have 2 dogs and the other one was not affected at all, in fact she put on several kilos. Plus nothing missing from the house and it could have been easily broken into...even with the guard cat inside.

We have a trusted neighbour, not so close that comes and spends several hours here during the day when we are away, takes care of the animals and turns lights on and off etc.

[DualSportBiker]

My Siberia-Labrador cross bitch went blind overnight 2 years ago. It was a sudden thing; no build-up that we could determine, even with hindsight. We took her to Thonglor as they are close and it was late. Her heart stopped and they had a pump to help breath. Once stable we transfered her to Chula. Her stomach was severely swollen and they said SE had a bacterial infection. Pressure on the spine caused nerve damage and she ended up blind.

In our experience, Chula is hands down better than Thonglor. The queues are not bad and the facilities are good.

The sibrador gave birth to 5 healthy puppies 30 weeks ago. She is as happy as she has ever been (spayed just over a month ago) and plays hard with her pups, some of which are bigger than her at 28 kg already!

The boys were neutered 2 weeks ago at Chula. Making the run in daily was an effort, but i would not let Thonglor do it. One got an infection (scar for buried testicle) and Thonglor issued pills that Chula scoffed at and tossed after they did little to help. Chula is cheaper, better and our first and only choice for anything semi-serious.

Best of luck with your pooch - I hope like ours, an almost full recovery is possible.

[YoungBrit]

Wish you all the best with this!

[itchybum]

Took her to the vets in suk 51, nice setup, good vets from all accounts. Expensive, but not as much as Thonglor, nor over diagnosing stuff.....6k baht later, 2 nights in their care also.

Anyway, seems from eye tests she is now blind permanently, some last ditch medicine and treatment to try to fix it, but seems retinal detachment caused by a blood parasite from or the cause of the liver disease.

Pile of other tests ran and all seems good now in every other aspect, just blind.

Showing signs of frustration and such from the blindness, quite, sleeping a lot and chewing her tail to the skin.

[YoungBrit]

Took her to the vets in suk 51, nice setup, good vets from all accounts. Expensive, but not as much as Thonglor, nor over diagnosing stuff.....6k baht later, 2 nights in their care also.

Anyway, seems from eye tests she is now blind permanently, some last ditch medicine and treatment to try to fix it, but seems retinal detachment caused by a blood parasite from or the cause of the liver disease.

Pile of other tests ran and all seems good now in every other aspect, just blind.

Showing signs of frustration and such from the blindness, quite, sleeping a lot and chewing her tail to the skin.

So sad, sorry to hear that!

[jmccarty]

Wish you could have found a cure for this by now.

I worry every day about my own little dog that lives in the house but we take her out often. She likes to pick up everything in her path and terrified she will get something poisoned or with bacteria or other pathogen.

I hate to muzzle a dog that is no threat, because then she also can't defend herself if needed, but maybe the way to go?

[itchybum]

We have her tail bandaged up at the moment and have one of those circular collars like a funnel on her to stop the biting. Putting it on her all night and take it off several times during the day trying to get her into habit of not biting it....seems to be working, she can spend some time without it now.....couple weeks, see how it goes.

[BookMan]

We have her tail bandaged up at the moment and have one of those circular collars like a funnel on her to stop the biting. Putting it on her all night and take it off several times during the day trying to get her into habit of not biting it....seems to be working, she can spend some time without it now.....couple weeks, see how it goes.

Sad news about your dog Itchybum

[itchybum]

We have her tail bandaged up at the moment and have one of those circular collars like a funnel on her to stop the biting. Putting it on her all night and take it off several times during the day trying to get her into habit of not biting it....seems to be working, she can spend some time without it now.....couple weeks, see how it goes.

Sad news about your dog Itchybum

Yeah...shit happens.

She was a great little dog, great rat catcher and my little girls 3rd birthday present.