Earlier, we wrote about a pair of dogs that came in together, “Ruby and Buddy.” While it would have been nice to place them together, that was not a realistic expectation. Ruby has been placed, no surprise, a rare female in Rescue, she was younger, the most active, and most engaging. The two of them had been almost joined at the hip. Both looked alike since they were clippered and looked like they came from the litter. When Ruby was placed, it did seem like Buddy had gone around looking for her but that was probably just my imagination. Buddy originally was a pet store dog, probably a Midwest puppy mill dog. He is small, energetic, in great shape and a very happy little guy. He is willing to share a couch with you anytime and he will stick with you as you work outside. He listens and pays attention to what you say. His eyes are usually wide open and looking right at you. I guess because they don’t work fully, he really uses what he has. Buddy did come in with some meds and a note saying he might be blind at some point. I didn’t have anything else to tell me what it might be bit I was concerned. I made an appointment with a canine eye specialist. I had a fear of a particular problem that is reserved for Cairn Terriers. ”Ocular Melanosis” is an insidious disease that Cairns get, a sort of Cairn glaucoma. I have seen pictures but I have never seen a dog with it. I printed up a fact sheet from the Internet and waited for the appointment. In the meantime, I tried to remember to give Buddy his twice daily eye drops.
I have eyes for you.
Yesterday afternoon we were off. I had been to see this doctor once before, maybe 15 years before with another dog that we had for a very short time. This was before I was a member of the Cairn club or before I became involved in Rescue. It was long enough ago that I didn’t recall the location, the building, or the vet. I asked just to be sure, since there is only one vet with this specialty in the East county, it had to be him. I had gotten ahold of the last vet to see Buddy and they Faxed his records. I brought those along with his meds. The vet read it all, looked at the Ocular Melanosis fact sheet I had and then looked at Buddy. The bottom line -”Dry Eye”. (So much for my Internet search diagnosis.) His cornea’s are so callused at this point the vet thought he might actually be unable to see. He said while OC is a disease of the inner eye, Buddy’s issues are external. He asked again about how he behaved saying that he surely could only get bits of light to hit his pupil. The scarring was heavy enough that he could not even see into Buddy’s inner eye. This was surprise to me, Buddy does everything that our dogs normally do except two that I noticed. Both are surely related to his limited vision. He doesn’t catch biscuits when I toss them and he doesn’t try to use the doggie door. I now promise to stop hitting him in the head with biscuits as I toss them to him. His biscuits will be put in front of him. I have already tried that and he doesn’t miss a crumb. He is all over the back yard, he is after anything that moves. He does not seem limited in what he does, in any way.
He is vocal, more than just barking. If you scratch or pet him in certain areas, he will turn his head and start talking. I assume he is proclaiming to the world how great the attention feels. One thing I love is his attention to the dog next door. That dog… A few years ago, my neighbor lost her dog to old age just as her kids were leaving the roost. She told me she was looking for a replacement. This lady is not the warmest person in the world but I still had a long chat with her about sources of dogs. I told her of the warning signs, low costs, out of state, no parents available, etc.. One day she showed up a the front door with this cute little fuzz ball, “Cinnamon”, an Australian herding dog or something like that. She told me how young she was, less than 8 weeks. Aaargh. So much for my sage advice but then she gets to live with the dog. But now, we live next to the dog, she barks when I enter my garage, she barks when I open the side door of the garage, she barks when I work/walk on the side yard, she barks when I drive up. She is not a nice dog even though I tried to get her to know me early on by talking softly and calling her name. Oh well, I can’t save everyone from making a mistake. What does this have to do with Buddy? Well, my little friend takes exception every time that Cinnamon barks and lets her know his opinion, it seems to have a good effect. I thank him each time he “protects” me.
Back to his condition, he will need some meds every day for the rest of his life, they won’t be cheap, maybe $50-80/month and he should see an eye specialist twice a year. He will be a “special needs” dog but he will return the favor in love. He will gladly cuddle next to you, come and find you outside and he will always “talk” to you. His condition might improve slightly if his ointments are dutifully and regularly applied but he has a life long condition. He will get his daily eye ointment twice a day. For now, he gets 3 different ones, one is twice a day and the others are once a day. He is a real trooper when I put them in, he just submits. They may actually make his eyes feel good. When he gets placed, I will add a note to this post, in the meantime, a special little guy is looking for that special friend, one who has Eyes for him.