I adopted a 4 month old Rottweiler, that lost a fight with a cat. Due to the fight, his eye was infected, and none of the medicinal routes worked, so they had to remove his eyeball. At that time it was about 3 times it's normal size. Pretty gnarly. (off topic, when someone would come up and say, "Aw what a cute puppy! Ewww, what's wrong with his eye???" I would tell them he contracted syphilis )

When he was about five, he developed SARDs (Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration), and went completely blind in his good eye very quickly, in a span of a few hours. I came home for lunch to let him out, and realized he couldn't see. As others have stated, it was more traumatic for me, then my dog. He adjusted very quickly.

He quickly learned or remembered the layout of my house. And even going to new houses didn't take long for him to navigate. What was pretty amazing was even if he had not been back to a house in a few years, he knew exactly how to get around when he came back. On the other side of the fence, some times I'd come home, and he had rearranged my living room, pushing couches around when looking for toy.

A lot of friends and neighbors didn't realize for years he was blind. He loved playing with tennis ball size rocks. We would be at a river, and I'd throw the rock into 2 feet of water. He'd come back with the exact same rock, every time. Same thing with tennis balls. I'd take about 10 of them, and throw them all at once, he brought back the same ball, every time.

The one eye approach sounds logical. My dog lived to 13y/o, and it was not a setback in his life at all.

As other's have suggested, try contacting a vet school. A student will be performing the procedure under the watch of a trained surgeon. When I got my dog, the previous owners had looked into getting him a prosthetic eyeball, I recall it being about $1500. I took him to a local vet, who removed the eye, cut off the ends of his eyelids, and stitched them together. Cost $75. After he healed, it looked like he was just winking at you. Also, as others have stated, putting an older dog under anesthetic can cause more issues than what it is worth, your doctor should advise you on this.

There is no need to put a dog down because he lost his eyesight. Their other senses will easily compensate for it, and they will still be a happy dog who only wishes to please his master.

Please keep us updated on your decision, your pooch will be in my prayers.

My sister has a shelter dog that went blind a couple years ago. You cannot tell he is blind, he has adapted very well. My sister took him to the beach and he was running around like an idiot, full speed.

h2oys:

If you decide to go ahead, please let me know ... I'm in for a hundred.

quote:

Originally posted by senza nome:
h2oys:

If you decide to go ahead, please let me know ... I'm in for a hundred.

Thank you for your kind offer. For now we are just going to sit tight and see how she adapts.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
Most vets don't recommend anesthesia for dogs that old.

Keep this in mind.
We lost one of our dogs last month after a surgery.

Hard decision, hang in there.

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:

He loved playing with tennis ball size rocks. We would be at a river, and I'd throw the rock into 2 feet of water. He'd come back with the exact same rock, every time. Same thing with tennis balls. I'd take about 10 of them, and throw them all at once, he brought back the same ball, every time.

This just adds to my continued amazement of dogs.

quote:

Originally posted by h2oys:

quote:

Originally posted by senza nome:
h2oys:

If you decide to go ahead, please let me know ... I'm in for a hundred.

Thank you for your kind offer. For now we are just going to sit tight and see how she adapts.

Then this month's "karma" will go to striker1 (provided I get a snail mail address back.)