The story of my, now blind, best mate, Jack
Discussion
I got Jack from Battersea dog's home almost 8 years ago now, I still remember walking through the corridors of loads and loads of abandoned animals, all crying out to be given a chance. There was lots of bigger dogs, Stafs, Cross Breeds, but I wanted a Jack Russell.
I looked into one of the cages and there was he was, my future best mate, standing on his back legs and stretching to be able to see over the bars on the cage to check out his potential victims (sorry owners)
I read the little card they affix to the cages, and it said "Jack Russell X, male, 11 months old, good with children and other pets. Has some training."
Fantastic I thought, time to meet him properly!!
I was told to wait in the room whilst one of the staff went off to fetch Jack, I was so excited! Then after what seemed like hours, in strolled the most charismatic, energetic dog I'd seen in a long time.
I was told that he was brought to Battersea initially with a view to get him a foster home, his original owner had gone out to Sri Lanka to help with the Tsunami aftermath. But after some deliberation it was decided that the kindest thing for Jack was to find him a new home, a permanent one.
He already knew how to sit, lay down, say 'hello' (bark), beg, roll over, he was amazing!!
Me and Jack quickly became buddies, and I said immediately after that meeting that I wanted to take him home.
So I went off to prepare my house, get his bed, food, toys and what not, and then headed off back to the dogs home to go pick up Jack.
This is one of the first pictures I have of him, sitting proudly in his new surroundings:
So the years went by and me and Jack became best pals, I used to love taking him to the Great Park near me and let him run:
One day I sat down and watched Star Wars with him, ever since he loves dressing up as Yoda, he's such a silly sausage:
Things were going great, Jack had settled in, we were having a GREAT time.
Then, about 2 years ago now, and when Jack reached 6, his eye became really sore, it looked swollen and red, so off to the vets we go.
Turned out Jack had dislodged the lens in his right eye, and Glaucoma had set in. He was in so much pain that he could hardly function the poor thing, so the decision was made to remove his eye.
Here's the little tyke literally just out of the Vets in my old truck:
After the operation he was absolutely fine. Took a little while for him to recover from the anaesthetic, but other than that he was back to his old self.
He still loved going out and always knew when we were heading to the park.
See the excitement in his little face?
But then, my worst nightmare. About 6 months ago now, his other eye started to swell, and looked really sore. He started hanging his head again, just like what happened two years ago.
My heart filled with dread, I always thought to myself that if he ever lost the other eye I'd have to be kind and put him to sleep.
My worst fears were becoming a reality. And I honestly thought I was going to lose my best mate.
I took him straight to the Vets, it was a Sunday so he was treated as an emergency. He was given special pressure reducing eye drops to try and combat the swelling that was internally destroying his eye.
After a couple of days the pressure in his eye had reduced, the vet thought that because we had caught it so early, we might just have saved the eye, and his sight!
Wrong.
Another couple of days past, and he was struggling, his sight was slowly deteriorating to the point that he was basically blind. Blind, and in a LOT of pain.
My heart filled with dread yet again, I was hopelessly thinking of what else could be done for him, and was fighting so hard against the thought of having to put him down.
I went to see a Canine Eye Specialist in High Wycombe. He's the same guy I saw before for his other eye. And he told me we could operate. Two options, one was to install little stents in his eye, like little tubes, these would drain the eye of the aqueous humour or 'gooey stuff', and relieve the pressure. The drawbacks of this is that the stents nearly always block, and he would periodically be in the same pain, time and time again.
The other option was laser surgery, they fire a laser in to the eyeball, and effectively quart-arise where the fluid enters, so that the eye would just stay 'as is'. Drawbacks? He would only have the sight of what he has now, which is sod all. There is no regaining of sight here.
So I spoke to the eye specialist at length. The priority here is quality of life for Jack, nothing else.
He was in so much pain that any decision had to be made right there and then.
I was assured by the eye specialist that a blind dog, can be just as happy as a sighted dog, and that he would not consider this a case for euthanasia.
I was feeling optimistic, I was given some good advice and told to go away and research, and research I did, all night long.
Jack's painkillers were wearing off, so I called the vet who I normally use, explained our options, and talked some more about it, and decided we would remove his remaining eye.
Jack would be in no pain, and we can start to rebuild his life in a new and exciting way!
I took him down, I was so nervous for him but I just wanted him to be pain free. I hated seeing him like this.
So under the knife he went, one of the nurses took the time to spend some time with him before the operation, so that once it was done he would have a familiar face (smell) to come out to and not be scared by his lack of sight.
I called up to check up on him, was told the operation went really well and to go pick him up about 4pm. So at half 3 I was there.
Jack was completely zonked out, the anaesthetic was still in so he was really tired and dopey, and scared. The nurse came out and asked me to go out the back so he could hear my voice.
I walked in, saw the cage that Jack was in, and he was covered in blood. To avoid stressing him out even more they decided to leave the cleaning until I was there. He looked a right state
As I walked up though, I said "Alright boy", and instantly he gave a little wag of his tail and lifted his head.
My boy was gonna be alright :thumb:
I picked him up, laid him on the table so they could remove the needle from his leg, and then held him tight. It was time to get him home and start recovering.
I got him home, and put him straight into his bed. For about an hour he slept, but then the pain from the operation started to kick in, and he was feeling more awake. The following evening and night were horrific.
When he felt pain, he wanted to bolt. So he would literally try to run. But as he now couldn't see I had to literally lay with him and hold him for hours. Trying so hard to get him to settle and not hurt himself. I had more painkillers and a sedative and he was even fighting those!
At about midnight I took him upstairs to his other bed, which we keep in the bedroom. I laid next to him the entire night, with my arm resting on his back so I could grab him and calm him down when he tried to bolt.
Neither of us got any sleep that night.
The next day was a little better, he started to explore a bit more, and remember his surroundings. He started to 'map' the house, rubbing his nose on the walls so he always knew where he was.
I made the house safe, even now I still have some socks on the valves on the radiators so he doesn't bump into them and hurt himself. I have certain objects with certain smells dotted around the house so he knows where they are. He has his water in only two specific places in the house so he can always get to it. Food is given in exactly the same place, more of less at exactly the same times in the day too.
We were getting there.
After some additional training, lots and lots of love, and lots of patience, Jack is back to the dog he was all those years a go when I first brought him home. He's playful, happy, full of life, and always mischievous.
The way he has adapted to being blind is amazing. He literally broke my heart, and mended it again in the space of a fortnight.
I bought him lots of new toys, balls with bells in, balls that make silly noises, teddy bears with squeakers in. But oh no, Jack didn't want any of this 'special' stuff, no way. He had his old tennis ball, and he won't play with sod all else. Well, he'll make an exception sometimes but otherwise it's just the tennis ball!!
I play fetch with him exactly as I did before. I've modified my garden a bit to make it safer, but other than that everything is exactly the same. Jack can hear me throw the ball, he can hear where it's going, and he can smell it too. He chases that ball with the same amount of enthusiasm as he ever did.
Sight? Who needs it
The bond between me and Jack is now even stronger. I've had a lot of health issues this past year, and have spent a lot of time at home. He's been by my side the entire time, and now, we love just chilling out in front of the telly...
Any thing good on telly Dad?
He can be a lazy sod sometimes though:
So there you have it, the story of my best mate, Jack....
Nice to meet you
I looked into one of the cages and there was he was, my future best mate, standing on his back legs and stretching to be able to see over the bars on the cage to check out his potential victims (sorry owners)
I read the little card they affix to the cages, and it said "Jack Russell X, male, 11 months old, good with children and other pets. Has some training."
Fantastic I thought, time to meet him properly!!
I was told to wait in the room whilst one of the staff went off to fetch Jack, I was so excited! Then after what seemed like hours, in strolled the most charismatic, energetic dog I'd seen in a long time.
I was told that he was brought to Battersea initially with a view to get him a foster home, his original owner had gone out to Sri Lanka to help with the Tsunami aftermath. But after some deliberation it was decided that the kindest thing for Jack was to find him a new home, a permanent one.
He already knew how to sit, lay down, say 'hello' (bark), beg, roll over, he was amazing!!
Me and Jack quickly became buddies, and I said immediately after that meeting that I wanted to take him home.
So I went off to prepare my house, get his bed, food, toys and what not, and then headed off back to the dogs home to go pick up Jack.
This is one of the first pictures I have of him, sitting proudly in his new surroundings:
So the years went by and me and Jack became best pals, I used to love taking him to the Great Park near me and let him run:
One day I sat down and watched Star Wars with him, ever since he loves dressing up as Yoda, he's such a silly sausage:
Things were going great, Jack had settled in, we were having a GREAT time.
Then, about 2 years ago now, and when Jack reached 6, his eye became really sore, it looked swollen and red, so off to the vets we go.
Turned out Jack had dislodged the lens in his right eye, and Glaucoma had set in. He was in so much pain that he could hardly function the poor thing, so the decision was made to remove his eye.
Here's the little tyke literally just out of the Vets in my old truck:
After the operation he was absolutely fine. Took a little while for him to recover from the anaesthetic, but other than that he was back to his old self.
He still loved going out and always knew when we were heading to the park.
See the excitement in his little face?
But then, my worst nightmare. About 6 months ago now, his other eye started to swell, and looked really sore. He started hanging his head again, just like what happened two years ago.
My heart filled with dread, I always thought to myself that if he ever lost the other eye I'd have to be kind and put him to sleep.
My worst fears were becoming a reality. And I honestly thought I was going to lose my best mate.
I took him straight to the Vets, it was a Sunday so he was treated as an emergency. He was given special pressure reducing eye drops to try and combat the swelling that was internally destroying his eye.
After a couple of days the pressure in his eye had reduced, the vet thought that because we had caught it so early, we might just have saved the eye, and his sight!
Wrong.
Another couple of days past, and he was struggling, his sight was slowly deteriorating to the point that he was basically blind. Blind, and in a LOT of pain.
My heart filled with dread yet again, I was hopelessly thinking of what else could be done for him, and was fighting so hard against the thought of having to put him down.
I went to see a Canine Eye Specialist in High Wycombe. He's the same guy I saw before for his other eye. And he told me we could operate. Two options, one was to install little stents in his eye, like little tubes, these would drain the eye of the aqueous humour or 'gooey stuff', and relieve the pressure. The drawbacks of this is that the stents nearly always block, and he would periodically be in the same pain, time and time again.
The other option was laser surgery, they fire a laser in to the eyeball, and effectively quart-arise where the fluid enters, so that the eye would just stay 'as is'. Drawbacks? He would only have the sight of what he has now, which is sod all. There is no regaining of sight here.
So I spoke to the eye specialist at length. The priority here is quality of life for Jack, nothing else.
He was in so much pain that any decision had to be made right there and then.
I was assured by the eye specialist that a blind dog, can be just as happy as a sighted dog, and that he would not consider this a case for euthanasia.
I was feeling optimistic, I was given some good advice and told to go away and research, and research I did, all night long.
Jack's painkillers were wearing off, so I called the vet who I normally use, explained our options, and talked some more about it, and decided we would remove his remaining eye.
Jack would be in no pain, and we can start to rebuild his life in a new and exciting way!
I took him down, I was so nervous for him but I just wanted him to be pain free. I hated seeing him like this.
So under the knife he went, one of the nurses took the time to spend some time with him before the operation, so that once it was done he would have a familiar face (smell) to come out to and not be scared by his lack of sight.
I called up to check up on him, was told the operation went really well and to go pick him up about 4pm. So at half 3 I was there.
Jack was completely zonked out, the anaesthetic was still in so he was really tired and dopey, and scared. The nurse came out and asked me to go out the back so he could hear my voice.
I walked in, saw the cage that Jack was in, and he was covered in blood. To avoid stressing him out even more they decided to leave the cleaning until I was there. He looked a right state
As I walked up though, I said "Alright boy", and instantly he gave a little wag of his tail and lifted his head.
My boy was gonna be alright :thumb:
I picked him up, laid him on the table so they could remove the needle from his leg, and then held him tight. It was time to get him home and start recovering.
I got him home, and put him straight into his bed. For about an hour he slept, but then the pain from the operation started to kick in, and he was feeling more awake. The following evening and night were horrific.
When he felt pain, he wanted to bolt. So he would literally try to run. But as he now couldn't see I had to literally lay with him and hold him for hours. Trying so hard to get him to settle and not hurt himself. I had more painkillers and a sedative and he was even fighting those!
At about midnight I took him upstairs to his other bed, which we keep in the bedroom. I laid next to him the entire night, with my arm resting on his back so I could grab him and calm him down when he tried to bolt.
Neither of us got any sleep that night.
The next day was a little better, he started to explore a bit more, and remember his surroundings. He started to 'map' the house, rubbing his nose on the walls so he always knew where he was.
I made the house safe, even now I still have some socks on the valves on the radiators so he doesn't bump into them and hurt himself. I have certain objects with certain smells dotted around the house so he knows where they are. He has his water in only two specific places in the house so he can always get to it. Food is given in exactly the same place, more of less at exactly the same times in the day too.
We were getting there.
After some additional training, lots and lots of love, and lots of patience, Jack is back to the dog he was all those years a go when I first brought him home. He's playful, happy, full of life, and always mischievous.
The way he has adapted to being blind is amazing. He literally broke my heart, and mended it again in the space of a fortnight.
I bought him lots of new toys, balls with bells in, balls that make silly noises, teddy bears with squeakers in. But oh no, Jack didn't want any of this 'special' stuff, no way. He had his old tennis ball, and he won't play with sod all else. Well, he'll make an exception sometimes but otherwise it's just the tennis ball!!
I play fetch with him exactly as I did before. I've modified my garden a bit to make it safer, but other than that everything is exactly the same. Jack can hear me throw the ball, he can hear where it's going, and he can smell it too. He chases that ball with the same amount of enthusiasm as he ever did.
Sight? Who needs it
The bond between me and Jack is now even stronger. I've had a lot of health issues this past year, and have spent a lot of time at home. He's been by my side the entire time, and now, we love just chilling out in front of the telly...
Any thing good on telly Dad?
He can be a lazy sod sometimes though:
So there you have it, the story of my best mate, Jack....
Nice to meet you
Very kind comments indeed. Jack and I thank you!
Apologies for the tears, but I completely understand why. I shed MANY through his various episodes. We're stronger for it though and he is a fighter!
Its amazing how when someone new comes to my house, it takes them a good while to realise Jack has no eyes. He has mapped the house so well, and with strategically placed soft toys, and other objects, he knows exactly where he is, all of the time.
I'll post a vid when the weather is a bit nicer of him playing fetch. If I pretend to throw the ball, he knows full well it's still in my hand, and waits in his urgent stance for me to stop playing around and throw it for him. He'll then run, grab it, and return it literally to my foot. He's amazing.
Cheers everyone
Apologies for the tears, but I completely understand why. I shed MANY through his various episodes. We're stronger for it though and he is a fighter!
Its amazing how when someone new comes to my house, it takes them a good while to realise Jack has no eyes. He has mapped the house so well, and with strategically placed soft toys, and other objects, he knows exactly where he is, all of the time.
I'll post a vid when the weather is a bit nicer of him playing fetch. If I pretend to throw the ball, he knows full well it's still in my hand, and waits in his urgent stance for me to stop playing around and throw it for him. He'll then run, grab it, and return it literally to my foot. He's amazing.
Cheers everyone
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