blind

[patie737]

Can vetoryl stop blindness from progressing?

[patie737]

I agree with the severe pain of owning pets that become disabled.  But, I guess we have to try and remember all the wonderful times we had with them.  How much they gave us when they had a quality of life.  I cry every day because my 8 year old fun loving beautiful Bichon is almost totally blind.  I miss all the fun we had together.  Now I am her sight seeing dog.  Hope the treatment works for your little Westie.  Good Luck

[Jerry_NJ]

Wonderful to read about how well a blind dog can do - in our case we start out with a deaf Westie at now 9 yo...

I am careful to treat his dry eye, I hope the treatment is enough, if he loses his sight he'd really be in a dark and silent world.  

Some times I wonder why"we" set our selves up for the pain of owning pets.  I still miss all we have owned - maybe even a couple of dogs I had as a child.

[shannon781]

It is very true that it is harder on you than the dog. Dogs do quite well being blind because they memorize their paths in the house and their routine walks outside. They rely on their hearing and your dog can be the same happy, cheerful dog even without vision! She can still hear you talk to her, which I think is the most important thing!

[patie737]

Thanks for the response.  I have an 8 year old Bichon and she very suddenly acquired Cushings.  She went totally blind in her right eye and can see something (probably shadows) in her left eye so she navigates well. I'm hoping with the Vetoryl it will stop the progression.  She was such a happy-go-lucky dog and right now she can live with this but if the other eye goes blind I don't know.  I know they say it is harder on the dog owner than the dog and right now it is. I cry all the time because she was the most loved dog in the neighborhood because of her cheerfulness. Other than this she is so healthy and happy -- and I can't believe I could love a dog so much.

[shannon781]

Sorry, didn't answer you whole question...so the blindness may be reversible if the hypertension and underlying cause of hypertension is treated and has not been present for long time; the prognosis is guarded.

[shannon781]

Vetoryl contains trilostane which is used to treat hyperadrenocorticism or Cushing's disease. These patients have too much cortisol in their bodies and develop secondary hypertension. The hypertension is what causes the retinas to detach if and when these dogs go blind. The medication does not directly keep the retinas by detaching, but by controlling the levels of cortisol, you decrease the chance of developing hypertension and thus, retinal detachment which manifests as blindness.

[Jerry_NJ]

I can't answer your question, perhaps no one can.  But, a little more information would help.

Are you asking for a cat, dog,.... How old, what are the diagnosed problem(s), all come to my mind.  

I know there are conditions that can cause blindness, such as "dry eye" which can effectively be treated to prevent (or at least delay) blindness.  There must be other eye conditions that can be treated.

We have a deaf Westie that gets along fine, but he is at risk to dangers that have enough noise to alert a hearing creature.

Blindness would be very hard to deal with, but I understand people do get along fine with a blind pet - it just changes how they deal with the animal.