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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

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Original poster

My beloved labrador is almost totally blind:-(

144 replies

dottytablecloth · 21/02/2015 20:04

He's 11 and the vet says there is nothing we can do to help his sight.

His sight has deteriorated over the last few years but he's almost totally blind now.

The problem is we feel his quality of life is poor as he can't see where he's going and crashes into things which results in him helping painfully.

It's not possible for him to live indoors as we have two small children and there isn't the space. We always made sure he got two long walks everyday but he can't really walk very well now as he stumbles over the kerb and trips along.

Am I being selfish keeping him like this? My beautiful, strong, agile boy has gone and I'm heartbroken.

I can't think about it too much as when we got him he bounded around so full of life and vitality and now we can't even let him off the lead as he walks in front of people, cyclists etc and is basically a danger. It makes me really sad and I don't know what to do.

OP posts:

Gymbob · 03/03/2015 11:14

no I don't, things have become complicated I'm afraid. I will post when I have news, was way too previous before methinks

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 03/03/2015 11:20

Was following this but didn't want to add to the row. Just wanted to say well done all and am so glad this turned out ok.

SinclairSpectrum · 03/03/2015 11:34

Please tell me the owner relinquished the dog though??
I too have been following but didn't want to post when I couldn't actually help.

tobytoes · 03/03/2015 11:52

Just read the whole thread, absolutely discusting how this poor dog has been treated. Owners should be ashamed of themselves.

tipsytrifle · 03/03/2015 12:26

Frustrating thought it is when an animal is in dire straits, there is nothing to be gained and plenty to be harmed by extending this thread in a negative way.

Labtest7 · 03/03/2015 19:17

This is heartbreaking. My lab went blind at 7 but lived happily until he died at 12. Dogs adjust to blindness

Gymbob · 24/03/2015 22:13

I'm afraid I have no good news to report. All I can say is it's work in progress....

I mentioned upthread about all you dog lovers possibly donating to a good cause in the light of this poor dog's plight.

Please have a look at this website, www.labrador-rescue.org.uk/irish.html and give a small amount if you can. There's a link to a just giving page too. The work they do is just amazing. Sue, the lady I have been speaking to, is so passionate about helping the Irish labs in need of a home. She brings them over on the ferry on a Friday and they are taken straight to a suitable home. The dog in this thread would have done the same, and gone to a home with another dog as his guide, where he would have settled quickly. She was willing to pay the £330 to have him travel to England, even though he is old and has additional health problems. It just didn't matter to her, it's saving him from a miserable life that matters. Obviously, she's a charity, so you can imagine how much it costs when she is bringing 2 or 3 dogs over each week, which she is.

The problem now is that the law has changed and whereas before, dogs could come from Ireland freely, now they need a passport, rabies jab, and health check before they can travel. When an owner isn't even bothered about the dog's well being, why would they pay good money so it can travel to England? In Ireland, dogs living outside seems to be the norm, so people like me who love their dogs like a child and let them sleep on the bed or wherever they please must just seem downright weird.

Sue told me about a dog she was expecting from Romania. His back legs were paralysed, so Sue had a wheelchair waiting for him so he can scoot about using his front legs to pull him.

I will be donating in the next day or so.

Please no hate toward the op, I'm still trying to help the dog, and negative comments will only damage anything left to salvage.

Gymbob · 26/03/2015 11:52

just a gentle bump, please read below

LokiBuddyBoo1 · 26/03/2015 14:17

Any more news on the dog

ExitPursuedByABear · 26/03/2015 14:26

Marking my place. Only just come across this thread.

Gymbob · 26/03/2015 14:32

no more news at the moment I'm afraid

VeryStressedMum · 26/03/2015 16:32

This is so sad whereabouts in Ireland is the dog? I'm in Northern Ireland is that any good?

Gymbob · 26/03/2015 16:49

I will pm you x

VeryStressedMum · 29/03/2015 18:54

So sorry gymbob didn't see your message til just now, I've messaged you.

DialMforMildred · 30/03/2015 17:42

I've donated this week's Bonio money - this thread made me so furious, and I'm thankful as a dog lover that rescuers like Sue exist.

ginmakesitallok · 30/03/2015 17:55

Just to say that dogs can live outside very happily. In my mums old house they had a specially built dog enclosure, properly insulated and heated in the winter. Safe and secure for the dogs, who spent most of the day in the house, but happily went outside to sleep. (She's now got a little dog who doesn't leave her side and has a special step to help her get into bed with mum...)

Gymbob · 30/03/2015 18:30

that's so kind of you Mildred thank you xxx

Gymbob · 31/03/2015 20:05

I'm unashamedly bumping this up again in the hope of more donations please see link below

OneDayLikeThis2013 · 10/04/2015 11:34

I've only just stumbled across this thread (day 5 of maternity leave and I've just found there's a dog section on mumsnet - fab!) How terribly sad and a story close to my heart. I'm 37 weeks pregnant and we have a 5 year old rescue dog (black lab x staffie we think) who went blind in September last year. Well at least that's when we noticed he'd lost his sight, he ophthalmologist said he'd probably been blind for much much longer but doggies cope so incredibly well with blindness. I've been beating myself up for months, doing everything I can think of and researching every possible way of making the new arrival as stress free as possible for our boy. We've even converted a spare room downstairs in to a playroom so that the dog has his own space. Our vet thinks he had distemper as a pup as he has nasty skin allergies, arthritis and now the blindness. Never would I dream of turning his world upside down and make him live outside. He's part of our family and we've decided to have a child and therefore we have to make it work with a dog, especially a dog with special needs. I hope he will teach my child/children empathy. I do feel for you OP and I think you made your decision that in the nicest possible way, was the easiest thing to do at the time but now you have to think of your fur baby, which it sounds like you are by actively trying to rehome him. Blind dogs can have amazingly happy lives. Dogs aren't like us, they don't think about what they used to have, they live for today. Our boy still goes tot he park and chases a ball (with a bell in), loves to play, loves his hydrotherapy sessions, snooze in the sunny patches by the patio doors, loves spending time with us and in all honesty, his life has not changed that much since loosing his vision and I urge anyone not to give up on a dog just because of blindness. Really hoping everything works out for this fur baby x

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