We've had our dog for 4 and a half years now. He's a rescue, so we don't know his age (probably approx 6 years?) or his breeds, or basically anything about him. He's our big brown mystery mutt.
In retrospect, it's obvious he's been having vision problems for a while now. But he was rescued from a severely abusive situation, and unfortunately it can be hard to tell legitimate medical symptoms apart from his regular emotional trauma. I feel so awful that we missed earlier signs he was struggling :/
But over the last couple weeks, his vision has taken a sudden obvious dive. He can't see at all in low light, and he's bumping into things and navigating steps uncertainly. Last night I held a treat out to him, and he bit the air 6 inches to the right of me because he couldn't see my hand. That one was really upsetting.
We're taking him to the vet when they open on Monday, but I doubt there's much we can do to save his vision, never mind improve it. So, my dog is going blind, and I'm determined to help him in any way I can.
At the moment he can still see (not well) but anything that will help a fully blind dog will help my boy too. And I want to prepare for the worst-case scenario of him losing his vision completely.
I'm working on making a halo harness now, if anyone has tips for making/improving those please tell me. I've put some rough welcome mats at the top of the stairs so he knows where they are and won't fall down them. I read a tip that said to mark different parts of the house with different essential oils so he can orient himself more easily - but I also know essential oils can be bad for pets, is there something else I should use instead? I know he'd benefit from some specialised training, but I have no idea what to teach him on that front. Please, anything you can think of to help my dog, tell me!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/bf8b3f/my_dog_is_going_blind_how_can_i_make_his_life/
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