His Eyes May Not Work, But His Nose Is Just Fine

One of the questions I get a lot about Spirit is why he went blind. Spirit was born with glaucoma.

And as he will tell you, glaucoma sucks!

Spirit: My eyes hurt ‘cause I has the ‘coma.

Glaucoma occurs when there is high pressure in the eyes when the normal outflow of fluid within the eye is impaired.

Conditions that may cause it include:

• Improper development of the eye’s filtration angles. (primary)
• Eye diseases such as: primary lens luxation, inflammation of the tissues of the eye, eye tumor, or blood collection in the front of the eye from injury. (secondary)

Spirit: I was born with it.

Eye symptoms of primary and secondary glaucoma may appear in any combination of:

• High pressure
• Eye blinking
• Receding eyeball
• Redness
• Cloudy appearance
• Dilated pupil
• Pupil does not respond to light
• Vision loss
• Enlarged eyeball (buphthalmos)
• Visible debris
• Constricted pupil
• Iris sticking to either the cornea or the lens
• Headaches
• Loss of appetite
• Change in attitude

Spirit:  My eyes were HUGE and my head hurt. All.The.Time.

So off to the Animal Eye Clinic in Wilton, CT where they tested his eyes with a tonometer and confirmed Spirit had glaucoma. He was initially prescribed special eye drops to reduce the pressure in his eyes.

When the drops proved ineffective, we opted to have Spirit’s eye’s removed. We could not allow him to live in constant pain.

Spirit: My eyes stopped hurting and the headaches went away! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

But let me tell you, his eyes may not work, but his husky nose is just fine!

This was an actual conversation between hubby and myself. Please bear in mind, we have always had dogs.

Hubby: What did you do with the cheese I left on the counter?

Me: What do you mean what did I do with your cheese? I did nothing with your cheese.

Hubby: You must have. I put some chunks on the counter and now they’re gone.

Me: Seriously. You put cheese on the counter and are wondering where it went.

Spirit: I don’t know why you’re looking at me.

Hubby: Ricky never takes anything off the counter and the other dogs are too small or blind.

Spirit: Must have been Ricky.

Me: Go smell the blind dog’s breath. That husky nose of his works just fine.

Spirit: Cheesssssse

Hubby: Dammit

Stay tuned for more epsisodes!!!!

Mary is a business, wellness, and safety strategist who specializes in the pet industry. She has contributed to the professional pet industry as a consultant, speaker, writer, and progressive leader.

You can contact Mary by dropping a message or email her at [email protected]