Blaze had a rapid degradation of her vision this week. She has had some minor far vision problems from cataracts that was only first noticed when she was recovering from her tick disease last winter but nothing close to this bad with such a rapid progression. Waiting on some blood test results to rule out any tick disease relapse as a cause and for our vet to consult her findings with an ophthalmologist. Tests today did not lead to glaucoma, nor is she diabetic. For the moment the vibe is that her type of cataracts may not be operable even if we wanted to do a lens replacement for her, but we don't really know yet. Blaze turns 8 years old next month and other than the vision issue, she looks to be in perfect health, so that is good. But to give a couple examples of just how bad her vision has became this week. Starting around three days ago to follow my hand with a treat, she can not follow my hand if it is further than 6 feet away. This morning until I called her name she did not recognize me from the back porch with me standing at the bottom step. As of today her left eye is a full blown cataract. She just stares straight ahead or turns into the direction of sounds. Hard pill to swallow knowing how much this dog lives for adventure.

Blaze waiting on her turn to do a retrieve last month.

I am so sorry sniper, you guys have been through so much the last couple of years. I hope something good happens.

Poor Blaze she sure has had a rough couple of years.
I sure hope they can help her see again.
You might want to put a bell on Dash so he doesn't surprise her.
My sister had a blind dog and did somethings to help her find her way around the house and yard. She had a running fountain instead of a water bowl. Keep cedar chips next to the back door.
Different texture rugs lead a path inside the house to her favorite places and all furniture stayed in the same place.

Thanks Kindall, great advice. Especially to put a bell on Dash.

Prayers up man, I am so sorry to hear about this. Maybe they can figure something out for her.

They become part of the family . There's not a day goes by that I don't think of Ole Sally

Sorry to hear John...hope things get better soon....

Prayers to you and Blaze and family .

Sniper, I followed your plight these last many months as I recently got a look-a-like to Blaze and your story caught my interest. So sorry to hear about the cataracts.

Did Blaze receive any steroids during the course of treatment, I can not remember. If so, steroids are known to cause accelleration or actually cause cataracts in humans, I would assume the same thing happens in dogs. I would think this is a direct product of the meds Blaze received in treating the tick borne illness.

I would think cataract surgery would be an answer, unless the cataracts are so far advanced the vet doesn't think it is possible. I am a human ophthalmologist, so if you have any questions about this stuff, just shoot it by me, but I will admit I know very little about the ins and outs of dog cataract surgery or anything.

No on the steroids. Because of the issues being on doxycyclene and a steroid at the same time and knowing that what was first thought to be masticatory muscle myositis can be mimicked by the tick disease, I decided against the steroids. But it is possible her cataracts are related to a type of uveitis or ocular lesions (getting over my head so spare me if that does not sound right) related to the tick disease she had. We are not done yet.

dang that sucks. hope she has a full recovery

John I hate to hear it for Blaze, always loved reading about ya'lls adventures together, she sure is a special dog.

Sorry to hear that John. One of mine got her eye poked during a hunt and she's either blind in that eye or it's severely degraded. She runs into stuff on that side of her face and seems to have lost some depth perception. Tough to see them go thru this kind of stuff. Hope Blaze gets better.

Sorry to hear about Blaze. Give her a pat on the head for me. I'm loaning one of my reds, for opening weekend of dove season, to my client who has the Lab that just got diagnosed with vision problems.

Sorry to hear that John. I wish there was something I could do to help. Keep us posted.

Dang John that sucks.

Wish you and your dog well John...we all get attached to the guys
especially if we've had them for a while and they've paid their
way with affection and hunting...I lost most of a littler of labs
and lab/pointer cross puppys this week and last ....first sick dogs I've had in over 40 yrs..except for hunting injuries..I'd really gotten attached to the two in the house I was going to keep...still have two girls..one my son is keeping and the other
of the 10 that survived...so far..Wish you well...Keep on lovin
her..DD

Man, I hate to see Blaze is having trouble again. Hope you're able to help her.

Blaze's eyes are visibly worse tonight. She is completely blind. I just started her on doxy to be proactive in case we are seeing a relapse of the erlichia tick disease. She is not in any pain that we can tell.

I am so sorry.

Damn John, this tears me up. I will be on my knees tonight sending up prayers for you both. Give blaze an extra hug for me and know that ya'll are in our hearts and prayers.

So sorry John.

Dang, I hate to read this stuff.

Man! As a lover of all dogs and a fan of her wonderfull stance in the many pix on here my heart hurts to hear this update. We have gased at her ever since putting down Smeg. Your love for her is obvious she knows this. Retierment cant be all bad with the master you seem to be. Prayers!

She has had some improvement. An antibiotic/steriod eye drops finally started helping with the worse eye. She is still completely blind in that eye and probably has been longer than we knew, but both eyes look much better today and she is her bouncy self again. She is seeing out of her left eye again, but only a few feet as before. I am hoping this was only a trauma eye injury from running into something or from Dash playing with her and unrelated to any underlying cause. Should know more today from the blood workup if there might be a tick disease relapse which is not uncommon. If that is good I will need to get her checked for PRA Progressive Retinal Atrophy. She is at the correct age and timeline for her breed if she was cursed with the gene. If I am lucky it is just a worse than normal progression of cataracts in both eyes, eye injury from not being able to see, and avoidance/shutdown issues with the treatment/confusion.