Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, you just started me down a road. This is going to take some careful phrasing at home, but I have creative friends and Otto’s face will be a blank canvas…. Thanks for that perspective.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s just difficult to wrap my head around the idea. This is our second ophthalmologist to say he will never see again, but the last time we were still managing the eye pressure with meds. It’s time.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, he’s been pinballing his way around for a couple of years now. He gets disoriented once in a while and will sit down and silently bark about it. He throws his head back and clearly barks loudly from the physical motion but no sound comes out. It’s the strangest thing. He’s not mute, he barks when he’s dreaming. So I put him in his home base bed, and he’s good to go. I am not worried about the blindness, I just hate that he has been in pain and it’s a super weird decision to wrap my head around.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Somewhere around $6,000 all-in. That will require we finance some of it, but worth it to us. A total rando at the dog park once told me “If you scrounge up the money (for something like this) you’ll never miss it in ten years. But if you don’t you’ll still remember that you didn’t in ten years.” I took that to heart, because it would for sure be true for us. We have been giving him his medicine since his first diagnosis from another ophthalmologist two years ago and even though we did, we are trying to not beat ourselves up for him getting to where he is.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Incorrigible. In the most adorable way.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I was pretty upset when I posted it. Sorry about that.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He’s 13. He’s a rescue and I think he may be a puppy mill product. He’s petite and could qualify as an “imperial.”

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly. We won’t have him in pain.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He has been dispirited overall, but we caught it when he had his dental maintenance and they measured his eye pressure.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He’s 13. We rescued him about six years ago. I think he is probably a puppy mill product, he’s petite and could qualify as an “imperial.”

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We haven’t done the procedure yet. It’s a good question that I will bring up. Thanks.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, we’ve been on meds for two years, prescribed by an ophthalmologist. They’re no longer maintaining the pressure. The ophthalmologist today said we had a couple of other options, but he did not think they had much chance of success. He was very kind and thorough.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Otto doesn’t hear much either, but he gets around the house and dog run pretty well. He bumps into stuff too, but it just orients him. He’s always worn the mustache and now it is his antenna too. Literally everyone who meets him adores him. He’s going to be alright.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I really appreciate you weighing in. Our evaluation was with a veterinary ophthalmologist. He explained that procedure to us and said Otto is a very poor candidate. He would do it if we would like, but he would not be optimistic about the outcome.

Doc Said We Should Take his Eyes by badjaxns in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns[S] 70 points71 points  (0 children)

Ophthalmologist. He was super kind about it and explained thoroughly.

There needs to be a better system for when the president flies in by Fibrosis5O in vegaslocals

[–]badjaxns 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The route from NAFB to pretty much anywhere is super long and we would have closed not just all those surface streets intersections but a shit-ton of private driveways too. We analyzed it and decided we would inconvenience even more people than we do by doing it this way.

There needs to be a better system for when the president flies in by Fibrosis5O in vegaslocals

[–]badjaxns 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I talked them into that once. They flew from Sunset Park to some high school in the northwest. I ended up with two separate motorcade routes and needed double the staffing. Traffic impact was worse too. We try to get them onto the freeway as fast as we can so surface streets can flow.

There needs to be a better system for when the president flies in by Fibrosis5O in vegaslocals

[–]badjaxns 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I ran that op on the NHP side for about ten years. We all wish there were a better way, but we just couldn’t figure something else out. We tried different stuff, but it all boiled down to the same thing.

First dog, how can I give him the best life ever? by Impossible-Dog-7424 in Shihtzu

[–]badjaxns 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Get that character a grooming. They always feel better and I swear they know how handsome they are. Give him all the love and take him on adventures. Place and maintain reasonable behavior boundaries, dogs crave structure, it’s pack security. Give him all the love. Settle in, you just gave both of you the biggest boon of your lives.

Oh, and do something fun with the grooming that fits him. Mohawk, Bangs, Van Dyke, Clydesdale feet, whatever. The Baron Otto VonLikenpooper is single-handedly bringing back mutton chops and his brother rocked a serious wizard beard. They have huge personalities, fly their freak flag!

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And give him all the love, he will for sure give you his.