new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

Blind and deaf pets can live happy, healthy, quality lives. In fact, sometimes it's hard to tell them from sighted pets. They do, though, have their own special needs.
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JaynTinks
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Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 1:45 pm

new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

Post by JaynTinks »

Hi

I'm new here I've posted in Neurology section as one of my dogs is using a doggy cart. She is also going blind from cataracts and my younger dog appears to be visually impaired (but not totally blind, at least not yet).

I believe my youngest as always had the impairment due to him being more confident, he's lived here since 8 weeks old so knows nothing else and is now 2 and half. I can tell he has sight when he's right in front of me (he can clearly see me holding his ball up) but shows a few odd signs. He has like white threads across his eyes and his black pupil kind of bleeds into the iris colour like a water colour that has leaked into surrounding colour? His pupils are always dilated as if trying to let in as much light as possible even in normal daylight and in very bright sunlight he tends to run into things or fall off kerb when out on walks and prefers to go in the shade.

My eldest who is actually nearly blind from cataracts, despite the cataracts her pupils were clearly defined ..black pupil, brown iris, they looks a little cloudy now bu were normal until this last year. She has lost more confidence being sighted all her life and her mobility impairments, she will only potter up and down garden path in her cart and likes to lie out in the sun on her K9 raised bed. She won't walk outside of our house. I'm not too worried she has a dog bike trailer and she enjoys her ride out and I don't think she will be here by the end of this year.

She still enjoys doing her puzzles as she has quite a collection of those interactive food puzzles after getting one every xmas and birthday, she will be 14 years old in a couple of weeks.

KT
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critters
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Re: new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

Post by critters »

:slant: Spunk, my "blind" punk, actually has a little bit of vision, too, and it's amazing what she does with it. http://www.amazon.com/Spunky-Easy-Reade ... low+spunky
JaynTinks
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Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 1:45 pm

Re: new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

Post by JaynTinks »

It's hard to tell as mostly he was crashing into things when totally focused on something else such as a ball or cars flying past and as he's border collie his herding instinct comes into play there. I was told it's just cos they're so focused they don't see other things around them.

It's just little things I taught him sign as a puppy and although he knows loads of commands if I sign only without voice he struggles distinguishing the signs 'sit' and 'down' To a sighted person they are clear but I guess if your near sight was not as good and you just saw something moving... it could be tricky to distinguish between the arm going from up into sit position or coming down with flat hand? (if its just registering as basically I'm moving my arm) If I give the command verbally he has no problems doing it straight away. He knows if I'm holding a ball I suspect he can see a yellow blob (I tend to use yellow or yellowy/green balls)

A vet looked in his eyes and put some green dye stuff in and said they couldn't see anything with the eye despite me pointing out the white strands and sending them a close up photo in email. They said his eyes were dilated cos of over stimulation cos of playing with ball, so I reduced amount of ball play, his pupils were still mostly dilated unless lights were VERY bright, which he didn't like and goes in shade when sun is really bright.

He misjudges catching smaller balls more catching them the tip of his nose instead of his mouth and usually sending them over the fence! , though not if its a whistling ball or I give him lots of voice clues.

He used to growl if you just went up to him and tried to put on a coat or harness or dry him but if you tell him what you are doing first so he knows what's coming he's fine.

My guess would be for some reason his brain is not processing the amount of light properly or its letting in too much light making it difficult for him to see detail. MRI's and such to check optic nerves and brain activity would be costly so I'm going to attempt to teach him to read flashcards (a trick my old girl could do before she went blind) If he's sighted he should be able to see them and learn, if not he won't. He's certainly intelligent enough.

If you put three toys in front of him and ask him to find the ball (for example) he seems to do this better within a certain distance, if you put them further away he has to run in that direction and sniff each toy as if to determine which one is which (not using sight from where he was sat to watch where I put it then run straight to it) If you throw it he'll spin around listen for it landing then run to it. ..so I'm perplexed as to why nothing would be showing up in the eye unless it was a problem with processing information from the eye to the brain?

Uk forums don't seem very knowledge but I worked with blind and deafblind kids and kids with sensory issues (autism) so know it can be possible for something to appear to look normal (ie the child's eye) but the brain not be able to take the information in. I find American forums often study these things in more detail and owners with pets with disabled and medical conditions are more knowledge about the technical details that may help me?

Thanks

KT
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critters
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Re: new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

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JaynTinks wrote:They said his eyes were dilated cos of over stimulation cos of playing with ball, so I reduced amount of ball play, his pupils were still mostly dilated unless lights were VERY bright, which he didn't like and goes in shade when sun is really bright. This doesn't make sense to me, and I'd let him play all he wanted if he were mine. If he's dilated, it makes sense that he doesn't like bright light. I expect the dilation is from whatever has his eyes wonky.

He misjudges catching smaller balls more catching them the tip of his nose instead of his mouth and usually sending them over the fence! , though not if its a whistling ball or I give him lots of voice clues. Good idea to use noisy toys; that should help a lot.

He used to growl if you just went up to him and tried to put on a coat or harness or dry him but if you tell him what you are doing first so he knows what's coming he's fine.If you take him out in public, you might want to get him a coat or shirt announcing that he's blind. I don't know where they come from, but I think Karen A used them, especially for those who might startle or nip if surprised.

My guess would be for some reason his brain is not processing the amount of light properly or its letting in too much light making it difficult for him to see detail. MRI's and such to check optic nerves and brain activity would be costly so I'm going to attempt to teach him to read flashcards (a trick my old girl could do before she went blind) If he's sighted he should be able to see them and learn, if not he won't. He's certainly intelligent enough. Interesting idea!

If you put three toys in front of him and ask him to find the ball (for example) he seems to do this better within a certain distance, if you put them further away he has to run in that direction and sniff each toy as if to determine which one is which (not using sight from where he was sat to watch where I put it then run straight to it) If you throw it he'll spin around listen for it landing then run to it. ..so I'm perplexed as to why nothing would be showing up in the eye unless it was a problem with processing information from the eye to the brain? In theory, it could also be a problem with visual processing--brain. In humans it's called Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), although in my experience CVI is a vastly overused diagnosis.

Uk forums don't seem very knowledge but I worked with blind and deafblind kids and kids with sensory issues (autism) so know it can be possible for something to appear to look normal (ie the child's eye) but the brain not be able to take the information in. I find American forums often study these things in more detail and owners with pets with disabled and medical conditions are more knowledge about the technical details that may help me?

Thanks

KT
Without seeing him, and probably living with him, it's impossible to say exactly what his problems are. Given your background, you may well hammer it all out in time.
JaynTinks
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Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 1:45 pm

Re: new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

Post by JaynTinks »

Thanks. I'll certainly look up CVI in more detail. I knew the problem existed but wasn't sure of the actual term to look it up and research it further and there's not that much technical information with records to dogs sight in that sense.

I do encourage him to 'look' and use his sight. I created a ball maze puzzle using one of those bee bot wooden mazes (I got it cheap off ebay as robot was missing). I make a little course and he pushes a tennis ball round it, started off with a straight line then putting in turns so he learns to push it a different way when the ball hits a 'wall' he loves it!! They're getting quite complex now and I'm running out of ideas to make them harder..lol!

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Then I got him the bee bot obstacle course to add to it

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He enjoys pulling the ball up on the red bridge section

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I'm trying to come up with something similar but as a giant garden version for the summer with a football possibly combining croqball with elements from garden agility course (such as tunnels to push it through).
JaynTinks
Posts: 64
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 1:45 pm

Re: new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

Post by JaynTinks »

Interestingly I just found this (though it relates to a person with CVI)

"it is often possible for the person to detect and track movement. Movement is handled by the 'V5' part of the visual cortex, which may have escaped the damage. Sometimes a moving object can be seen better than a stationary one"

I'll look into whether this would be the same for dogs as Jay can track movement and its definitely the movement rather than the object if you get what I mean as several times we have passed a cat and he's obviously not seen it, it was fairly close but sat absolutely still but he has moved as if about to chase even if item is a bird, bit of rubbish blowing past in wind etc... so I think it's more that he's seeing something moving fast rather than for example has a thing about chasing cats as he's passed a few and doesn't seem to recognise them if they don't move!

Another test I've done with a toy in front of him on the floor if I move it slowly he can take it or leave it, if I move it fast past or away from him he's instantly in chase mode again! ..so again it seems its the movement rather than the toy itself. The toys he tends to gravitate to make a noise or have texture. He loves a (soft toy) maraca I had got for Inca when she went blind that makes different sounds as you move it (or throw it) he quickly learned if he held it by the end (handle) and shook his head from side to side it made a whole range of different noises.
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critters
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Re: new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

Post by critters »

JaynTinks wrote:Interestingly I just found this (though it relates to a person with CVI)

"it is often possible for the person to detect and track movement. Movement is handled by the 'V5' part of the visual cortex, which may have escaped the damage. Sometimes a moving object can be seen better than a stationary one" I think that's true of critters.

I'll look into whether this would be the same for dogs as Jay can track movement and its definitely the movement rather than the object if you get what I mean as several times we have passed a cat and he's obviously not seen it, it was fairly close but sat absolutely still but he has moved as if about to chase even if item is a bird, bit of rubbish blowing past in wind etc... so I think it's more that he's seeing something moving fast rather than for example has a thing about chasing cats as he's passed a few and doesn't seem to recognise them if they don't move!

Another test I've done with a toy in front of him on the floor if I move it slowly he can take it or leave it, if I move it fast past or away from him he's instantly in chase mode again! ..so again it seems its the movement rather than the toy itself. The toys he tends to gravitate to make a noise or have texture. He loves a (soft toy) maraca I had got for Inca when she went blind that makes different sounds as you move it (or throw it) he quickly learned if he held it by the end (handle) and shook his head from side to side it made a whole range of different noises.Yes, noisy toys tend to be a hit when the eyes aren't so great. My disabled ones who became disabled very young, regardless of disability, also tend to be FAR more bitey/mouthy than able-bodied furmonsters.
Reimar

Re: new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

Post by Reimar »

this topic is very helpfull for me 8)
Last edited by Reimar on Wed Nov 07, 2018 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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critters
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Re: new here 2 VI & 1 in wheelchair

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:whale: Reimar!
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