My Greyhound Space

Posts Tagged ‘Progressive Retinal Atrophy’

Our greyhound Pingu is only five and a half years old but he is going blind due to PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy). His night sight was the first to go, and in low light conditions his eyes are almost totally black, his pupils are so dilated. So most of the time now indoors he is actually near as damn it, blind. In sunny weather outside he can see a bit though, unless he is bluffing. His close sight is gone though, but he can see some distance.

It's sad to watch him deteriorate but there is nothing anyone can do so we have to accept it. Most of the time he is his usual jolly, sweet self, but sometimes one senses he is a little less certain of himself than he used to be, and gets a little more hesitant every day. He has always been a needy dog who whinges and whines for contact and cuddles, who knows how long this condition has been upon him?

On walks I am very careful now to steer him around things, but he is still able to do it for himself, albeit at the last minute sometimes he veers around an obstacle! I have to watch out for him all the time and he is happy by my side with plenty of talking and patting. The good news is that greyhounds are so compliant they are easy to steer and guide on the lead, so I don't anticipate any problems there.

He was wearing a hat sometimes to keep the worst of the sun out of his eyes and prevent (secondary) cataract formation, but now he can see so little it seems pointless anyway. By next summer when the sun blazes all his sight will probably be gone.

This all sounds so sad, and there's no getting away from the fact none of us would wish it thus, but Pingu is still a greyt pet and enjoys meeting people and sticking his nose into everything and everyone to check them out! He enjoys his walks, his meals and treats, and adores cuddles. All in all, still a happy dog.

Our lovely Pingu whom we rescued two years ago has developed Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) with the result that he is going blind.  This was a huge shock when we discovered it this week.

Our Ex-Racing Greyhound - Pingu.

We had noticed certain signs in the past but assumed his clumsiness resulted from his exuberant approach to life.  He tends to bound up to us, or our other dog Slinky and has even been known to bowl Slinky over!  It all makes sense now and needless to say, we're very upset.

Last week he was in our garden sniffing everywhere over and over again.  His head was swinging from side to side as though he was disorientated.  We guessed his sight was compromised and when we looked, his pupils were huge.  A trip to the vet and then to a canine ophthalmologist confirmed the worst.  He is totally blind in low light and can only make out large objects in full daylight as blurred shapes.  We understand that within 18 months the loss of vision will be total.

It is said that the owners of blind dogs are more upset than the dog and this seems to be the case here.  His behaviour indicates he's still getting used to the situation, possibly because of the varying level of vision he's experiencing.  What he can percieve at mid day is very different from that in the lower light level at 9pm.  The condition is incurable, being hereditary, and progressive.  Onset is probably from around the age of two.  Pingu is now 4 and so more into the advanced stage.

We all have to learn to live with it and take the appropriate precautions such as drawing his attention to any new, or moved, objects in the home.  Obviously he is needing a lot of love and attention.  We will, however, take care not to spoil him as we know from experience that dogs will take advantage if they can get away with it!

I'll write more about our dogs soon.