Latest on Benny. The good news. Benny can now be in the same room with all our other dogs however we never leave them alone and we are just waiting for trouble. After only 2 days this is great progress though.

Having him groomed tomorrow so will be interested to see what happens.

Now the bad. After looking at Benny and generally giving him a clean bill of health (overweight almost obese needs sorting) it has been recommended that we remove Benny's eyes completely. He is blind already. I know this isn't something people are likely to have come across but from only a little research this appears to be something that makes sense. It's too easy to damage an eye by walking into things amongst other considerations. It's a nervewracking thought however. Couple of useful links are www.blindog.net - Question about sewing eyes closed? and www.blinddog.net - Lucy had both eyes removed July 8th although it may be distressing to see for some. Does anyone have any arguments against it or can think of questions I should ask the vet? It will not be for several weeks if we go ahead.

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I have absolutley no experience - but a question I would have is what happens to the void left behind by removing the eyeballs?
It may be a stupid question but I can imagine this space being created and making it prone to infections.

Also sounds like you are doing a fantastic job with Benny, he's very lucky to of found you.

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A dog Possesses Beauty without Vanity,Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, And all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.

The only input I have is that the dogs that I have known that have lost their eyesight early on due to heriditary disease both had their eyes/eyeremoved (chinese crested and small mixed breed dog) and live happy relatively normal lives and recovered quickly from the operations.

My grandad lost his eye to glaucoma and had one eye for as long as I could remember.
To my knowledge taking it out removes the great risk of trauma and or infection.


Questions I would ask would be
Have you done this operation before?
Will he be requiring drops or cream in the eye for rest of his life? (not that this may have any bearing on your decision but I would like to know) and if so how many times a day

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The New Look Willow's Place Website
http://willowsplace.weebly.com/

I suppose if he can't see and there is a risk he could damage them and cause him problems then the 'logical' thing to do would be remove them. I have absolutely no 'rational' argument to taking them out other than for cosmetic reasons and other people's reactions to the sight of a dog with no eyes
This may be a really stupid question, but would it affect the way your other dogs act towards him? I'm thinking in an eye contact sort of way

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They kind of like sew it together, I suppose I was used to my grandads but it just looked like a closed eyelid.


This is Giz the rescue chinese crested owned by my friend, he has lost one eye.

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The New Look Willow's Place Website
http://willowsplace.weebly.com/

I looked at those pics and honestly nearly cried, sorry to be so negative but I imagine Lucy's eyes had been recently removed and that's why they looked so sore. Hope i'm right.

If there is any chance that having eyes would increase the likelihood of them being injured (I can see how that could easily happen) then I would go for removal.

Must be so hard for Benny, not knowing what's happening around him, it's no wonder he gets grumpy - bless him. You really are a saint to take on such a load, I take my hat off to you!

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Flynn - Kali - Britches - Bruce - T-Bo - Marty



"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack"

Already had to explain to a couple of people yes he's blind

He doesn't make eye contact with them anyway so I do not see it making that much of a difference.

Keep the questions coming. I'm hoping we all can learn things from our experience with Benny.

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The thread I linked to actually shows the healing progress. If it's any consolation here is a later one:

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I thought it may of been a silly question, but I suppose you dont know unless you ask

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I don't think any question is stupid if you don't know the answer. I sometimes feel people are too afraid of asking and obvious useful questions go unasked because of it.

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