The last couple of weeks have been rough on us. Little Princess Fergie VII took a hard hit to the eye when she was playing ball with daddy; we immediately knew something wasn't right. Lee took her to see the vet the next day, where she diagnosed Fergie with glaucoma and said the pressure in her eye was dangerously high.
Fergie has been back two more times for a checkup on the eye. At our last visit, the vet confirmed that she would likely never regain the vision in her right eye. The pressure had come down, but not enough to stop the pain. We are treating her eye with drops and giving her pain pills. If we can get the pressure to go down and stabilize, then the doctor feels like we can permanently treat her with drops going forward. However, if the pressure is not manageable, then they will probably have to remove her eye. Of course, we are hoping it doesn't come to that.
I've done a little studying and it seems that secondary glaucoma can be caused by an eye injury. The vet said there is a thin mucous lining in the back of the eye that got pushed to the front of her eye when she got hit, thus blocking her vision. Surgery may be an option, but it's not guaranteed to restore the vision either.
We are just so sad about the whole situation. It was completely an accident and Fergie was doing what she loved the most--playing ball with dad. Luckily, she's handling it like a champ. She still wants to play and go outside and wrestle with the kids. Our baby is going to be nine years old in June and it's hard to think that's getting old for a doggy.
Poor Fergie. My first-born child was a Jack Russell named Chloe. She followed me out to the car one night while I was pregnant with Bug. I didn't know she was out there and I shut the car door and hit her head. She immediately went blind in both eyes. It was so sad. She adjusted fairly well to the world pretty quickly. Hoping Fergie does the same.
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