Doctor, Doctor



Lottie waits happily in the OSU vet clinic

 A few weeks ago, Speak for the Unspoken brought a new blind/deaf Aussie into the Speak family.  Dhestyn was a Pennsylvania girl who had an appointment at Ohio State University for an evaluation and consult with an ophthalmologist before going into foster care.  Victoria and Dahlia, Raquel, and Lottie and I all went to OSU to welcome Dhestyn and her awesome rescuers, and to learn what we could from the doctor.

It was interesting.  The doctor told us that one of Dhestyn’s eyes responded to light, the other did not.  She felt that Dhestyn could see very limited light and movement from her best eye.  She equated it to being in a car with heavy frost on the window and trying to see out.   She told us that both of Dhestyn’s retinas were still intact, but could detach at any time.  She felt this would not be painful, but could cause some pressure discomfort if blood built up in the eye, so to be watchful for that.  She said any of the microphthalmia dogs such as Lottie would be susceptible to detached retinas.  I asked if any of these types of microphthalmia dogs ever had any sight improvement?  I said that Lottie no longer seems like a blind dog to me anymore, she rarely runs into anything, and seems to look up and around now, following movements, unlike when she first came and focused almost exclusively on the floor.  The doctor said no, these dogs conditions do not improve, but they learn to cope so well that she hears this all the time from owners who swear their blind dog has improved and can now see.  She said they just learn to cope so well that they fool everyone.  She also said that these dogs see better in bright light than in dim light, which seems to be the opposite of what my friend the human optometrist had told me.  Lottie will focus and bark at objects in moonlight, while in sunlight she doesn’t seem to notice.  It does seem to me like she sees better in dim light, but I’ll have to observe her more with this new theory in mind.



Lottie and Dhestyn

  

            

Then the following week Lottie had her first appointment with the wonderful Dr. Rogers at Veterinary Alternatives (www.veterinaryalternatives.com) .  Dr. Rogers seemed excited to work with Lottie, as I explained her seizure, and seizure-like behaviors such as the OCD patterns and the night terrors.  Dr. Rogers is a holistic vet, who specializes in Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture.  She prescribed some herbal mixes for Lottie, and recommended I feed her a fish protein food instead of the chicken protein she currently is eating.  She said seizure dogs tend to be, in Chinese medicine terms, “hot”, and chicken is a “hot” food as well.  She thought Lottie would benefit from a “cool” food, such as fish.  She also recommended I continue to give her magnesium in the form of black strap molasses, as I have been doing, but she felt I should be doing it daily instead of just a couple times/week.  So, new food and more molasses for Lottie!  We will see if this and the Chinese herb mixture will help calm her and keep her seizures at bay.  All in all, a month of doctors and new medical information to think about for my beautiful little girl.

Three deaf/blind dogs pose for a picture -- and each one thinks they are looking at me!!