Sight restored

You remember Winston, previously Churchill?

For a few months Winston’s owners noticed his eyesight seems to have deteriorated. At home he was walking into furniture, when he’s called he walked right past them and he couldn’t see the treats handed to him right before his eyes.

They took Winston to their local vet who then referred them to the Ralph Referral Vet Centre in Marlow.

Guys! We need the real stuff – not images!

Look at all the equipment to check Winston’s eyes.

Winston saw Dr. Heidi Featherstone who is a specialist ophthalmic vet. She determined that he had bilateral cataracts in both his eyes. His owners noticed that something wasn’t right in recent months as they had suddenly deteriorated severely.

It was determined that he needed surgery. It is totally treatable. If left untreated it could lead to further complications. Apparently eye problems are very common with bichons and poodles. And Winston is supposedly a Poochon – that’s a double whammy. All this is exacerbated by poor breeding. We don’t know Winston’s history before his previous owner who bought him on an Internet rehoming site.

The microscopic surgery involved general anaesthetic – it is basically the same procedure for hoomans. 24 hours later, he was home and it seemed his eyes have been miraculously restored!

Almost magically, he could see the neighbour’s cats at the end of the garden in the night or the packets of treats from across the room.

Now this is a better eye-test! And it seems like the operation was success!!!

He could obviously see the food! LOL!

The after care required eye drops every two hours or 10 times daily and antibiotics for the first week. This must be religiously adhered to or there could be complications like glaucoma or retinal detachment.

Look at his eyes now – no longer cloudy! He’s back to his old self.

May’s comment: All I can think of is how lucky Winston is to have Rabin and Mel to take care of his medical needs. If he had been left with his previous owner, she would have put him down – he’s a sick dog and no one deserves a dog like him, she would have determined.

Bad breeding, the lack of responsibility in checking these breeds that are prone to eye health problems lead to problems in the puppies.

Winston’s vet bill was £2500 per eye – thankfully they have pet insurance to cover the expenses. Have often wondered if I should forget about pet insurance but even in George’s recent operation, grateful to have him covered.