08/17/12 - Wow, I've been so bad about updating lately! We've been having a lot of summer fun. We went camping, and had my parents out to visit, so we've been busy.
So, we've passed about a year since Reo was confirmed to have her vision return. Here is one of last August's videos for reference (many more videos archived on my blog!):
August 2011 course
Since this time, her vision improved in the fall/winter, but then took a huge backslide as her stress kicked up due to our family's cross-country move. My thought was that when we moved, she had no vision whatsoever. She received another series of DepoMedrol injections, hopefully to help reset her system, and she did improve.
Lately, I've been wondering if she has any vision at all, or if she's just mapped things out. I do find it curious that she bumps into things a lot. I would have thought if she were totally blind, she would have mapped things out better. I spoke with Caroline Levin about this, and she said it's been commonly
reported in humans that low-vision is more difficult to navigate than no-vision. So, I don't know what is going on. Certainly sometimes, it seems like she can't see anything - she can't track a cotton ball like she used to.
But, recently, I took some new obstacle course videos for curiosity's sake - now I don't know what to think! I think she could still have a little vision left.
August 2012 #1
August 2012 #2
August 2012 #3
She seemed to have the most problem in the last video, getting caught between the gutter downspout and the strawberry flat! But because I've never had a blind dog before, I'm not sure if dogs can do exercises like this obstacle course based on their other senses?
Reo appears to have the most trouble in the shade/light transition, which I think is worthy of note (she always seems to do better in full sun). There is no doubt that she does not get around as well as she was one year ago, but I don't think that she is completely blind, as she can get around some of the obstacles and not crash into them like a fully blind dog would. I feel certain that she is completely blind in her right eye, and she has some minimal vision in her left.
I'm not any closer to making a decision about whether to continue all of the retinal protection supplements, or to just suspend the and let her become fully blind over time. I need to do some more thinking about that.
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