Today we’re feeling so lucky ☘️🌈☘️ our little warrior Dilla made it through surgery.
The last few weeks have been very difficult for our family because Dilla’s glaucoma became so severe. Not only did he have cataracts, he was also blind in his right eye plus taking 4 different medications daily: Dorzolamide & Latanoprost solutions as well as Neopolydex and Tarcrolimus ointments to protect his eye. However, because the glaucoma was advanced in stage, his response to the medications was diminishing day by day.
His eye pressure was triple the normal level, which means it was swelling at an alarming rate and was very red and bloodshot. Dilla never once yelped or cried out in discomfort. He was being tough and trying to sleep it off, but we could tell he was in so much pain. Willow was such a sweetheart by his side the entire time. 💕
Long term control of glaucoma requires surgical therapy as the response to medications is often incomplete or short lived. In Dilla's case, his eye had no vision and no hope for return of vision, so surgical treatment was the best path forward. The surgery would eliminate the glaucoma, provide more effective pain relief than medications and allow us to discontinue use of medications, easing the costs of managing the disease.
All we had to do was decide on the best surgical option for Dilla. One option was to remove the eye completely. The second option put in a prosthetic eye, leaving the eye and eyelids in place, but removing the inner contents of the eye. Or thirdly, do intravitreal injections to kill the fluid producing cells in the eye with a chemical antibiotic. Whatever procedure we decided to do, it was clear that Dilla would have to undergo anesthesia.
His ophthalmologist and vet techs were so kind and knew one of our concerns was his age and making it through anesthesia. But after some testing they were confident he would pull through the procedure. That made us hopeful but super nervous because we didn’t want that to be the last time we held him. 😔 Plus if we put Dilla under anesthesia, the medial procedure had to be 100% successful with no rejection possibilities, which only left one option.
Dilla lost his right eye but hasn’t lost his spirit. Now he’s back to his old self with much more spunk and dare we say “paw in his step!” And we swear his appetite has TRIPLED 🤦♀️🤦♂️ so we switched him to a special home-cooked diet! That's right! Every morning we prepare a delicious bowl of rice, potatoes, yams, lots of peas and carrots plus a little ground beef for extra protein. Surprisingly his fresh-prepared meal doesn't cost much to make. Pennies compared to the way-too-expensive kibble he was eating that was no longer agreeing with his system. Now with his larger appetite we couldn't have him eating us out of house and home. 😂
We couldn’t be happier he’s healthy and has a new lease on life. Thank you Dr. McNabb and the the amazing techs at Animal Vision Care.
Thankfully today he was up for his first photo shoot in a long while. He doesn’t want anything on his face right now, but in time he will be fully healed. His sutures have been removed and he’s so over the cone of shame!
Anywho, we’re feeling uber lucky and wishing everyone a Happy St. Paddy’s Day! ☘️💚☘️
Oh and please give your furbaby an extra hug or two 🥰 let them know how lucky you are to have them in your life.
As a thank for reading, use the coupon code DOGGIE5 to save $5.00 off your first purchase! We hope you find something extra cute in our store.
Until, next time. Thanks for reading!
