Many possible causes of Blindness - -
Understanding Some of What happened & What next?
Help your dog’s self-confidence while adapting and reduce their (and your) anxiety.
Part of what causes newly blind dogs to be anxious, insecure and depressed is their loss of a major, visual, portion of how they recognize and understand the behavior of the people in their world. We learned that understanding the behavior of puppies, all of whom are blind at birth and deaf, who learn to see and those who don’t, is helpful to understand and care for older dogs who become blind.
Puppies: Of course all puppies are eye-blind at birth. In the very first seconds and minutes they entirely rely on sensing heat (infrared-light) and moving toward it (to reach their mother’s nipples which are the warmest food-places in the nest) [Ref. S. Coren, 2004]
About nine days of age, in the remarkably short time span of three or four days, in preparation to see and then hear, their skulls can become nearly twice larger and may change shape abruptly. [Photos are available.] Obviously, if a puppy’s eyes don’t function on schedule, a puppy automatically instinctively from that time onward learns to rely on its ability to detect vibrations (sound) with its eight or nine sensors for that (see page “Adapting to deafness for more details). And at the same time, the puppy has already begun using its ability to detect and analyze molecules (smells) to recognize what is near it, and to then navigate to its siblings and mother. Weeks later as their brains and nerves mature more, they learn to with their eyes see distances and depth in 3-dimensions and hear in stereo (acoustic 3-D), if their development follows the ordinary patterns of their species and breed.
Without unfortunate selective breeding for flashy coats by Breed Clubs with AKC approval, only a few puppies per ten thousand borne would lose full-fledged useful inner-ear hearing about age 14 days or so because of genetic based “autoimmune-like” reactions. Much observational data, and recent research indicate, according to reports, that later in life many genetically deaf dogs can partially recover useful hearing. Technically, as an autoimmune process the loss of hearing soon after birth might conceivably be suppressed or delayed by such as gamma globulin and prednisone, et al. Comparable human genetic based autoimmune processes were recently also becoming documented.
Likewise a few puppies would almost completely lack ordinary eye-abilities to see, and some would have unusual eye-features such as blue eyes or odd shaped eye-pupils. Some of the unusual features obstruct the vision sharpness in poor lighting conditions - mixed bright and dark areas. From the late 1990s into the next decade progress in genetic research and detailed research seem to have shown that the fundamental mechanisms that obstruct ordinary inner-ear hearing and ordinary eyes-seeing are possibly or maybe probably similar versions of certain comparatively rare inherited biological processes.
Older Dogs: In addition to risks of accidents such as can happen playing with sharp sticks, or other accidents, as dogs become older they encounter natural internal biological events such as diabetes and external chemical “challenges-insults.” Some external challenges happen in outdoors environments from such as toxic plants, snakes bites, toad-toxins, etc and some from human domestic chemical such as insecticides, weed-killers, automobile anti-freeze, etc. Older age onset of dog-blindness were often diagnosed (labeled) as Sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS) or Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) - genetic diseases, retinal detachment or bleeding or rips, and glaucoma - -which can involve damage or loss of the retina and adjacent nerve ganglions. Those did not appear to be caused by readily indentified viruses or bacteria diseases, and through early 2011 the mentions of “cures” seemed typically providing anti-oxidants and such, to delay or stop but rarely reverse, damage of the eyes’ parts.
As science improved in its ability to examine tiny interior elements of the dogs’ eyes, more often there were similar features reported that strongly suggested possible or probably triggered auto-immune processes in the onset and progress of some major sources or forms of blindness. Although medications became available to reduce pain and delay complete blindness, in many instances surgery was needed to relieve intolerable pain, or anyway despite their efforts the vision losses such as SARDs, PRA or glaucoma became complete.
Collie Eye Anomolies (CEA): This has early onset- weeks to months after birth. Early check of collies of all sorts by a knowledgeable Vet is recommended, because certain forms of CEA that involve tears or folds or detachment of the retina can be reduced or cured by laser surgery. Reports indicate that mild forms are often missed by owners, because the disease does not usually progress to total blindness, and simply halts with some amount of vision blurring or loss. Damage to the eye lens during CEA such as cataracts seem to be rare but possible - opacity which can be mistaken for cataracts can happen in the fluid inside the eyeball if debris and fragments of a damaged retina accumulate in clouds inside the eye-fluid.
Officially CEA is rated as incurable, all collies who inherit the severe form which causes total degrading of the retina and total vision loss should be nuetered to reduce the risk of CEA in future generations. Reports to Not indicate severe pain with the disease, and because of exceptional intelligence many or most collies reportedly adapt well to relying on smelling scents, feeling ground-or indoor surface textures, and exploitation of usually excellent hearing to lead happy lives with good caring owners. Considerable information is avialable on the Web by searching on the term "Collie Eye Anomali." Please feel free to contact us if you desire further aid in understanding the details and language of the Web Reports from medical authorities.
***
Except for or despite the real difficulties associated with unendurable pain, with its lack of sleep and malnutrition, the Web reported surveys of blind and deaf dogs’ owners indicated only extremely rare instances of permanent personality changes toward irritability or aggression. More common was a fairly short time - weeks to months - of what might be simply described as “behavior regression” of older dogs to puppyish behavior such as deliberately “bumping” into objects and companions, difficulties traversing down stairs or getting down from furniture after getting up, and a occasional relearning of new ways for socializing with other dogs in the absence of the ordinary dog-dog visual signaling. Dogs who were only deaf seemed rarely to have difficulty in adapting to losing hearing of others the dog-dog verbal signals such as growling, and anyway deaf dogs were always equipped with a classic set of barks, whines, and growls and breed specific "songs" of their own that they used instinctively (whose acoustic mechanical vibrations they feel-sense as they make the sounds and which by "mirror" neuron processes they can learn to recognize from other dogs).
What can be done? (In rough priority, but your emphasis should depend on what is needed by you and the dog! – IMO)
1. Pain reduction, safety [size aspects], security, day or blue-light, be up-beat
2. Encourage Independence (they can adapt and learn; puppy-like regression permitted)
3. Ample food (happy “sailor” - works for human submariners!)
4. Texturing and scent labeling their surroundings - (Actually, aiding them to sense their surroundings with their nose, feet - toes and ankles, etc to identify specific places . Also please ensure there are no sharp points or any dangerous things that a blind dog might run into.)
5. Music, voice, or their own bell (for mapping-location by using the echoes, as done by blind humans, bats, dolphins, submarines,...)
6. You Speak, They Gesture: situation and (verb, adjective, noun) [See Review about work of Sean Senechal, 2009]
Blind and or deaf dogs, despite often being adopted into human families at an age of about eight weeks or a little later (and ordinary dogs) by 24/7 study of their new people’s faces and body-actions learn which of the (dog's) body language and sounds their people pay attention to, such as pawing or lifting a leg for dramatic emphasis. If a dog becomes blind in older age, she or he already has a collection of specific "body gestures" and-or "songs" to communicate to their people. They can almost all learn during the rest of their life to use new and special gestures to communicate with their people.
A method useable for blind dogs can help them to confirm their existing gestures and add vital new signal-gestures in ways that reassure the dog that it is still secure, loved and safe (although the world has changed). Possibly you can, as others, help your dog recover her self-confidence while she is adapting and reduce her (and your) anxiety. Recently demonstrated methods build upon what dogs already know and can do, so that they can adapt and learn to respond by dog-paw-gestures to voice questions from their people by telling their people:
- what they smell or hear(if they can hear) or-and see (if they have useful vision) going on,
- what the dog is anxious about,
- where it hurts,
- what it wants, or needs, ....... .
Deaf dogs were traditionally taught simple versions of American Sign Language (ASL) or SL versions of other countries. [See <deafdogs.org> for sketches of some simple commands] Almost all dogs - blind, deaf or ordinary - mainly rely on gestures to communicate to humans, other dogs and other animals, with a bit of vocalizing for emphasis, as described on other Site web pages.
Help your dog’s self-confidence while adapting and reduce their (and your) anxiety.
Part of what causes newly blind dogs to be anxious, insecure and depressed is their loss of a major, visual, portion of how they recognize and understand the behavior of the people in their world. We learned that understanding the behavior of puppies, all of whom are blind at birth and deaf, who learn to see and those who don’t, is helpful to understand and care for older dogs who become blind.
Puppies: Of course all puppies are eye-blind at birth. In the very first seconds and minutes they entirely rely on sensing heat (infrared-light) and moving toward it (to reach their mother’s nipples which are the warmest food-places in the nest) [Ref. S. Coren, 2004]
About nine days of age, in the remarkably short time span of three or four days, in preparation to see and then hear, their skulls can become nearly twice larger and may change shape abruptly. [Photos are available.] Obviously, if a puppy’s eyes don’t function on schedule, a puppy automatically instinctively from that time onward learns to rely on its ability to detect vibrations (sound) with its eight or nine sensors for that (see page “Adapting to deafness for more details). And at the same time, the puppy has already begun using its ability to detect and analyze molecules (smells) to recognize what is near it, and to then navigate to its siblings and mother. Weeks later as their brains and nerves mature more, they learn to with their eyes see distances and depth in 3-dimensions and hear in stereo (acoustic 3-D), if their development follows the ordinary patterns of their species and breed.
Without unfortunate selective breeding for flashy coats by Breed Clubs with AKC approval, only a few puppies per ten thousand borne would lose full-fledged useful inner-ear hearing about age 14 days or so because of genetic based “autoimmune-like” reactions. Much observational data, and recent research indicate, according to reports, that later in life many genetically deaf dogs can partially recover useful hearing. Technically, as an autoimmune process the loss of hearing soon after birth might conceivably be suppressed or delayed by such as gamma globulin and prednisone, et al. Comparable human genetic based autoimmune processes were recently also becoming documented.
Likewise a few puppies would almost completely lack ordinary eye-abilities to see, and some would have unusual eye-features such as blue eyes or odd shaped eye-pupils. Some of the unusual features obstruct the vision sharpness in poor lighting conditions - mixed bright and dark areas. From the late 1990s into the next decade progress in genetic research and detailed research seem to have shown that the fundamental mechanisms that obstruct ordinary inner-ear hearing and ordinary eyes-seeing are possibly or maybe probably similar versions of certain comparatively rare inherited biological processes.
Older Dogs: In addition to risks of accidents such as can happen playing with sharp sticks, or other accidents, as dogs become older they encounter natural internal biological events such as diabetes and external chemical “challenges-insults.” Some external challenges happen in outdoors environments from such as toxic plants, snakes bites, toad-toxins, etc and some from human domestic chemical such as insecticides, weed-killers, automobile anti-freeze, etc. Older age onset of dog-blindness were often diagnosed (labeled) as Sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome (SARDS) or Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) - genetic diseases, retinal detachment or bleeding or rips, and glaucoma - -which can involve damage or loss of the retina and adjacent nerve ganglions. Those did not appear to be caused by readily indentified viruses or bacteria diseases, and through early 2011 the mentions of “cures” seemed typically providing anti-oxidants and such, to delay or stop but rarely reverse, damage of the eyes’ parts.
As science improved in its ability to examine tiny interior elements of the dogs’ eyes, more often there were similar features reported that strongly suggested possible or probably triggered auto-immune processes in the onset and progress of some major sources or forms of blindness. Although medications became available to reduce pain and delay complete blindness, in many instances surgery was needed to relieve intolerable pain, or anyway despite their efforts the vision losses such as SARDs, PRA or glaucoma became complete.
Collie Eye Anomolies (CEA): This has early onset- weeks to months after birth. Early check of collies of all sorts by a knowledgeable Vet is recommended, because certain forms of CEA that involve tears or folds or detachment of the retina can be reduced or cured by laser surgery. Reports indicate that mild forms are often missed by owners, because the disease does not usually progress to total blindness, and simply halts with some amount of vision blurring or loss. Damage to the eye lens during CEA such as cataracts seem to be rare but possible - opacity which can be mistaken for cataracts can happen in the fluid inside the eyeball if debris and fragments of a damaged retina accumulate in clouds inside the eye-fluid.
Officially CEA is rated as incurable, all collies who inherit the severe form which causes total degrading of the retina and total vision loss should be nuetered to reduce the risk of CEA in future generations. Reports to Not indicate severe pain with the disease, and because of exceptional intelligence many or most collies reportedly adapt well to relying on smelling scents, feeling ground-or indoor surface textures, and exploitation of usually excellent hearing to lead happy lives with good caring owners. Considerable information is avialable on the Web by searching on the term "Collie Eye Anomali." Please feel free to contact us if you desire further aid in understanding the details and language of the Web Reports from medical authorities.
***
Except for or despite the real difficulties associated with unendurable pain, with its lack of sleep and malnutrition, the Web reported surveys of blind and deaf dogs’ owners indicated only extremely rare instances of permanent personality changes toward irritability or aggression. More common was a fairly short time - weeks to months - of what might be simply described as “behavior regression” of older dogs to puppyish behavior such as deliberately “bumping” into objects and companions, difficulties traversing down stairs or getting down from furniture after getting up, and a occasional relearning of new ways for socializing with other dogs in the absence of the ordinary dog-dog visual signaling. Dogs who were only deaf seemed rarely to have difficulty in adapting to losing hearing of others the dog-dog verbal signals such as growling, and anyway deaf dogs were always equipped with a classic set of barks, whines, and growls and breed specific "songs" of their own that they used instinctively (whose acoustic mechanical vibrations they feel-sense as they make the sounds and which by "mirror" neuron processes they can learn to recognize from other dogs).
What can be done? (In rough priority, but your emphasis should depend on what is needed by you and the dog! – IMO)
1. Pain reduction, safety [size aspects], security, day or blue-light, be up-beat
2. Encourage Independence (they can adapt and learn; puppy-like regression permitted)
3. Ample food (happy “sailor” - works for human submariners!)
4. Texturing and scent labeling their surroundings - (Actually, aiding them to sense their surroundings with their nose, feet - toes and ankles, etc to identify specific places . Also please ensure there are no sharp points or any dangerous things that a blind dog might run into.)
5. Music, voice, or their own bell (for mapping-location by using the echoes, as done by blind humans, bats, dolphins, submarines,...)
6. You Speak, They Gesture: situation and (verb, adjective, noun) [See Review about work of Sean Senechal, 2009]
Blind and or deaf dogs, despite often being adopted into human families at an age of about eight weeks or a little later (and ordinary dogs) by 24/7 study of their new people’s faces and body-actions learn which of the (dog's) body language and sounds their people pay attention to, such as pawing or lifting a leg for dramatic emphasis. If a dog becomes blind in older age, she or he already has a collection of specific "body gestures" and-or "songs" to communicate to their people. They can almost all learn during the rest of their life to use new and special gestures to communicate with their people.
A method useable for blind dogs can help them to confirm their existing gestures and add vital new signal-gestures in ways that reassure the dog that it is still secure, loved and safe (although the world has changed). Possibly you can, as others, help your dog recover her self-confidence while she is adapting and reduce her (and your) anxiety. Recently demonstrated methods build upon what dogs already know and can do, so that they can adapt and learn to respond by dog-paw-gestures to voice questions from their people by telling their people:
- what they smell or hear(if they can hear) or-and see (if they have useful vision) going on,
- what the dog is anxious about,
- where it hurts,
- what it wants, or needs, ....... .
Deaf dogs were traditionally taught simple versions of American Sign Language (ASL) or SL versions of other countries. [See <deafdogs.org> for sketches of some simple commands] Almost all dogs - blind, deaf or ordinary - mainly rely on gestures to communicate to humans, other dogs and other animals, with a bit of vocalizing for emphasis, as described on other Site web pages.