Rolling Dog Farm Blog

Evelyn and I left the ranch late this afternoon and headed to Spokane, Washington.  Evelyn has an appointment with our veterinary ophthalmologist, Dr. Bill Yakely, on Monday morning.  For this sweet blind Lab, it’s also a trip home in a way — she originally came to us from Spokane Animal Control.

I took the photo this evening when we arrived at the hotel where we’re staying.  I learned on my first stop on this trip that whenever I get out of the truck, Evelyn immediately — and I do mean immediately, because I barely have the door closed before she does this — climbs from the back seat into the driver’s seat.  Of course, she can go from back seat to front seat in an instant, but somehow just can’t figure out how to go in reverse.  Hmm.

Evelyn is blind from cataracts, but she also now has detached lenses.  Just recently the lens in her left eye ended up pressing against the back of the cornea, causing irritation and inflammation in that eye.  The lens in her right eye is still floating in the fluid inside the eye.  Our vet in Helena, Dr. Brenda Culver, evaluated Evelyn last week and recommended we take her to Dr. Yakely.

We don’t know yet what the outcome will be.  Evelyn will have an electroretinogram (ERG) first, which will determine whether her retinas are still firing and if so, to what degree.  The ERG results will dictate what kind of surgery she has.  Evelyn might have lens extraction surgery in one or both eyes, or we might have to remove one or both eyes.  If her retinas are still functioning normally, it’s possible … just maybe … she might wind up with some ability to see again.

I’m nervous about it, she’s not.  Evelyn is sacked out on the hotel room floor as I write this.  When I took her for her first walk this evening, she did her trademark ‘happy girl’ routine … she found just the right patch of grass and rolled around on her back, woofing with delight.

(Click on photo for larger image.)