There are few contrasts greater in sad sentiment than a blind puppy. A helpless animal associated so closely with pure joy paired with a disability as consequential as blindness is truly a heart-wrenching scenario, but one that has happened more than a few times. But how can you tell if a puppy is blind?
While all dogs are born blind, puppies that continue to bump into objects or have increased anxiety while away from their mother after about 3 weeks could be blind. Another way to diagnose blindness is by checking the appearance of its eyes. Dogs that are blind often have cloudy or swollen eyes.
There are many ways to diagnose and treat blindness in dogs that can help improve the overall quality of life of the dog. However, restoring or giving a dog its eyesight is rare, and it is more than likely the dog will remain blind throughout its life.
Born Blind
The blindness that dogs experience at birth is called functional blindness because of its difference from the traditional blindness traditionally thought of. Though dependant on breed, normally functioning dogs will gain their full eyesight after 10-21 days.
The main reason for this not yet acquired skill at birth is because the eyes are still developing. The hearing and sight of puppies have not completed their development by the time they come into the world, so they require intense care from their mother to help them survive for the first few weeks of their life.
If their eyes are opened too early, it can actually be extremely harmful. Exposing their eyes to the bright lights of the world before development is complete can cause actual blindness, which can be irreversible.
So, while dogs cannot see when they are first born, it is not a cause for concern, nor is there something wrong with them. Their eyelids are closed extremely tight to protect their eyes, and they will open when they are ready. There is no need to rush the process.
Diagnosis
Concern and worry are aptly expressed after the three weeks are up. Again, it will depend on the breed, with some breeds being ready consistently before others. A puppy can take around 23 days to fully open its eyes, while some open their eyes 9 days after birth. The range is wide and so are the expectations.
When their age reaches closer to a month and beyond that mark without full eyesight, you should be seriously concerned. It is rare that a dog is blind on account of its eyes never opening, and it is more likely that it opens its eyes but behaves the same way that it did when it was first born.
Difficulty in diagnosis arises in the complexity of developing life. A newborn dog can't hear or see and will rely on smell to find its mother and anything else it needs. As it develops, its other senses will kick in and its movements will be much more direct and less wobbly. However, a dog's smell and hearing are so good that it might be hard to tell at first if the dog truly is blind.
Luckily, dogs are usually born in large litters, so you will have around 8 other puppies to compare it to. Dogs that are born blind will lag behind their brothers and sisters both physically and developmentally. When the others are running along the grass, a blind dog will struggle and potentially run into objects, especially those that it can't smell.
Other behavioral symptoms include being startled easily, lethargy, and playing less than other dogs.
Another symptom is the quality of its eyes. Redness, swollenness, and cloudiness are all symptoms of blindness. Blindness due to injury will be easy to notice, but being born blind is likely to be more subtle as long as it wasn't born with a physical deformity of the eye.
The truest and most sure to know that a puppy is blind is to see a vet, where a medical diagnosis and cause can be determined. Dogs can be born blind for the same reason humans are: physical deformity, viral disease, or genetic disparity.
Reasons for Excess Blindness
There are generally three different types of blindness:
- Complete blindness: total loss of eyesight
- Intermittent blindness: blindness is inconsistent
- Partial blindness: eyesight is blurry or there is total blindness in only one eye
Any of these types of blindness are possible at the birth of the dog, and the causes are diverse. However, the reasons for blindness at birth are not always the same for developed blindness later in life.
Reasons for blindness in dogs are physical injury, underdevelopment, diabetes, glaucoma, cataracts, Progressive Retinal Atrophy, and Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome. These do not all have the same likelihood at birth and old age, but any of them are possible.
Treatment
Most cases of blindness are irreversible, so surgeries and medicine shouldn't be expected to cure the dog. Coping with the symptoms should be the focus instead of treatment.
Certain types of blindness can cause great pain to the dog, so medication can be given to the dog to treat pain. However, each cause of blindness will have a unique treatment, but most treatments will deal with comfort.
Dogs that are born blind tend to have heightened senses of smell and hearing, so by relying and focusing on those senses, a dog can be greatly helped. Adding distinct bells and ringers to important locations around the house or to people and other dogs can help a blind dog identify something it can't see. The same is true of adding distinct smells around the dog's environment.
Dog-proofing a home is another great way to help treat the symptoms of blindness. A home that doesn't change often and ensures there are no dangerous obstacles will help a dog remain safe and comfortable.
Getting a blind dog halo/harness is a very practical solution as well. This device is a harness that straps onto the blind dog with a plastic halo that goes around the dog's head. This way, it is given a fair warning before it bumps its head into anything. It is also a great indication to other people that the dog is blind.
Cindy is a prolific writer and online researcher who can't imagine life without dogs. There is scarcely a dog topic she has not researched or written about. Her love for dogs and helping dog parents is evident by the thousands of dogtemperament.com visitors who read her articles monthly. Most of all, each topic Cindy writes on helps forge a stronger bond and understanding between her and her happy Catahoula Leopard Dog Jossie.