I ended yesterday’s post by telling you I had to go to the dump and plant nursery. That wasn’t entirely true. I had other things on my agenda, too. I just didn’t want to elaborate, for personal reasons. I didn’t want you all to worry.
I had to take Meg to the vet. She’s been having odd troubles lately that I’ve been sort of worried about and sort of not. ‘Cause, sick person that I am, I find it funny when she goes to pick up her bone and bites her foot instead. Or she goes to gobble up her dinner but ends up sniffing around the outside of the bowl instead. Or she goes to walk up the steps and stumbles, missing the first step.
The look of confusion on her face kills me. But it’s not right to laugh at her strange difficulties. So I took our aging canine (she’ll be 10 in June!) to the vet.
He had one word for me… presbyopia.
As with people, a dog’s vision can diminish as they age. Focusing on objects close-up gets harder and harder.
“For real?” I asked the vet. He nodded solemnly.
“So, what can we do about it?” I asked.
“Well,” my vet explained. “We should consider corrective lenses.”
I thought he was pulling my leg. After I finished laughing, making an idiot of myself, he went on to explain that of course, we couldn’t expect her to wear corrective lenses all of the time. I mean, she is a dog. How practical is that? But it would help her tremendously to wear them at mealtime, when she really needs to focus, and maybe one or two other times during the day when she seems to be having difficulty.
“You’re serious?” I asked again.
“Yes,” the vet assured me.
That’s when he went to the back room and got a sample pair for us to try. They look just like people glasses, but they have a special strap that goes around the back of her head and under her chin to keep them in place.
I was afraid to tell Hubby how much it all cost. We haven’t spent that much on eye wear for the entire family in years. Which means I can’t reveal that here, either. I’ll just say these are not dollar store reading glasses.
Meg’s not crazy about wearing the glasses. It’s definitely going to take her a while to get used to it. But she ate dinner last night without difficulty. So I think the expense was worth it. Now I just have to remember to clean the food spatters off on a nightly basis. She’s a gobbler, so food flies when she eats.
There’s nothing wrong with Belle’s eyes. Thankfully. Of course, she’s much younger.
She is camera shy, though, and refuses to smile for pictures.
Speaking of Belle, it’s going to be quite a challenge teaching her to go easy on Meg when the glasses are on, that’s for sure. Because Belle loves to play. But we’ll do our best.
I posted the rest of the shots on my FLICKR page. Along with a few shots of my African Violets, which are only blooming thanks to Hubby’s diligence in watering and feeding them.
