Obi-Wan Might See Again

We got this encouraging email from a volunteer whose mom had to step in to look after her dogs and FBRN foster when the vol had to undergo an appendectomy.  Like most appendectomies, it wasn't planned for or scheduled beforehand, so we owe her mom a big, "Thank you!" for being there for our foster boy, Obi.

This is a long update, but the news is really good!  We think you will enjoy reading about Obi-Wan's adventures in what we hope are the last days of his blindness:

"First of all, thanks for the well-wishes after my appendix fiasco. The Frenchies suffered the most because they had to go 10 FULL DAYS without a car ride!!! I swear they all moped, but they survived. 

Obi had his visit with the eye doctor yesterday, and she is pretty optimistic that he could regain at least some of his sight with cataract surgery. I loved her, and she charges half-price for rescues, which takes the cost for one eye from $1400 to around $700. She said that a lot of times people can only afford one eye so she chooses the best one after they've been anesthetized and she can really evaluate them in-depth. 

The good news is the ultrasound (they hold a little ultrasound wand directly on his eyeballs, and he was such a good boy!) showed that both of his retinas are still attached, which is not always the case in dogs that have had bad cataracts for years, and his cataracts are really bad. He has no sight at all, but his pupils did eventually constrict with very bright light, so that is another good sign. 

She said he may not get full sight in the eye after surgery because the retina is often damaged to some extent, but that he would most likely be able have significant enough sight to help him get around much better than he does now. 

It would be a huge help for him because the poor boy is REALLY bad at remembering where anything is! He manages to pretty much run into every single wall and piece of furniture every single time he walks anywhere, regardless of the fact that we follow the same routine every single day! His method is to just walk very slowly and use his face as a bumper. 

He also can't seem to follow the sound of a voice; it actually tends to confuse him more, but if you reach your hand down, walk backwards and snap continuously, he is much better at following that. It looks a little silly, but it saves his face a few bumps. Someone suggested that I put some perfume on the furniture at his face level to help him identify where things are. It didn't help, but the furniture and his face smell good. 

Aside from his sight, his health seems very good. I haven't seen any sign at all of seizures, and I actually forget that he was supposed to have had one or two. He is just a very good, sweet happy boy! He LOVES meeting people and gets all excited and wiggly when they pet him. He gets so worked up that when they stop petting him he starts spinning around and barking, trying to get them to keep petting him, he just can't understand why they would stop! 

He really would love to run around and play, it's only his blindness that makes him too hesitant. He hates being left alone and he has the world's most mournful howl to tell you all about it! Luckily he only howls for a short time, he doesn't seem to keep it up the whole time you're out of the room. I keep telling him crying like a little baby girl is not something that a big beefy middle aged man-frog should do, but he doesn't care!  

I haven't gotten any good pictures of him lately, so I included one from the first night he was here. This is the look he gave me after I told him there was no more room on the bed, it made me laugh because he looks positively demonic! This is part of the reason he sleeps on the bed now. (I don't think this particular picture should go on the website, it's not his most flattering look!) I'll take some more after he gets his bath, these white dogs are hard to keep clean in the country."

We included the demonic, "What? No room on the bed?!" photo because we can do as we please, and it pleases us to share that funny photo.  But we also wanted you to see some less outraged pics of this handsome boy.  A very big thank you to everyone who has sponsored Obi-Wan; we thought you'd be happy to learn that he is not going to be pinballing between the furniture and doorframes for much longer, and that's thanks to you!  You always come through for our needy beasts.  We love you for that, gushes

The Frog Princess