Should a dog who can still see be forced into a world a blindness by glaucoma, because society has accepted that blind dogs do fine without their sight?
Spike isn't a heroes dog, my husband serves our country in the US Navy (but he's done a contract in the Marine Corps, in the infantry division) but no he hasn't saved any lives. Spike isn't a hero dog, he hasn't rushed off to save a a person in need. Spike is simply a dog we rescued as a puppy when he was just a few weeks old, who has given more to us than we have ever given him. He was my teenage son's best friend during he hardest times any child should ever have to go through, and laid by his bed when my son's appendix ruptured making him deathly sick and in need of emergency surgery. He's been the one constant thing in my son's life as the military took us out of the only state he has ever been in and known, to be moved three different times to houses that were never going to be a home. No spike isn't a purebred, in fact he's a black/choc lab with beagle, cocker spaniel, and dalmatian. He isn't the most handsomest dog in the world, and hasn't won any special awards or ribbons. No dear friends, spike is just an average dog who keeps getting handed a bad hand.
I grew up believing that one person can in fact make a difference, no matter how many others are against you. I grew up seeing and living with struggles and suffering that could and should have been prevented. I know all too well what it's like to go without, to be hungry, to have no electricity, to not be able to wash your face or hands, to not be able to be one of the "in" crowd because your family cant afford the nice things everyone else seems to have. I didn't like it then, as my son surely doesn't like it now, but you make do with what you have and that has to be enough. But some things should never be accepted as ok or normal. Somethings need to be fought head on, and continued to fight for as long as you are breathing. And if that means being one person standing up for something that he/she believes in, then by god, nobody should be so quick to look down upon, judge, or ignore just because the rest of the world doesn't see or feel the same about it.
This is about canine glaucoma. Like it or not, the fact is, that it is as of right now an incurable disease. The daily pain and suffering that a dog goes through with it, I have now seen firsthand and can say is a horrible thing. My family didn't ask to go through this anymore than Spike who not more than a short time ago struggled to recover from a seriously dangerous kidney infection brought on by a large kidney stone that for several years not one but two veterinarians somehow manged to miss. The removal surgery and after care cost us over three thousand dollars, which on a single income military paycheck was beyond difficult to pay for. We found help with our personal bills and used the largest portion of our check each month for several months to make payments to the only vet in San Diego who would do the surgery with payment arrangements. So spike isn't new to pain and suffering, he managed to make it in the car as my mom, son, and I made our way from Norfolk Virginia where my husbands aircraft carrier was stationed, to sunny San Diego California and never complained once.
Canine glaucoma is a horrible disease. It robs once happy and playful dogs of their eye sight, and doesn't give them a choice. For some its quick and painful, but in others, it's slow and painful. For Spike, he still has full sight in his right eye, and some in his left. It's his left eye that is being attacked by glaucoma. With my family being so stretched paycheck to paycheck already, the emergency vet care, medications, and eye specialist were just not in our budget. Without a second thought, we put ourselves negative in our bank account just taking him in to be seen and diagnosed with glaucoma. Spike is like our second child. So it shouldn't be a surprise to any pet lover, that i jumped into action and setup an online fundraiser, to help us raise the money to pay for care and the cost to help save whatever sight we can of Spike. I had figured that with so many people being animal lovers, that getting support and donations wouldn't be difficult. After all, when you have the chance to make a difference in a animals life, we do right?
Dog's and cats for that matter can live long and happy lives without their sight. Somehow, we have become a society where now that's just what we accept. There is no telethon, marathon, or tv special working to fight canine glaucoma and get people to rally together to try and stop it. We need more funding to go towards the diseases that our beloved pets get stricken with and suffer through. we need people to stop accepting that animals go blind and do fine, and start working to prevent other pets from having to be victims! Or am I completely wrong? Spike has full sight in one eye right now, and partial sight in his other. So you can understand my shock and saddness to see that so many just want me to sit back, let him suffer and struggle and watch as he loses his sight. Am I really one woman against the world?
