Disabled Pets/Cones
 

Hello all,
I don't want to start a terrible sad thread but less than 24 hours, my almost 4 month old Chihuahua puppy lost her left eye in a freak accident (Luckily, the other one is just fine). She is home with me now with a cone on her head - the Doctors say that she is young enough to recover and her quality of life will not be diminished.
My first question is can someone please share their experience in terms of feeding a puppy/dog with the cone? I'm not sure whether to hand feed her, lift the bowl up, etc.
My second question is if you have a disabled pet or know someone who does, how do you deal with the disability? I'm afraid she will run into things or be terrified when someone suddenly touches her on the side she has no eye on.
I'm sure everything will turn out o.k. but my anxiety is through the roof with this situation and I can't think.
Thank You in advance for you responses.

Baby Parker -

My fiances son had a pug that lost an eye. He is an energetic playful dog! His tongue sticks out to the side wit no eye (I have no idea why, LOL), and he's as adorable as ever! (Well as adaorable as a pug can be, LOL).That was 5 years ago. :D

She should figure out how to drink and eat on her own with the cone on. It may take a few tries, and if you kind of show her how to get to the dish with it on it'll probably be faster, but she'll figure it out.

Also, I understand your concern about her quality of life with only one eye. But I agree with your vet, being as young as she is, she should do great, even with one eye :)

Dogs don't really see it as a loss, like we would perceive it with losing an eye. It may take a bit for her to figure out how to get around with just the one, and she may be spooked from time to time if you sneak up on her from that side, but other than that she'll just think that that's how she's made, and won't be any less happy because of it.

Maybe talk to her as you approach her, so she knows you're there. I can understand your anxiety, she's your baby :) But I think she's going to have a happy life regardless if she has 1 or 2 eyes.

Hope this helped :)

So sorry to hear of your pets accident and am happy to hear she will be OK. Dogs cope amazingly well.

So sorry to hear what happened to your sweet baby dog! We had a dog in high school that lost her eye in a freak accident (my step brother brought over his larger dog and they were rough housing a tiny bit and a freak nip hurt her eye irreparably). She recovered well, never seemed to miss the eye - animals aren't like people, they don't mourn for things that change, they just get on with life and keep rolling.

As far as the cone - my kitty Diego had to wear a cone last year because he refused to stop licking his no-no place. I was afraid he wouldn't be able to eat or drink, but he figured it out within a day. He was constantly knocking the cone on things and I was so glad when he could finally take it off.

Here is a picture of Diego wearing his cone!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1401845193

I'm really sorry to hear about this accident! It is so hard taking care of our pets when they can't tell us what is wrong, or what hurts. I don't have any experience with the cone, but I do have a one-eyed cat. In the past 5 years, I think he has misjudged the distance while jumping once and walked into a wall twice. He doesn't know that he's missing an eye whatsoever. He is the sweetest cat despite his upbringing. He lost an eye from being in a hoarders house, sick and untreated. We adopted him without an eye and haven't regretted that decision once. He has never been started by touching close to his missing eye either. You puppy may need a little time to adjust, but I'm sure she will do fine with your help!

I had a cat who was deaf who seemed happy enough. Few little strange quirks.

Remember dogs don't rely on thier sight like we do. I'm sure she will cope fine.