Samantha has a rescue story as well. She is an Alaskan Malamute. When she was 5 months old, her original owner gave her up to a shelter. He thought she had bad hips because she walked kind of sideways. An Alaskan Malamute rescue group got her from the shelter before she was euthanized. When they took her to the vet, they discovered that her hips were fine but she had juvenile cataracts and was completely blind in one eye. She walked sideways because she couldn't see out of one side.
The Alaskan Malamute Assistance League (AMAL) paid for her to have cataract surgery in both eyes. We adopted her when she was 18 months old, one month post surgery. We were warned that she may go through a puppy phase because she had been mostly blind all of her life. She was 92 pounds. A 92 pound puppy is a disaster. She was so destructive! I had to crate her while I was at work but she kept finding ways to escape from the crate. First she unlatched it. Then she got the top off. I kept finding new ways to secure it. Eventually, she busted the welding. She did not want to be in a crate. I had been driving 2 hours to a doggy opthamologist for her follow up appointments every month and everything was looking great until the appointment after she busted the welding on the crate. That time, they found one retina was completely detached and the other was partially detached. Therefore, she only sees some sharp contrast and movement out of one eye. We can't move the furniture and if the kids leave a TV tray out, she'll walk right into it. She's afraid to run now because the last time she was running, she ran right into a tree.
Because she's been blind for all but about 5 months of her life, she's very dependent and submissive, which is really atypical for a Mal. She's really sweet and cuddly
You can tell in the picture that her right eye (when facing her) is worse than her left. It's chronically inflamed now despite daily ointment and aspirin. She has developed glaucoma in that eye now too. She just turned 10 and is getting pretty arthritic in the hips, slowing her down even more. I'm hoping she holds out for another couple years.
Threaded Mode
