JoJoe and the Bear

This Is our rescue shar pei JoJoe.
In August of 2008, we rescued JoJoe from a
shelter in SE Michigan after spotting his picture
on petfinder.com. We realized, while still at
the shelter, that JoJoe was completely blind.
No one at the shelter appeared to have noticed.

Upon taking JoJoe to our vet the next day, we
discovered that his right eye was completely
covered with pigmentation from an untreated
condition very common in Shar Peis called
Entropia. This condition causes the eyelids to
curl inward causing the dog's eyelashes to
rub against his eyeball which causes an ulcer
to form on the cornea and eventually total
pigmentation of the cornea.

His left eye had a large ulcer in the center of his
cornea caused by the same condition. Someone
had allowed this dog to go blind. Perhaps they
couldn't afford it, or were just plain ignorant of
the medical conditions that frequently plague
these very special dogs. It would appear that his
previous owners bred him, at least once. Any
reputable breeder of shar Peis would never breed
a dog with as many faults as JoJoe has. (he IS a
very good looking dog, as far as shar pei's go)

That wasn't the worst of it. - JoJoe had tested
positive for heart worm. A death sentence if
left untreated.

Our desire to get the best possible veterinary care
for JoJoe led us to the Michigan State University
Veterinary Teaching Hospital in East Lansing. The
availability of specialists played heavy in that
decision.

Heart worm Treatment involves a series of
injections given monthly over several months each
followed by a 24 hour observation phase. JoJoe
was not pronounced heart worm free until this past
January. Some dogs don't make it through the treatment.

While at MSU, JoJoe saw some specialists who
recommended tacking his left eyelid temporarily
to allow his ulcer to heal 'possibly' leading to
some return to vision. Surgery to alter his eyelids
(entropion Surgery) would have to wait till after the
heart worm infestation was cured.

After the corneal ulcer in his left eye healed, We
noticed something wonderful - JoJoe could see!
OK maybe Just a little, but he could see well enough
to see obstacles and not have to rely entirely on his
'scent map' anymore. He can see well enough to
follow your hand if you are treating him.

We figure JoJoe has between 20 to 25% of his vision back
- still mostly blind. For 8 months or so we have been
dosing his eyes with a ophthalmic lubricant 3 times
per day. As I write this, he is at the specialty vet
having the entropion surgery. The Vet says we could see some return of vision in his right eye! That would be
great!
Then he'll see where the bear goes every time.

The original video was shot using the inexpensive ($179) Sony HD 'Webbie' video camera (Model: MHS-CM1) in 1280x720 30p mode (the camera default). As you can tell, this camera has no image stabilization system whatsoever...

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• dogs
• shar pei
• rescue
• play
• backyard
• jojoe
• toy
• blind
• entropion

[thel58edman]

Update: JoJoes vision has improved more than we ever thought it would since the surgery. We're pretty sure he can see at least light and dark in his right eye and his left eye has improved all that it ever will. There is likely a very foggy area in the middle of his field of vision in his left eye. His vision is still poor overall, but he sees well enough to do regular doggie activities and better than we (or the vets) thought he would.

[RealWonderboy]

cool

[keisha0612]

Lucky dog. most people in animal shelters don't pay much attention to their charges' conditions. Good thing you guys saved his life just in time. How's his vision?

[mormonboy]

Good quality video in 720p mode. I have noticed that the video quality is considerably less jerky/shakey when shot in 720p, compared to 1080p.

good stuff!