Pippin in Missouri

Back to Adoption Page

PIPPIN

Pippin is a 8 week old purebred male Soft
Coated Wheaten Terrier. His DOB is
November 15, 2004.

Pippin was turned over to rescue by his
breeder due to a problem with his eyesight
- he is most likely blind or has very limited
vision. If you look closely at his eyes in the
pictures you will see they have a white
glaze over them. He is also extremely small
for his age - about 1/2 the size of the other
puppies in his litter.

He is scheduled to see the vet on January
14th and at that time we will post an update
with further information about his health.

That being said he is extremely playful, and
loves to play with toys and play fight with
his blanket.

He will need a home that is willing and able
to work with a blind puppy and teach him
how to live in the world.

He is located in the Olathe, KS area.

January 14 - Vet Visit

Not so good, good and GREAT news from
the vet today.

Pippin weighed in at 4 lbs even today at the
vets. A normal puppy his age would weigh
around 8 lbs. so he is pretty small.

The not so good is that he is loaded with
giardia which is an internal parasite that
dogs can pick up from the feces of other
dogs and contaminated drinking water. It is
common in puppies bought in pet stores
and from puppymills due to the unclean
conditions. This probably explains why is is
underweight and also the loose stools that
were seen last night. He is currently on two
medications that should quickly clear this
up.

The good news is that he is NOT blind. He
cannot see directly in front of himself but
he does have peripheral vision.

The GREAT news is the vet believes he has
a condition known as juvenile cataracts. In
a dark room with a bright light the vet could
see through the cataracts and he believes
that behind them Pippin's eyes are perfectly
normal. What this means is that after we
have the cataracts removed Pippin will
most likely have normal vision!!

We will be making an appt. and taking him
to an eye specialist to see what they think
and also to find out how much the surgery
is going to cost to restore his vision. If you
would like to make a donation to his surgery

January 17 - Eye Specialist Visit

Pippin was taken to see the eye specialist
today. He has gained .5 lb. since Friday and
is thriving in his foster home.

The specialist examined his eyes and feels
that at this point his condition should be
treated with drugs to see if that can clear
up the eyes. Basically at some time either in
utero or in the first 2 weeks of his life,
Pippin contracted an eye infection which
damaged the cells in his corneas and
caused scarring. What is happening is that
the cells are absorbing water from his eyes
which is what is causing the cloudiness. His
right eye is more scarred than the left. He
also has low tear production in both eyes.
He has two different types of medicine that
are being put in his eyes several times
every day and we have also started him on
FlexGel which is an OTC medication that
has shown to do remarkable things for eyes
(painfreepet.com).

Pippin will go back to the specialist in two
weeks to see how the medications are
working. She explained his level of vision
by saying that he basically is looking
through 2 or 3 sheets of wax paper and can
see shadows and movement but nothing
clearly.

Our only other options should the
medications not work would be to do a
cornea transplant but we are hopeful that
will not become necessary.

JANUARY 31ST -
2ND SPECIALIST VISIT

Absolutely wonderful news from the eye
specialist today. There has been major
improvement in Pippin's eyes! His tear
production is at normal levels now and his
retinas are reacting normally to light. Two
weeks ago she could not see his retinas
through the cloudiness but today she could
see all his eye parts.

As you will remember, two weeks ago the
specialist described his vision as seeing
through 2 or 3 sheets of wax paper. Her
hope was that eventually he would get to a
vision level of seeing through 1 sheet of
wax paper. But, Pippin showed her, he is
already at that point in only 2 weeks!!

Her prognosis now is that he will probably
have very near to normal vision. He will
continue his medications and will go in for a
final visit with the specialist near the end of
March and at that time she expect he will
have almost normal vision.

Pippin is also gaining weight and growing.
He is now at 7.2 lbs. - an almost 3 lb. weight
gain in just 2 weeks!

April 2004 - A FOREVER
HOME!

Pippin has been adopted
by the Simonds Family of
MA

Congratulations!