Gratitude for Our Black Dog's Speedy Recovery

We are so thankful for how easily our Black Dog is recovering from having his eye removed. About ten days after his surgery, we were on a getaway to the desert. R was running as if he had no pain whatsoever.

As you can see in the photo, the swelling and bruising is gone. The shape of his face is symmetrical. He is working on growing back his fur.

A few of you have asked whether he has a prosthetic eye. He doesn't have one that can be seen from the outside. However, he has a space-filling prosthesis under his closed left eyelid to preserve the shape of his face. I have taken photos of him daily since the surgery, and I'll put them all together into a "recovery timeline" when he is completely recovered, including growing back his fur.

We think that he seems happier since having his painful eye removed. Moreover, we've seen, over and over again, that he still has his exuberant spirit. In fact, as I took him and Shyla up to a mesa that we've dubbed "Shyla's Mesa" to take these photos, he was leaping in the air and barking with excitement.

The Duo was filled with happy energy that day. They chased each other across the mesa around sunset.

I think that it's never easy to decide to permanently remove an eye or any body part from a beloved animal. I struggled with guilt leading up to the surgery and immediately thereafter. I worried that I could have prevented his eye from getting so bad if I'd somehow discerned what was happening sooner. I've put that thinking behind me as I see how joyfully R is living now.

For those who are wondering, his remaining eye seems to be responding to the glaucoma medicines. Its intraocular pressure is still normal. We hope that, for once, we can beat the averages and help him to keep the vision in that eye for a long time.