Charlie

Poor Charlie......apart from the heart murmur and the diabetes, he's also got "dry eye" and has now gone blind :(

He's 12 [we think] and we got him from Lizzie's Barn, a month after getting Ricky.

Today, we took him for a routine check up and I told her one of his eyes was very large....he bumps his eyes continually and they swell up and then go down and he makes no fuss, so much so that we assumed, it didn't bother him really.  This time, his eye had not gone down and we were concerned.  The vet looked at it and said it needed to come out, then she looked at the other eye and said it didn't look right either....then realised it had ruptured :(  I thought it just looked small next to the *big* one and had't really noticed that it was, in fact, much smaller than the other one :(  I can't believe I didn't notice :((  He has to have drops and gel in his eyes all the time and I had noticed that the *good* eye was rather red but I just wasn't taking as much notice of it because I was so concerned with the other one :(((

We carried on with the check up and had blood tests done, he was weighed and his heart listened to but I was in bits and quite weepy.  We'd been waiting for the time to come when we felt we had to let him go because he had been so ill.  He must have been gradually developing diabetes for a while but it seemed to us, to come all of a sudden.  He lost weight rapidly and his hair began to fall out [he did go almost completely bald] but he quickly stabilised on the insulin jabs and the strict diet.  He had always had a habit of chewing at himself in certain regions and over grooming to the point that he had bald spots but he became worse and left himself looking very odd as he groomed himself down to the skin and nibbled relentlessly at the areas he could reach :(

Yet though everything, Charlie has always been the softest, warmest, loving and loyal dog with a wonderful lust for life.  When he was particularly happy, he would lie  on his back and flick his front paw with his back paw [the opposite one IYKWIM] and make a sort of growly but *happy* noise.  He was always a waggy, friendly chap and loved everyone he met but the love of his life is my husband Stew and the feeling seems to be mutual.  When Stew comes home from work, the two of them are very quickly on the same chair, snuggled up together.  Charlie also knows the days of the week it seems, leaving Stew alone on work day mornings but becoming almost hysterical with joy at the weekends when Stew takes both the boys down the canal towpath for a leisurely stroll.......Stew tries to creep past him to get a coffee before taking them out but Charlie soon sniffs him out and jumps up at him until he takes him to the car.....where he will with quite patiently until Stew finishes his drink :))

Since he has been blind, he has relied more on his nose for getting round the house but he has never managed to walk in a straight line and this is why he bumps himself so much.  We have tried different ideas to prevent the bumps...hats won't stay on as he wont leave them alone and the lampshade collar just ends up causing him shoulder injuries as it gets banged into that area whilst he is trying to navigate.  His hearing is not up to much either and you can bet that if you call him he will either look or go running off in the opposite direction.

I'm glad we've had Charlie in our lives but I wish I had known him for longer and had had more time with him when he was well.  

We have bought some time to sort things out but we know he won't be having the surgery.....it's not "if" any more...it's "when".......not long :(  The hardest part is we have to decide and we all think sooner rather than later :(