Guinness

Guinness is a very small neutered male Boston Terrier - he only weighs just over 7 lbs.      Guinness has cataracts which started a year ago and are steadily getting worse.   At the moment he has peripheral vision but soon he will be totally blind.     We are hoping to be able to arrange the surgery which would give this little dog back his sight.   If you are able to donate anything towards the cost of saving Guinness's sight please go to our website nasap.ca and click on "NASAP" and "how to help".     Guinness is spending his first night in his foster home tonight and will have a lot of new things to get used to over the next few days.    He is a happy loving little dog.   He is extremely agile and he loves to play with other dogs.   A squeaky toy sends him into a state of high exitement!     He has a lot of years left and we want to make sure he has his sight to take with him into old age - his vision is redeemable right now and now is the time to act.    Please help Guinness if you can, thank you.

UPDATE 3 APRIL

Little Guinness today went to his new home.   He has been allowed to join his new family prior to his surgery because of his special circumstances.     He will be able to bond with them before his cataract operation and will be familiar with their home which will make his recuperation less stressful.    NASAP will be covering the cost of Guinness' cataract surgery and so we are still soliciting donations to make this possible at the earliest date.  We would like to extend a BIG thank you to all the people who have generously donated towards his care.   We are still short of the total required to pay for the very expensive and highly specialised surgery so please consider making a donation if you can.     We will be posting updates so that everyone can follow the progress of this brave little dog.

UPDATE 23 APRIL 2010

Hi,I just got off the phone with the vet assistant from Calgary Care Centre,and Guinness is booked in for a pre-op consultation on May 11. If all his bloodwork, etc. is okay, he will have his procedure the following day! My husband took him for his checkup a few days ago,and Guinness has gained half a pound. He loves going for walks and gets excited at the word or if he hears his leash jingling. He has had no trouble finding his place in our little pack (or the kitchen) and he is all terrier! Our Jack Russell Terrier, Bailey, has tried to tune him in to her way of thinking, and he stands his ground firmly and vocally! As you can see from the photos, size is no obstacle when playing. Celteagh, our Great Pyrenees who we adopted from NASAP in 2002 loves to muck around with Guinness, and is quite gentle with him, even when he is pulling on her tail. We will keep you posted as to the progress of his eye surgery. Thanks again for letting us adopt him, he has stolen everyone's heart.

UPDATE 12 MAY

Guinness had his surgery today and all went well.

UPDATE 17 May

He is doing very well. He is more confident now about where he can run and jump on/off surfaces. He was managing remarkably well before, but this is such an obvious improvement—I'm so happy for him! For the next two weeks he will be on oral antibiotics twice daily, two sets of eyedrops four times daily, and of course he must wear a cone to prevent him from scatching at his stitches. He has a follow up this Wednesday with the vet. Throughout this all, Guinness continues to be a happy, active, and lovable little guy. We'll keep you posted on his further progress in the next two weeks.

Andrea and Cam

FINAL UPDATE posted 12 June 2010

Well, it has been almost four weeks since Guinness' cataracts were removed and he has made an amazing

recovery. He no longer has the speckled, light blue cloudiness in his lenses as he did when we first met

him—now when you look into his eyes they are quite clear (he was actually given new lenses).

As we mentioned before, prior to the surgery, he made his way around remarkably well for being so

visually impaired. He learned and memorized the layout of our house, and had mastered the navigation of

the stairs inside the house, and even the outdoor concrete steps of our house with a careful approach

and some verbal cues. He bumped into obstacles in the backyard if he tried to play with the other dogs

or just tried to run around as he likes to do.

Now, he is fearless about jumping on or off steps, laps, decks, and furniture. He has no more trouble with curbs and

is a real joy to watch when he plays or trots along on walks. Immediately after his surgery we noticed a distinct 

difference in him that he now looks around now when we walk. He didn't turn his head much when the cataracts

limited his vision, but now he is very aware of and curious about his environment in all directions, even at night.

Today I laughed as I watched him pouncing on a carrot in the grass in the backyard. He loves to play,

and now that he can see, he is free to do so without bumping into things or being at a disadvantage when

playing with other dogs.

I'm not sure if I captured the brightness and clarity of his eyes with his new lenses in our photos

since it's not easy to catch him standing still and looking into the camera! We extend our thanks to

NASAP and the kind donors for making this surgery available to Guinness,and to the doctors and staff at