When rescue Irish Terrier, Duffy, was suspected to have canine diabetes, his owners didn’t know just what was going to be in store. Canine diabetes is similar to what a human would experience, and it’s caused by the body being unable to produce insulin, making it difficult to process sugar. The symptoms of canine diabetes include excessive thirst, increased urination, weight loss, and an increased appetite.
With long-term treatment, a diabetic dog can live a relatively normal life, but sadly, if the illness isn’t treated quickly enough, there can be some complications.
According to Animal Eye Care, “A common complication of diabetes in dogs is cataracts (cloudy lenses). In fact, 75% of dogs develop cataracts and blindness in both eyes within 9 months of being diagnosed with diabetes.”
Duffy was eight years old when his owners first began to realize that something was wrong. He suddenly began frequently peeing in the house – and then one day, the worst happened, and Duffy went blind.
“Within about 3-5 months he went from a totally normal 8 year old dog to a dog who was completely blind,” Duffy’s owner, Benjamin May, wrote on Reddit.
Benjamin couldn’t believe how quickly the illness had taken hold of Duffy, and his happy, healthy dog was now struggling with day-to-day life.
“It broke my heart seeing this dog I grew up with, who I see as a very good friend…running into things, not being able to recognize me…just struggling,” he added.
Benjamin took Duffy straight to the vet, where it was confirmed that the dog did indeed have canine diabetes. His blood sugar levels were all over the charts, but with the vets’ help, Benjamin was soon able to stablize them. The question then turned to whether he would be able to see again.
To everyone’s relief, the vet decided that Duffy was a candidate for a special surgery that would be able to give him his eyesight back, and his procedure was scheduled for January.
“Thankfully we got his numbers steady and [doctors] said we could attempt surgery,” recalled Benjamin.
Duffy’s procedure was a success, and he was going to be able to see his family again for the first time in months. It was an incredibly special moment, and Benjamin decided to film the moment that Duffy first laid eyes on his family.
As soon as Duffy enters the room, you can see just how happy he is to have his sight back. The sweet dog is overcome with emotion at the sight of his family, and he whines as they pet him and give him cuddles.
The emotional video was shared by Benjamin May onto YouTube, and it now has over 16.2 million views from people all over the world. Our eyesight is really something that we take for granted, and we’re sure that Duffy is over the moon to be able to see again.
Duffy will need to be on medication for the rest of his life, but thankfully, his eyesight has made a full recovery.
“Obviously he’s still diabetic so he still needs to receive an insulin injection twice a day but the surgery to repair his eyes was a total success and he hasn’t developed any problems or complications with his eyesight,” Benjamin told the Huffington Post.
It’s amazing that the vets are now able to restore the eyesight of blind animals. Take a look at Duffy’s emotional video below.
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