AVC - The Atlantic Veterinary College

Ever since I adopted Breeze as a tiny little puppy with almost no spots,

I've often wondered if there was any chance of vision in her left eye. That is the side with what appears to be a fully formed eye with a thick covering and a spot near the centre.  She does very well without vision and it was never really a pressing issue.  

Now that we are (somewhat) settled here and have found a fantastic veterinary clinic I asked about a referral. One suggestion from our new veterinarian was to take her to the Atlantic Veterinary College.  Luckily for us, the same veterinary ophthalmologist that Brook has seen at the OVC - Ontario Veterinary College, was here teaching and seeing patients.

Breeze was her usual charming self and really good with all the sitting still so her eye could be checked. There were so many things to check out.

After all the testing, they determined that it is likely that Breeze experienced a penetrating injury to her eye when she was very young and the injury caused severe damage that has resulted in permanent blindness. The other side has no visible eye. Not surprising news but still, I was just a teeny bit disappointed.  Not overly though, I adopted her knowing she was blind and she is a happy and well adjusted dog!

The following day, I received a telephone call from one of the fourth year students we saw, asking if Breeze could return to AVC.  The student was very interested in Breeze's condition and had arranged for a (free) ultrasound of her eyes if I could bring her back in.  

I was impressed with the student's ambition and told her so and readily agreed to return. So, Breeze had some topical freezing applied and an ultrasound performed to assist the students with their learning. When I picked her up, the student told me that they have to do a presentation based on a patient and she might want to use Breeze if that was okay with me. Absolutely!

The best part of the visits to AVC, according to Breeze was this -

they got treats!