Dog parent Jessica VanHusen from Waterford, Michigan knew something was wrong one day when she noticed that her eldest Akita, Kiaya, was squinting at her.
It turned out that Kiaya had glaucoma in one eye. Veterinary ophthalmologists started the dog on a course of medication so she could continue to use the affected eye.
But the pressure on Kiaya’s eyeball proved to be too painful, so veterinarians opted to remove it. Everything was going well for a while, and the Akita soon adjusted to life with just one eye.
Eventually, however, glaucoma also started affecting Kiaya’s remaining eye. As before, veterinary ophthalmologists were able to extend the dog’s use of the eye with medications.
Image credit: Jessica L. VanHusen on Facebook
In the end, though, her condition progressed to the point that doctors needed to operate on Kiaya to remove her eye once again.
After the procedure, the ten-year-old Akita was now completely blind. Her fur mom Jessica worried about the struggles the dog would be facing, such as how Kiaya would get around, or how she could avoid dangers and accidents.
She need not have worried. Kiaya’s furry younger brothers, two Akitas named Cass and Keller whom Jessica also rescued, stepped up to the challenge and gladly took on the role of their older sister’s seeing-eye dogs.
Guiding Kiaya around came naturally to Cass and Keller; they didn’t even need specialized training to help their sister continue living a good life despite the loss of both eyes.
Like personal bodyguards, the two Akitas would walk on either side of Kiaya, using their bodies to gently steer the blind dog the right way so she wouldn’t bump into things and hurt herself.
Cass and Keller are so good at helping Kiaya that Jessica could tell when they intend to go outside. The two boys would brush up against their sister, their way of saying that it’s time to play in the backyard.
“I think she’d be pretty lost without them,” Jessica says of Kiaya and her brothers.
Watch the three lovable Akitas in the video below:
Source: ABC News
