Blindness

[kristen2678]

I have an eight year old Dewlap Toulouse Gander that has recently gone blind or mostly blind. Both pupils are white. One more than the other. He is getting by ok during daylight hours but having a hard time finding his pen as the sun goes down. Could this be age? Disease? Any experience with this?

 

[Miss Lydia]

@Iain Utah has this breed.

Are you helping him find his way? will he follow the others? Maybe start training him by following your voice. I have a 12 yr old Embden gander but his eye site is still good.

 

[Iain Utah]

Sounds like cataracts, which can happen to geese. I had a dewlap toulouse goose born with a rare super aggressive cataract condition that made her completely blind by 6 months old. She had a seeing-eye mate, and we kept her in a small yard with him and a few other disabled birds. She knew every inch of her yard, followed sounds well, and did quite well for six years, when she suddenly passed away for no apparent reason. I am sure your gander knows his home and should transition ok, if you can get him to follow the sound of your voice or shaking a grain bucket.

In my experience, dewlaps do not have long life spans and develop many more issues than other lighter-weight, less ''in bred' breeds. While I have one goose coming 11yo, I am shocked she's still alive. All the rest of my dewlaps seem to pass long before that.

Cherish the time you have. You may get lucky with a few more golden years, but I'm sorry to say you should also be prepared for sudden loss.